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She let me sense what she got out of sharing a meal with her Master — the camaraderie, closer to family than friendship. The same heartbeat, the same soul energy, the same heat. Also, they both put some of their venom into the owl’s bloodstream, designed to anesthetize the entry wounds and give pleasure to the owl, and I hadn’t expected the intimacy in tasting each other’s venom. Not the intimacy of lovers, but not far from it.
I came out of my saferoom, took a shower and got ready for the day, and found a note on the outside of my door when I opened it to step out into the hallway.
There’s a breakfast casserole in the refrigerator — feel free to nuke however much you want, or you can have some of the chili in the crockpot. Crackers and tortilla chips are beside it, cubed and shredded cheese is in the refrigerator. Milk, juices, beer, and other options are in the fridge, as well as a variety of fruits and vegetables. Make yourself at home, and telepath Etta when you’re ready for someone to come get you. Marco can request security walk you down to them when you’re ready.
I made my way to the kitchen and found Nathan sitting at the island, eating chili while looking at his tablet. He flicked his tablet off and smiled at me. “I know Kirsten told you to make yourself at home, and I’ll echo that. I trust you slept well?”
“I did. Please thank Kirsten for the use of the saferoom.”
“It only works because you trust her, and because you believed her when she told you only she and Mordecai can get in. Since they can likely get to you most other places you sleep, you were no less safe here than you’d be elsewhere.”
I nodded and spooned some of the chili into a bowl. “True enough, but if I don’t have an opportunity to thank her myself, please do so for me.”
“I will. Have you made any further headway on the skinner situation?”
I shook my head. “My parents had been handling surveillance of some Concilio members we feel certain are involved. I don’t know who’ll step in and take their place.”
“You’re certain Etta doesn’t have information?”
“I haven’t asked. Do you have reason to believe she might?”
“I do.”
“Griffin for certain, and possibly whoever owned her after him, put pain protocols in, so she can’t share certain information. I feel certain that, even if she knows, she’ll have no way to let us know what they are. Marco might have an idea of how to circumvent them, but I’m not terribly familiar with the process. I’m aware it can sometimes be possible, but I’ve never encountered anyone with the procedure implemented before.” I took a bite and considered how much to share. “A trusted Slayer trainer told me to leave it alone. He took a liking to her, and he told me if the protocols were put in around the brainstem exactly right, speaking of the forbidden could kill her.”
“Marco cares a great deal for her. We’ll get him involved before we do anything.”
“Have you unearthed anything interesting?”
“Nothing that amounts to anything. I understand things went sideways with an op in Dalton?”
I nodded. “I haven’t had a chance to look through the report yet, but I’m told we lost a Slayer.”
“I was sorry to hear it. There’s a place for your kind in our ecosystem. Checks and balances.”
“You didn’t always feel that way.”
“There are still specific Slayers I don’t believe should be operating in the field, but I’m happy to have you in this territory. I know I’ve asked before, but if you suspect one of my lions is out-of-bounds, I’d appreciate a heads up, so I can handle it.”
I shook my head. “I can’t give you that assurance. My job is to take care of the problem. You have to know I can’t just tattle to everyone’s leader. I do trust that you’d handle it, but…” I sighed. “Look, between friends, if I see an issue with someone I know is important to you on a personal level, I’ll do what I can to give you a heads up before things escalate, but even then, I can’t offer promises. I operate under an oath, and I have to be true to my word.”
“If Panda, Ronnie, or Zeke was heading to the dark side, I’d know. I might not know if Jess in Trezevant is, since I only check in on her a few times a year. Nick will be heading off to Branson in the coming months, but I can’t see him harming innocents or stepping over any of your lines. Still, it’s the lions like those I’m talking about, mostly, and it’s likely your compatriots would be the ones who’d handle my out-of-town lions, anyway. I appreciate the little bit of assurance you can give me, and I trust you to be positive before you deliver a death sentence.”
“The Chattanooga landscape became intertwined, I believe, sometime around the time the MC president started dating the Vampire Master’s business partner’s lover’s sister. Or, perhaps it was when Aaron Drake brought the two bikers in to help guard his wife, while he was on the run with her?”
“Before that — when the biker President and wolf Alpha were twin brothers, the Dragon King and Master Vampire were friends of old, and throw me into the mix — not as old of a friend, but still close to Aaron.”
I nodded. “Bethany hooking up with her men brought more factions together, and let’s not forget that Kendra’s Eric is the nephew of one of the Drake wolves, who is also one of Bethany’s men.”
“Your point?” Nathan asked.
“Some of those connections no longer seem important, since the people have moved to Alaska or elsewhere, but more connections have come into being.”
“Marco and Cora — Master Vampire and Alpha Wolf. You and Etta — Slayer and Vampire, and not just any vampire, but the Secundo. Marco and Kirsten have a little bit of a connection since they worked together to keep Lauren safe when she first started college, but I’m not sure it amounts to the kind of ties you’re talking about. What else is there?”
“I’d like an invitation to help with security during the next Girls’ Night Out. Can you make that happen, or is there someone else I should ask?”
“I could make it happen if I thought it was a good idea.”
