“I don’t know. The cases I studied were shielding entire above-ground cities from discovery. There wasn’t any power spare to do anything more. This one would only need to screen the exit points from casual view. Just the proximity of the meteorite would hide the rest from magical inspection. If they had enough time and expertise, they may well be able to do more with the power source.”
“The kind of time and expertise it takes to develop a neural chip that interferes with shifter magic?” Adri asked. He had a really bad feeling about where this was going.
“Yeah, just like that,” Rocco replied. “I need to let the MC know about this and see if anyone knows anything more.”
“So, just to be clear, the Supernatural Council you’re all so careful not to piss off has given a terrorist organisation access toan uncontrolled power supply and hidden pathways across the city?” Adri asked.
“It would have been a concession to reassure the humans who became aware of our existence during the wars. A way to make them feel safer. It’s possible the people dealing with the D-2S threat at the Council aren’t talking to the people who are aware of the historical arrangement with the humans,” Leah said.
Adri rolled his eyes. Fucking bureaucrats.
“Perhaps. But it’s more likely someone in the Council is corrupt,” Marco said, voice low and dangerous.
Leah tipped her head in acknowledgement. “Yes and no. It may not even be a question of corruption. If there is an active risk of exposure of our kind, the Council can justify almost anything. The D-2S is only targeting New Trinity City right now, whereas an exposure event could affect the entire world. Once our existence gets out, there’s no going back.”
“You’re saying the Council could be catering to the terrorists?” Rafe asked.
“If they are, they would keep that information tightly contained. Their power is dependent on the trust of the supernatural community. It’s a delicate balance. They probably think if they bide their time, they’ll get an opportunity to take them out.”
“Do you think the mayor and police chief are involved? The Council has always limited their human communications to those two,” Silas said.
“As far as we know,” Luca muttered.
“If they are, they’re dead. I can’t tolerate support for supernatural terrorists, and I doubt the other families wouldeither. The Council can find new humans to dance to their tune,” Marco said.
“When’s the next time you’ll see them? You don’t want to tip them off with an unusual meeting,” Leah said.
Marco glanced over at Adri, and he straightened from where he was pressed into Rafe’s chest. “There’s a charity fight at the hospital in a couple of weeks. They’ll definitely be there,” the Alpha said.
“I can sound them out,” Adri offered, sparking a sharp nip at his neck from his mate.
“Wecan sound them out,” Rafe corrected. “As a pack.”
“I was already planning to attend,” Marco agreed.
“I’ll sort a security plan and extra coverage,” Angelo said. “Although without the details of where these tunnel entrances are, I can’t guarantee we can corner them.”
“They’re human. They can only run so fast,” Marco growled.
Strong fingers dug into Adri’s shoulder muscles as he hunched over his computer, and he suppressed a groan as he leaned back into Rafe’s touch.
“I don’t care what you were planning. You owe the pack. You’re not kicking my guys out,” Adri growled into the phone.
The scramble between finding places for his people to stay, rescheduling upcoming fights because of missing fighters, andsearching the streets for any sign of them any chance he got meant he hadn’t paid as much attention to his emails as he should. Otherwise, he would’ve noticed this asshole was trying to back out on his commitment to Marco earlier.
The owner of the hostel snivelled something about going over his head, and Adri laughed.
“Go ahead. Try bothering Alpha Lunetti with this and see how much patience he has for people who go back on their word against his interests.”
“There’s a fucking vampire in my building, and you’re a damn cat. I didn’t sign up for this shit.”
Rafe was vibrating with anger behind him, and Adri twisted so his protective mate couldn’t reach to grab the phone from his hand. To his credit, Rafe managed to hold himself back, but Adri could tell it was a near thing. He could also tell the doc was texting someone about what he’d just heard—probably Silas. This guy would be lucky to make it through the night. He hadn’t needed Rafe to jump in, and he proved it by bullying the guy into doing what he wanted before hanging up.
“I had it covered,” Adri snapped, letting his head fall back with a moan as Rafe continued to knead his tense muscles.
Rafe took advantage of the new angle to claim his lips in a kiss, and Adri let himself forget the mountain of tasks waiting for him for a few seconds as he sank into it.
“He took it too far. He needs a reminder that his loyalty to the pack isn’t a subscription he can fucking cancel. Marco has no tolerance for that kind of talk, especially after what happened with Gio. Your job is to make the fighting ring successful. Silas’is to keep people like him in line. You’re part of a pack. You don’t have to do it all alone.”
