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“You two are late!” Zachariah lectured as he walked in, waving his finger between us as he walked into the room like a disappointed father. “Lucky for you we’re in the dining room. Not the war room.”
We followed him right instead of left and walked into the nightly meeting, where the assassins and hunters had gathered around the impossibly long formal table of the residence.
Zachariah pointed to two empty seats, and then he threw a blueberry muffin at me from one of the five baskets on the table as we sat.
“Nice of you to join us,” Alek said, lifting an eyebrow at me, but it was his only rebuke.
I made no excuse and didn’t feel I had to. I did, however, eat the fucking muffin to appease the noisy growl of my stomach.
“You’re starting to look worse than me, and that’s saying something.” Saint shot me a look, barely pausing in his methodical cleaning of his weapons on the table in front of us. Pretty sure each of his bullets had been engraved with Samuel’s name.
The French doors slid open again, and Cassandra walked in, dressed in an evening gown the same midnight black as her hair. “Sorry,” she said, her eyes darting around the table. “Lyric said you needed me and I hadn’t changed from repast.” She held her head high despite the awkwardly tense atmosphere at her arrival.
“Absolutely.” Alek pointed to the empty chair beside his at the head of the table. “If you wouldn't mind.”
She sat with perfect posture, her back ramrod stiff.
“Guess this explains why we’re not in the war room,” Saint muttered, not bothering to spare her a glance.
“She’s nervous,” Talon said, his tone so quiet that only Saint and Zachariah hear him. He watched Cassandra with the shrewd assessment he was known for. His power of shapeshifting had made him an expert observer over the centuries, and the things he picked up on that we all missed never failed to floor me.
Alek nodded to Lachlan, who then stood and handed out printed rosters of names down the table.
“All the technology in the world, and we’re still passing around paper,” Dagon said, reading over names and addresses I didn’t recognize.
“It can’t be hacked,” Ransom noted, shifting his weight as he stood behind Alek’s chair.
The guy was going to have to settle down or he wouldn’t live to see his mate give birth.
The sour taste of jealousy flooded my mouth. His mate carried his child. He would hold her, watch her body grow and swell, paint a fucking nursery, protect her and his youngling…as long as his mate survived the birth.
My heart sank at my own pettiness.
Given the mortality rate of our females during birth, there was no guarantee Olivia would survive.
Now I wanted to pace the floor, too.
“As you all know, Hawke and Zachariah stumbled into another human massacre last night while on patrol—” Alek started.
My eyes flew to Zachariah’s because Ihadn’tknown.
He gave me a tight, understanding, smile from Talon’s other side.
“They arrived too late to save the father, unfortunately, but the mother and two children are safe and Patrick has them hidden.” Alek set his own paper down on the table. “Two Sons were killed on sight, but Zachariah retrieved this list from the pocket of one.” The king looked at me. “It seems to be a continuation of the one you found at Grace’s house.”
I scanned the list. There had to be forty names on here, and the addresses spanned all five territories in Edgemont.
“We’re working on the assumption that every name on this list is a half-blood.” Alek grimaced. “Quarter, eighth, whatever. They descend from vampire lineage. But Cassandra here has agreed to help test that hypothesis.”
Cassandra didn’t move a muscle. I couldn’t help but wonder how many years that female had been trained at finishing school. Her composure was admirable.
“We’ll divide up the list and check every house,” Alek said. “Hunters, take the bottom half. Assassins take the top.”
“Where do you want me?” Cassandra asked.
“Your choice.” Alek shrugged. “Going with either team should be enough to confirm our theory.”
She glanced around the table, her eyes skimming over the assassins that openly disliked her from her past with Alek, to our end of the table. “I’ll go with the hunters.”
