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Brie gave her a sad smile. "The type of information they have to give you, trust me, Kyla, you don't want. Please, I know it's very hard right now, but you must be patient. As we assemble more facts and piece together exactly what happened, we will share as soon as we can."
Brie saw the exact moment her words registered with the poor woman. Her face crumpled as she nodded and spun to collapse into the waiting arms of the man behind her.
"Now, to keep everyone moving forward, these rooms are, as of immediately, off limits to everyone not working this case. All family members will be directed to a secondary, undetermined location to work with the warriors that will help you in identifying, claiming, and releasing your loved ones to you." Immediately, the crowd began to protest.
"Quiet!" she roared. When the people before her were somewhat quieter, she began again. "What if, in your grief, you make a mistake?" she asked, and the crowd quieted further. "What if, for whatever reason you think, you recognize a family member, and it's not them? What if they are actually still missing, but now no one is looking for them? I know what you're thinking, 'that could never happen' 'who could make those kinds of mistakes?'
"I'm going to be blunt, and you may hate me for it, but right now, I am serving your loved ones. The unattended dead get harder to identify the longer they have been missing. That is why each family will be working with a single warrior, will be getting time alone with the body without the distraction of others, to help in identifying your loved ones, so that no mistakes are made and these poor souls can finally go home."
"What do we do?" a small voice asked. Brie looked until she saw a pale female clutching her golden shawl about her shoulders.
"Go home. Rest. Be there for your loved ones and your neighbors. We will let you know when we're ready to proceed with the next step."
"I refuse to obey orders from a human." Tyrien protested.
The low rumble began almost immediately. Brie smiled, she didn't know how she knew, but that was most definitely Ari.
"If my mate knows what's good for him, he'll let me handle this," she said pleasantly.
The rumble lowered but didn't dissipate.
"Mate?" Tyrien asked, looking nerv
ous.
"Yes, but if you're more worried about offending him than me, then you're not that bright. Ari may be a lion, but I can assure you I'm just as dangerous."
"A Lionhart," he sneered. "A bunch of savage animals that ingratiate themselves to our queen for a place in our city. His brothers are just as useless as he is."
Every single fae in the room stepped away from Tyrien, including Kyla.
"Shit!"
"Grab him!"
A deafening roar had her covering her ears. Her gaze swung around the room, looking for Ari. He now stood over eight feet in height. His facial features had changed to look more lion-like. An insanely long mane hung past his shoulders and down his body.
"Ari?" she whispered.
He stalked forward, literally dragging Gage, Kincaid, and Priest with him as he snarled at Tyrien.
"Someone get that fool out of here!" Darian ordered.
When the surrounding fae reached out and began manhandling Tyrien out of the building, Ari roared again.
"Even living amongst the humans, he should have known better," Oron said disgustedly.
"What?" she demanded.
Oron pointed to Ari. "He's the ranking warrior for a reason. Look at his mane."
Her father stared. "I've never seen a mane that dark or so long." He turned to Brie. "If it means the same thing among shifters as it does in the wild, it means he is extremely strong."
Oron gave a short nod. "And he's undefeated."
"Damn it, Ari! That hurt!" Priest growled, then kicked Ari in the back of the leg, causing the lion-man to snarl. "Rein your shit in!"
"So he gets into lots of fights?" she asked. Was he some kind of psychopathic bully?
