“Mr. Moretti, I’m sorry, but this is a news network. We are not here to debase ourselves or our viewers with wild conspiracy theories. You have no evidence to back up these claims, sir.”
Donatello smiled at her in a placating way. “Rochelle, I did not make my fortune by not crossing my Ts and dotting my Is. So let’s talk about proof, shall we? First thing’s first—The Monroe Group?”
“Oh shit. Here it comes,” my brother Mateo said, pumping a fist.
“The Monroe Group?” Rochelle asked, looking even more confused.
“Do follow along, dear,” Donatello said. “They have billed themselves, for the past thirty or forty years, as a foundation that does good in the world. This is a facade. They are truly nothing more than a very rich, very powerful front for a bigoted organization that has plans to not only frame shifters for these feral crimes but to exterminate them by twisting the narrative and playing the world governments. They’ve used what is basically blood money to further their anti-shifter agenda.”
“Mr. Moretti, I have to ask again, do you have any proof of this? If not, I will have to cut this interview short.”
Donatello raised a hand and gestured to someone off-camera. “I have one of my people giving your producer a thumb drive containing videos I procured at great personal danger and expense. These videos will show that not only was the Monroe Group complicit in pushing theferalstoryline, but they were, in fact, the ones who created this poison to begin with.” Donatello had a grin on his face that would have been terrifying had he not been on our side. I would have given every dime I had to be able to see Viola’s face right then.
The reporter was completely at a loss and losing control of her own show. She glanced off to the side. “Danny? Video? Can we play it?” A muffled voice called out from the side, and she nodded. “Very well, Mr. Moretti.” She turned back to the screen. “We are about to play the so-called proof our guest has brought. Our team has not had a chance to review the footage, which means we must tell you that viewer discretion is advised.”
The security videos started playing, and the room went crazy. Everyone cheered as all the secrets Viola and her entire family and organization had tried to hide were plastered all over the screen. The best part was the clip showing Viola screaming about how the drug wasn’t working right. She’d been caught red-handed. There was no way to spin this any other way.
Once the videos ended, the camera shifted back to the newsroom. The reporter’s face was ghost-white, with shock and horror written all over her features. They’d devolved away from professionalism, and you could hear the other members of the news crew openly discussing the footage with each other.
The dull hum of activity faded as she turned back to Donatello. “Mr. Moretti… this is—” She shook her head in astonishment. “Earth-shattering news. These revelations—if the footage proves to be authentic, are grounds for not only lawsuits but prison terms for all involved. Why bring this to light now?”
Donatello straightened his suit and gazed back at her. “Because I’m sick and tired of watching Viola Monroe live like she’s untouchable simply because she has money and power. It makes me sick that she’s bribed and threatened her way into making her family business into its own shadow government. I was tired, most of all, of watching what she was doing to those I cared about. As a shifter myself, I couldn’t sit back any longer.”
A deadly silence fell over the room. I turned to look at Luis so fast that my neck popped. He was on his feet, frowning at the TV screen, his mouth hanging half open, a look of complete and total confusion on his face.
“Donatello’s a shifter?” I asked him.
He shook his head without looking at me. “I… never knew.” He finally turned to look at me. “He doesn’t have the scent of a shifter. What the fuck, Nico?”
“You’re the one who knew him first,” I said. “But you’re right. He never had the scent. As far as I could tell, he was human.”
The news report had ended, but Mateo and Felipe were already on their phones checking the fallout. Felipe laughed and looked up. “The Monroe Groupe has shut down all their social media accounts and their website. They’ve gone dark.”
Mateo held his phone up. “It’s all over the internet. Those videos are circulating like wildfire. The president’s press secretary has already announced he’s going to give an emergency address at eleven o’clock tonight. Christ, this is happening fast.”
I still hadn’t fully processed what we’d seen on TV when my phone rang. It was Donatello. I answered. “That was more than I was expecting.”
He chuckled. “My friend, sometimes one has to lay all their cards on the table.”
I stood and walked to the kitchen to get away from the commotion of everyone celebrating. “You’re a shifter? How thefuck did you hide that from us?” I asked, trying not to sound pissed.
“Well, there are suppressants that hold back the shift. I believe your lady love knows a bit about those. But there are others that can simply mask it. Even humans know when they’re in the presence of a shifter. There’s something about us that sort of… clues them in, you could say. I decided long ago that I wanted my personal business to be mine. It took a lot of money, but I developed a synthetic pheromone that I add to my deodorant and cologne. Twice daily applications keep me walking freely among the humans.”
I sighed. “I’ve never heard of this stuff. Why didn’t you offer it to us? We could have used it to move freely.”
“My friend. Would you have believed me if I had? Plus, you strike me as a much more confident person than I am. Someone who would balk at hiding your true self.”
Those words almost made me laugh. “Donatello, you are the most confident person I’ve ever met.”
“Hmmm. No, I think I’m probably the best actor you’ve ever met. I am anything but confident. Though, I am good at faking it. Anyway, I’m going to lay low for a bit. I’m sure Viola has already contacted every assassin, mercenary, and hitman in her phonebook to come for me. I’m going to my special little place in the Caribbean I told you about. It might be a good idea if you all joined.”
“We’ll give that some serious consideration. I want to thank you for what you did. You have no idea what it means to us. Especially since you had to out yourself.”
“It was the right thing to do, Nico. For all of us. Please keep me updated on your next move. I’m happy to provide more assistance if it’s called for.”
I turned back to the group. Everyone seemed to be scrolling on their phones or laptops, checking on how the report wasgoing. Diego clicked the TV to another channel. “We need to see this. It’s fucking hilarious.”
A new news clip showed the speaker of the House trying to make his way into his office. He was in street clothes; he’d probably rushed in after seeing the report. Microphones and cameras were all over the place as reporters tried to shove forward to get answers to their questions.
