After he released me, he moved over to Oakley, and the two stared at each other for a long moment, before Oak asked, “You’re really okay with this? You’re not going to lose your mind again and be a jerk to my viramore?”
Garrick sucked in a breath. “Nope. I’m… happy for you, Oak. You deserve happiness and all the love in the world, and I know… I know Roman will give that to you.”
A slow smile spread over Oakley’s face, and they launched themself into their father’s arms, the two of them hugging and crying and whispering.
I couldn’t help but smile at them, relieved and happy that everything was okay. The last thing I wanted to do was come between them. I knew exactly how much Garrick loved Oakley, and Oak loved him back. They’d missed out on so much time together already. They had so much time to make up for, and I definitely didn’t want to mess with that.
Tan came over to stand beside me, looking up from their short height. “I’m glad they’re okay. Gar’s been a nightmare since you two left.”
“I’m glad they’re okay too.”
We shared a smile.
The meeting room was filled with way more people than I’d expected. I’d thought we were meeting with the sole survivor of the mission, not him and a billion other people. At least most of them were friends and family, including half the vampires we’d been staying with for the last week.
“Jed?” Oak said as they filed into the room behind me. “Shiro? Phae? What are you guys doing here?”
Jed shrugged and fanned out his hands. “Tan called us, so here we are.”
Before anyone could say anything else, Garrick loudly said, “Take a seat, everyone. We have a lot to go over.”
Everyone sat, and I was pleased when Oak made sure to sit beside me, and even more pleased when our thighs touched, and they didn’t move away.
Garrick began. “We’ve suffered a massive blow. Of the eight people sent to follow up on leads in regards to the ongoing trafficking case, only one came back alive.” Some of the others looked surprised, and most gazes shot over to the survivor, a fellow guard I recognized, Kharis Phiwenys—a merman, not to be confused with a siren, who was a fierce fighter and a good man. “I’ll let Kharis tell his story before we plan our next steps.”
Kharis Phiwenys said, “Our safe house was attacked in the middle of the night. I have no idea how they found us, only that they did. Maybe they caught wind while we were doing recon and followed us back? I don’t know, but two of our guys went out to gather more intel that night, and the rest of us were asleep. I… I managed to get away, but not until I saw…” His eyes watered, and he wiped angrily at them. “It was Hooks and Laurings—they were the two out that night. The… the men that attacked us, they… they had their… bodies with them, and they were using their blood to cast spells. I’ve never seen anything like it. Franlee s-s-saved my life. She… she broke the window and pushed me out first, but they… they got her before she could… I shot them, but they had shields and they… she told me to run right before they slit her throat…” He trailed off and buried his face in his hands.
The mention of blood magic, of what I was sure everyone assumed were blood witches, had Oakley going very, very still. It was a stillness that only certain supernaturals could achieve.
With our legs pressed together, I could feel the tension building in them, so I gently placed my hand on their thigh under the table, giving it a squeeze. It was meant to remind them that I was here, that they weren’t alone.
They didn’t move away, which I took as a good sign, but they didn’t relax either.
Tan reached over and patted Kharis’s back in comfort, and Garrick stared at him, clearly doing his best to keep his emotions in check.
After a few seconds, Garrick said, “We’re all very sorry for your loss, Kharis.”
“Th-thank you.”
“Would you like to stay for the meeting or go home? It’s entirely up to you, and no one will judge you if you want to leave.”
Kharis took a breath and met his king’s eyes. “I’ll stay. I want to get the bastards that did this.”
Garrick sent him a small smile and a nod before turning his attention to the rest of us. His eyes barely flicked over to Oakley, but I saw the grimace he sent their way. He was about to drop a bomb on us, wasn’t he?
Garrick said, “The team followed the trafficking ring back to what we think is the top-tier unsub.”
Oakley sat up. “Are you serious? We found the leader?”
Garrick gave them a nod. “We think so, but we’re not a hundred percent yet. That’s why we were still in the recon phase when…” He trailed off with a grimace, then shook his head. “As I’m sure you’ve figured out already, there were blood witches involved in the attack, and we think they came from… the Emissaries of Gepisha’s Iron cult.”
Oakley sucked in a breath and looked at their dad. “Gepisha’s Iron is behind this? Are they still in Olkport Territory?” That was the territory where Oak had grown up in that damn cult.
Garrick sucked in a deep breath. “Yes. They’re still there.”
Oak sat up even straighter in their seat. “We need to go. We need to find them and—”
Garrick held up his hand to stop Oak, and to my surprise, my viramore actually listened to him. Gar said, “We will, Oak, but we need to make a plan, and we need to go over all the recon Kharis’s team did before I send a new team in.”
