Once Tiago and I regained control, I said, “Okay, hang on. I know a bunch of you think we should take the war directly to her, but it’s not that easy.”
“Why not?” a man asked.
“She’s shown her true colors to the world,” I said. “But she still has her foot soldiers and bodyguards. That’s one thing. The other is that even though a ton of her assets have been frozen, she still has funds coming in from somewhere. Money equals power. That alone will make it tough. Hell, for all we know, she could be in Japan or Australia right now. It’s hard to kill someone who’s hidden over five thousand miles away.”
There was a moment of silence as my words sunk in. Then another voice I didn’t recognize spoke up. “But if we do kill her, this all ends, doesn’t it? Everything goes back to the way it was before.”
That was the hope and prayer of shifters everywhere. It would be nice if it were true, but I had a hunch it wouldn’t be that simple. I didn’t want to be the one to break it to these guys, but someone had to.
“I don’t think so,” I said. “I’ve got a feeling we’ve got a war coming with or without Viola at the head. Over the last few months, the royals have stoked anti-shifter sentiment across the globe. Guys, we’ve got a fight on our hands no matter what happens with Viola. That’s my belief, anyway. The news reports and statements from the president helped, but there are people who wish us harm, and that won’t stop because one powerful guy said so.”
“Nico’s right,” Tiago said. “I’m getting to be an old man. I don’t want to fight. I don’t want to see my boy fight. He’s just now become the alpha of our clan. He should have years of peace to learn and do what we all did as we were coming up. But there’s a cloud over the world. No other way to say it.”
“Thanks,” I said. “We need our packs to prepare for battle. Whether that comes in the form of a full assault from the royals or from sympathizers who want us dead, either way, we all needto be ready to fight back and kill if need be. I know that sounds savage, but it is what it is at this point.”
“You’re saying we should get ready to kill humans?” Howard asked, sounding shocked and a little sick.
“If it was between the people you loved and some crazy anti-shifter humans? For me, that answer comes easy. I’m not saying we bum rush the towns in our area and lay waste to them like some heathen feral shifters. That’s not what we’re doing. We’re getting ready for what I believe is coming, to pull the metaphorical trigger when and if it does happen. No one in any government will punish us for protecting ourselves. Even if people get hurt.”
“One issue, Nico,” Tiago said. “I know all these boys here are law-abiding like your pack and mine, but you and I both know there’s some dirty sons of bitches out there who will take this as open season on the human population. I know there’s far more bigotry toward us, but there are shifters who aren’t too fond of humans either.”
That was the real dark horse of the whole plan. If this went sideways and some shithead shifters started taking their frustrations out on humans, public sentiment might flip back against us. Rape, murder, and lawlessness were guaranteed ways to get on people’s bad side.
“I’m aware, Tiago, but we have to hope that those people are few and far between. Hopefully, things will stay calm. I guess that’s the keyword for this whole meeting. Hope. That’s all I can give or ask from you all. Our people need to be ready to fight hand-to-hand as well as with weapons. If we can agree on that, then I’m not sure what else there is to discuss.
“Does anyone else have anything? Or are we done?”
There were some murmurs but nothing of significance. Tiago took over and ended the call. By the time I’d ended the call, I was even more stressed than I’d been before I stepped into my office.It felt like nothing had been accomplished, and there was still so much to worry about. Rubbing a hand through my hair, I went to find Maddy.
She was on the porch with Sinthy. It would have been a lovely afternoon if I couldn’t hear the faint shuffle of feet and chants from the crowd down by the gates. I dropped down beside her. The anti-shifters in town wouldn’t be giving up anytime soon.
“Still there, I see,” I said, nodding in the direction of the gates.
“Yup,” Maddy said.
“They’re as annoying as gnats. I’m thinking of adding a little something to the wards,” Sinthy said.
The glimmer in her eyes had me cocking an eyebrow. “And what would that be?”
Sinthy smiled and bobbed her shoulder in a half-shrug. “Oh, A little razzle-dazzle,” she said, waving jazz hands around.
I chuckled. “Do I want to know what ‘razzle-dazzle’ means?”
“I’m glad you asked. I’m thinking of making the wards shoot confetti or glitter whenever they zap someone. You know, to sort of spice things up a bit. It would be a good show if nothing else.”
Maddy and I both laughed, unable to help ourselves. The witch tended to have a bright outlook on almost everything.
After a few minutes of silence, Maddy nudged me. “How’d the call go?”
“Like shit.”
I gave them a rundown. That we’d all basically decided to prepare for war, that humans who attacked us would not be safe, and that we weren’t going to go after Viola directly—at least not yet.
Maddy shook her head in disbelief. “I still can’t believe this is happening. I mean… it feels like yesterday I was happily running my bar. Now I’ve been all over the damned world, and my entire life has been turned into one never-ending drama.
“I guess, deep down, I realized a war was coming. Whether I wanted to believe it or not.” She gave a resigned sigh. “I trust you, Nico. Whatever your judgment, I trust you.”
“Same for me,” Sinthy added. “Since I guess I’m technically part of this pack now.”
