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He looked to Patience. “Set it up and put it on Etta’s calendar. Consider yourself personal assistant to us both at least for the remainder of the year.”
Patience gave him a slight bow and looked around the room. “The real estate agent is also connected to the bikers — she’s the president’s wife. She’s available for late evening and nighttime showings, for those of you wishing to purchase your own residence.” She turned back to Marco. “Your appointment with the lion attorney is in one hour. He is a personal favorite of the Amakhosi.”
“Isn’t the woman who’ll be boarding my horses also connected with the bikers?” Venom asked her.
“Yes. She’s married to the Vice President, and their home is on the property.” She turned to Marco again. “I’ll be down the hall should you need me.”
“Thank you, Patience.”
When the door closed behind her, the slayer said, “If I may interject?”
“Please do,” Marco said.
“It’s my intention to help smooth this transition over, in the hopes Chattanooga can continue to operate in a manner that keeps the humans safe. I know most of you don’t like my presence, so perhaps I can begin to show my usefulness here. When you meet the bikers, you’ll note self-confidence, as if they own this territory. Do not try to convince them otherwise. They aren’t going to fight you for it — they acknowledge it is the coterie’s territory as well.” He took a breath and looked to Marco, then to me. “Your business partner at TBC, where your office will be, is in a relationship with the real estate agent’s brother, and you were just told the real estate agent is married to the biker’s president. The women of the RTMC are known as the ol’ladies, and they organize something called Girls’ Night Out every month or two. The women ride limos to the various vampire establishments.” He turned back to Marco. “Kendra participated, and you’ll want Etta to make the friends that will allow her an invitation. As many of your female vampires as can manage to be included, the better.”
“Will you give away our secrets to the others as well, slayer?” I asked him.
“I will help them see that you are not their enemy, which is what I’m doing with the bikers. I haven’t told you any of their secrets, Elisabetta.”
I had my new identity, and it allowed me to continue to be called Etta. Hearing the new name roll off his tongue tightened things deep inside me, low in my abdomen, and that was so damned wrong. Slayers want to kill us, but I wanted to fuck this particular slayer. Legend said they could use voice tricks on us, and I was certain he’d just done so, but accusing him of it during this meeting would be a bad move.
I wanted to glare at Marco for bringing a possible enemy into a private meeting, but he was in charge, and I had to trust he knew what he was doing.
“Who would you suggest I befriend?” I asked the slayer.
“You’re welcome to go to the stables with me,” Venom said.
“Harmony would be a good start.” The slayer looked at me a few seconds and shrugged. “Gen, the real estate agent, is big on designer clothes. Angelica is mated to the Sergeant-at-Arms, and I think the two of you could get along. You both seem fierce, and I don’t believe she fears very much. You’ll want to stay away from Gabby — she’s a rabbit shifter who leaks fear all over the place despite the fact she’s terribly brave. There’s a deer ol’lady who isn’t around very much, and if you scare her, you’ll piss them all off, so be careful.” He shrugged again. “It’s hard to say how the bikers and their women will react to you. It might be better to come in from the side. The wolf pack in Ringgold, just over the Georgia line, has a mated alpha pair. I believe Briana would find having a friend who invokes fear in people to be a novel experience.”
Thank him for his valuable insights, Etta.
Marco’s voice in my head didn’t surprise me, but his tone of voice did. I’d irritated him, and that hadn’t been my intention.
“Thank you for your insights, slayer.” I didn’t want to call them valuable insights. I had no way of knowing whether he was being helpful or hurtful.
Josef leaned forward. “I agree with his observation of Briana, and I would echo his caution not to scare Gabby or Tippy, the rabbit and deer. Try to make them see you as safe, if at all possible.” He looked to Marco and back to me. “My Ronnie has been invited to a few of the Girls’ Night Out parties. She can probably get you an invitation to one, but whether you’re invited again will be entirely up to you. I would recommend you wait until you have a relationship with several of the ol’ladies before you ask for Ronnie’s help.” He sat back. “Of course, if Ronnie doesn’t like you, she won’t invite you, even if I make the request. I respect her for that, so I won’t push.”
Josef looked around the room before he continued. “The bikers have parties at their compound on a fairly regular basis. If you’re ever invited to one, go. If you ever need to talk to a biker, call them, or go to one of their businesses and ask to see them. Never, under any circumstances, drive, walk, or fly onto their compound if you have not been invited to do so.”
“Kendra’s people left us information on them, both as a group and as individuals. I suggest you read through the data carefully,” Marco told us. “Those of you who’ve been with me a while, think of what might have happened if Lucky Luciano had been a werewolf, and Frank Costello a bear shifter.”
“You’re comparing the bikers to the Genovese crime family?” Venom asked, his voice incredulous.
“Don’t get on their bad side,” Josef said. “Abbott did so for a short time, over something small but important. You’ll find the details in your information on the bikers. Read through it, and pay attention to how it split the entire city. Ryan was correct to point to Girls’ Night Out as important. The women in this city help bind us all together and keep us friends.”
“I knew of the drama as it happened, through Cora,” Marco said. “It was bad.” He looked to me. “Cora can also probably get you an invitation to Girls’ Night Out, but I agree that you need to form contacts within the community, at least the beginnings of some relationships, before your first outing with the larger group.”
I gave him a single nod. “An order from Italy arrived yesterday — designer clothes that should impress anyone with knowledge of what they are. I’ll wear something from this shipment to meet with the real estate agent, and I’ll offer to let her sit in with me on my next video call, so she can purchase items before they hit the stores here in the States as well.” I looked to the Slayer. “What would you recommend I use to connect with the one you called Harmony?”
He shrugged. “She’s a genius, and she loves her horses. Recognize her intellect and respect her animals. She’s a fairly new werewolf, but she has control. Her horses are good with wolves, but I have no idea how they’ll be around vampires, especially you. Don’t piss her off by scaring her animals.”
So, I’d need to fully feed before I went with Venom to meet her. Good to know.
I aimed my thoughts to Marco. I killed Leesa before we left because I didn’t want to mess with moving her. I’ll need someone else to feed from if you don’t wish for me to hunt.
You have my permission to feed the fear at movie theaters. Also, there’s a small amusement park just over the Georgia line, though it won’t reopen until the spring. Blood should come from my flock and our security team, but you can go outside the house for fear.
Thank you.
