I dip my chin respectfully. “Of course. I have a druid on retainer who is good at making and rerouting portals. I could loan her out.”
This is one reason I tolerated Balis. He knew how to handle business. It didn’t matter if he thought I didn’t deserve my position; he respected the fact that I ran this shit smoothly.
“Balis, why do you need to worry about unprohibited passages? You run the district in which Khalid lives. Trust me, no one is coming into your district without being cleared,” Nirol, the domini of the southeast says with a chuckle. The others in the room laugh at his joke.
It’s true. Balis runs the Mid-Atlantic district. Trust me, nobody fucks up in the Mid-Atlantic. It’s too close to Khalid.
“You would be surprised how emboldened the forsaken can be,” Balis shrugs.
The others agree.
I remain quiet. I never put my two cents in when they talk about the forsaken. The fallen often forget that at one time during the war, we were all on the same side. It’s why we are here running the earthly realm and not back in heaven with our angelic brethren.
“We all know how the forsaken tend to forget their place. Isn’t that right, Raziel?”
Although all the domini disliked me, none were as vocal about their hatred as Gadiel. Something about my presence just bent his dick out of shape.
I take a sip from the tumbler, keeping my eyes trained on him. I allow an awkward silence to impregnate the room.
Placing my drink back down, I smile. “Gaddy, if you can’t control your district, just say that. No need to blame outside sources.”
Gadiel glares at me. His darkness rises from his pores. It looks like black steam rolling off him. I grin in his direction.
“Gentlemen,” Thumas, the domini of the mid-west, says, getting our attention. “Behave yourselves. Khalid will be here soon. You know he has a short tolerance for bullshit.”
I smirk. There were no worries about me fighting Gadiel. I had to actually give a fuck about you in order for you to make me mad enough to want you dead. Gadiel was a speck in my world. Not even worth my anger.
I lift my glass into the air. “Cheers to good reports this year.”
They all lift their drinks to join in my toast. Even though Gadiel joins in, there is something about the shit-eating grin on his face that says he isn’t hoping for our good reports.
“I got to visit the new casino last night, Raziel. It looks nice,” Rarkith, the domini of the northwest, says. He is the epitome of a mountain rancher with his cowboy hat and flannel shirt.
“We should do business. I know there are a few places up in Montana and Colorado where I’d love to build a casino.”
Rarkith grins. “We can talk numbers later.”
This is what was so funny about all of them. They claimed to hate me, but they all wanted my business and my secrets.
While talking to Ortiez, domini of the northeast, and Zanoth, domini of Hawaii and Alaska, I noticed Gadiel kept watching me. I’ve been ignoring him but decided to give him my attention. The moment I turned to look at him, one of his men bent down and whispered something into his ear. The smug smile on his face lifts even higher as he watches me.
He wants a reaction out of me. I won’t give him the satisfaction.
“What do you think Gadiel has going on?”Conah asks through our mind link.
Every single one of us could communicate with those who work for us through a mind link. Which is further proof that Gadiel and his guard were putting on a show just now.
“You caught that too?”I ask Conah.
“He’s been like that since he got here,”Era says.“It’s like he’s plotting something.”
I scratch my chin as I watch Gadiel. He’s talking to his general now, but even as he speaks to him, he seems to be giddy.
“He’s definitely up to something. We will find out what it is soon enough,”I say.
I tune back into Ortiez and Zanoth, leaving Gadiel to his bullshit.
The moment Amir Khalid steps onto the property, we can feel his power. Even when he was the general of the Lord’s army, his presence was undeniable. That shit is tenfold now.
