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On the other hand, this could be a great opportunity.
“I don’t need to tell you that this is a big deal,” Charles said in his stern lawyer voice. “It’s the first collaboration between the world’s two largest and most respected demon control agencies. The entire planet needs this to work, and they’ll be watching. I know you’ll make us and The Aegis proud.” He opened the door and ushered her into the featureless, windowless room meant to minimize distractions.
It didn’t work. Eva was always distracted by the utterlackof character. Would it kill them to put a soothing painting of mountains or a vibrant Parisian print on the wall?
“Ah, good. You’re finally here.” Willa Peters, The Aegis’s Director of Public Affairs, gestured to an empty seat at the main table while Eva’s parents made their way to the row of half-filled chairs lining the east wall.
“I’m not going to drag this out,” Willa said in her clipped English accent as she slid a stack of papers across the table. “We have a lot to do and little time to do it in. Everyone take a packet.” She put her fists on her slender hips and waited until all stapled stacks of paper had been distributed. “Now then, you’re here because you were selected, out of nearly a thousand applicants, to spend fourteen days at DART headquarters in Brussels as part of a global desire for our agencies to cooperate more.” She cleared her throat. “Yes, Mr. Olsen.”
Eva looked across the table at Sigfred, who put down his hand and leaned back in his chair. “I didn’t apply.”
Willa’s tolerant smile didn’t reach her sharp green eyes. Sig was the son of an Aegis Elder, and he played the nepotism card whenever he could. The few who got along with him were just like him—birds of a feather and all that—and everyone else merely tolerated him because they had to.
“Several of you didn’t apply. Most of the applicants were street-level fighters or cell leaders. We really wanted top people on this first cooperative mission.” Willa looked out at each of them in turn, her sleek ginger hair pulled back in a bun as severe as her expression. “You are all here for a specific reason. Keeley, as Assistant Personnel Manager, you have recruitment and mental health assessment experience. You will analyze DART employees and poach them where you can.”
Willa turned to the man sitting next to Keeley, Carlos Martinez, a former Navy SEAL whose sense of humor was as dark as his skin. He and Keeley had dated for a few months. It hadn’t worked out, but they were still friends. He was smart, confident, and, according to Keeley, amazing in bed. But he was also surrounded by an emotional wall a mile thick, and after four months, Keeley had barely even put a dent in the barrier. Eva didn’t blame Keeley for breaking up with him. He sounded like a lot of work.
“Mr. Martinez. We want you to assess their weapons, battle strategies, and training programs. This will be an exchange in every sense of the word, so you’ll need to share some of your unique knowledge and weapons with them, as well.”
“Excuse me.” Mason Devino, the Deputy Director of The Aegis’s School of Magic, sat forward in his chair. “Should we really be sharing intel and weapons with traitors and hellspawn?”
“First,” Willa said, glancing pointedly at Sig, “do not call them hellspawn while you’re at DART headquarters. The supernaturals say it’s”—she did the air quotes thing—“derogatory. Don’t call them hell bringers, hellspawn, or children of Satan. Apparently, the proper broad term for anyone non-human issupernatural. Maybe underworlder. If you know for sure what kind of supernatural being they are, the acceptable terms are demons, vampires, were-creatures, and shifters.” She let out an annoyed huff. “So ridiculous. Hellspawn is hellspawn. Anyway, back to Mason’s question. Eva?”
Eva nodded. “Ma’am?”
“You will be the team’s spokesperson. How would you answer Mason’s question if it came from a reporter?”
Yes. Eva loved being put on the spot and forced to think fast. It was what made her good at her job. She lived for the rush of adrenaline spiked by the split second of fear that she’d look like an idiot. Thankfully, looking like an idiot rarely happened.
“I would say that our past histories as rivals are exactly that, in the past.” She looked around the room at everyone, projecting confidence and daring anyone to challenge her. “We’re working toward the same goals, even if we take different paths to get there. We all want peace in the human realm.”
Sigfred snorted. “That bullshit might fly with a reporter, but it doesn’t fool anyone in the real world. DART was founded by traitors who turned on their colleagues. They chose the side of evil when they collaborated with the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and their demon brethren. Fuck DART. We shouldn’t share jack shit with them.”
“I hate to say it, but I agree with Sig,” Carlos said.
“Ditto. DART works with hellspawn, ah, I mean,supernaturals,” Keeley added with an eye roll. “Some havemarriedthem. A few of their membersaresupes, demons, even. And they stole artifacts like Heofon and Deliverance that rightfully belong to us. We can’t trust them.”
“Wedon’ttrust them,” Willa said. “But that doesn’t mean there can’t be interagency cooperation at times. What Eva said was right. We do have common goals, even if we have very different philosophies. DART wrongly believes some demons are good, and they want a world in which demons and humans coexist. The Aegis knows the only good demon is a dead demon, and we want a demon-free world. But we both want humanity to survive Armageddon. And given that humanity is a shit show right now, world leaders feel it would benefit everyone if The Aegis and DART could put on a show of unity.”
Eva didn’t miss how she’d said, “a show of unity,” emphasis onshow. Looked like maybe The Aegis’s top leaders weren’t on board with a genuine cooperative effort. They’d paste on smiles, make token gestures of friendship, and maybe share select intel now and then, but this wouldn’t be an enthusiastic embrace of long-estranged relatives.
After everything DART had done, Eva didn’t blame anyone in The Aegis for their attitude. She couldn’t believe they’d agreed to work together on anything. Heck, The Aegis had only recently dropped its standingcaptureorder for several traitors, including DART’s Director, Kynan Morgan.
Willa looked at her wrist comms device and turned her attention back to those in the room. “Any questions? You’ll each meet with two Elders in five minutes. You have until then to ask me anything.”
“Can we take weapons?” Carlos asked.
Willa nodded. “DART will allow each of you to carry a stang. They understand that it is our signature weapon, and that no Guardian is ever without one.”
Sig swiveled in his seat like a bored child. “I’d feel a hell of a lot more comfortable with the new demon-shredder pistol.”
“Absolutely not. DART doesn’t even know we possess a firearm that kills demons, and we don’t want them to learn of it.”
Eva understood, even though she’d feel safer armed with one of the new pistols, aptly named Smiter, as well. Most demons were unaffected by bullets, but StryTech recently developed a weapon for The Aegis using advanced technology and bullets that turned demons into confetti. A gruesome demonstration using live, captured demons last month had confirmed its potential, and the memories still turned Eva’s stomach.
Willa looked out over everyone. “Any other questions?”
“When do we leave?” The Aegis’s head of Research and Development, Benjiro Shimosaka, tapped idly on his digital notepad. Whatever he was doing made tiny, inch-tall demon holograms dance on the face of his wrist comms device. In Eva’s nine months at the DC headquarters, she’d never seen the guy sitting still. “My team is close to releasing a new update to our Guardian tats, and I don’t want to delay it.”
