Justice snorted. “What the fuck is our word worth to him? I always knew he was a dumbass, but this is next level. Even for him.”
Jacob’s lips twitched, but he refrained from smiling. She definitely amused him though.
“He might pull out of this meeting when he sees your list of abilities,” I joked to Louis, who actually shot me a slow smile.
“I wasn’t planning on listing them all. Wouldn’t want to scare the poor human.”
Because we all knew that this meeting was going to be critical to the future of supernaturals in America. Would the president insist on regulating us, bringing us out into the open? Would he try to control us?
Or would he realize the futility of that and accept that we were beyond his power?
We were going to find out soon.
25
Louis
There was something the others in the group were not aware of: this was not my first meeting with a president of America. The last one, though, was close to fifty years ago, and he had become a very good friend of mine. He helped establish closer ties with guilds, and especially with placing guilds in positions of power through the US government. The current president, from what I had seen, was definitely not as lenient with his power. He would not be impressed that we had been existing outside of his rule for so long. We did not pay taxes, as we did not use any of the facilities in this country. We were separate, but we did own property and such, so there was some crossover. Again, this was where our guilds came into use, and they smoothed all of the legal stuff that was required.
Blending was definitely growing more difficult as technology improved. These days computers kept track of everything, so we were having to be more careful about covering up our existence.
I had no idea what to expect of this meeting. My timeline shift, which I’d almost not made it back from, had managed to keep most of the world from knowing about us. But did any of that matter if the most powerful and influential man in the country, if not the world, now knew? What the hell would he do with this knowledge?
What price was he going to extract from me?
My eyes rested on Tee, who was chatting to Justice about Faerie. I’d forgotten how many times we used to sneak in there as young adults. It had been forbidden then, and the moment anyone said the word “forbidden,” Tee was all over it. She’d hated rules. Still did, I could tell, even though she was much better at faking it now.
“Are you ready to go?” I hated to interrupt her; I loved watching her face so animated as she laughed and talked, but we were on limited time.
She smiled at me, and just like the last time she did, it felt like something slammed into my chest. “I’m ready.” She slid closer to me and I wrapped her up. I had to touch her. It was a need now, and one I expected would only get worse as time went on.
Jacob and Justice studiously ignored each other as they moved closer. The silent feud they had going on was probably going to explode in their faces sometime soon, but for now they were perfecting the ignoring each other thing.
Opening the step-through, I quickly ushered the others in before I followed. On the other side was an empty white room. “Take your shoes off,” I warned before I quickly shed my boots, dropping them against the wall in what was clearly a designated shoe section.
“What is this room?” Tee asked, looking around. Her eyes were wide as she took in the starkness.
I shrugged. “Brady is a bit of a germaphobe, mainly with shoes. He doesn’t trust where you’ve walked. Or that’s at least what he says. Try not to touch anything, and we’ll be all good.”
She attempted to cut off her grin, but I saw it. Tee would probably be internally laughing the entire time she was around the fey, but I understood that his obsession was out of his control, and I accepted him for what he was: a loyal-to-the-death friend that I could always rely on. If having that sort of friendship meant putting up with some quirks, I would gladly accept that.
“Brady,” I called, and a door appeared in the previously doorless room.
I went through first, because it was in my nature to want to assess danger before my friends or family faced it. That urge was especially strong now that I had a true mate.
Brady waited on the other side, shifting from foot to foot, his hands wringing in front of him. His smile was strong and genuine though. “Louis!” he said with force, rushing forward to me. He stopped himself just before touching me though, because he didn’t like to touch. “I’m so happy to see you.”
His white-blond hair was shaved very close to his head, because he felt the cleanest that way, and he wore loose-fitting white cotton pants with a matching shirt. His startling blue eyes were fixed on mine, and he looked happier than the last time I saw him.
“Brady, I’m so grateful that you allowed me to open a step-through here. The president probably wouldn’t appreciate me opening one into the White House.”
His laugh was nervous, and his words were fast and light when he spoke. “Oh no. No way at all. He would be very angry. I have heard from the interns there that he is in a frenzy learning of supes and everything we entail. This is an important meeting, Louis. So much rests on it.”
I nodded, worry pressing on me. I hated walking into situations where I had no clue what was going to happen. Usually I was prepared for anything, but even my guild contacts had no idea what the president wanted with this meeting. He had not spoken to anyone of his intentions.
“Would you like some refreshments while you wait?” Brady asked, looking between the four of us. He offered out of politeness, but I knew he was stressed that one of us would actually take him up on it.
“No, we’re good,” I answered before anyone else could. I paused then as I received a time for our meeting. When the voice faded from my mind, I straightened. “Looks like he wants us there straight away, so we’ll head out now, Brady. It’s a twenty-minute walk to the White House.”
