“You didn’t. It’s fine. It’s just maybe something we didn’t need to mention in front of the council.”
Frost snorts. “Like that’s the most inappropriate thing anyone has said in front of us. Hell, it’s not even the most inappropriate thing Phoebe’s ever said.”
“That’s true,” my sister agrees. “There was the time?—”
Morrigan covers Phoebe’s mouth with her hand. “We don’t need to talk about it again.”
“Should we bring them inside?” Jaeden asks, gesturing toward where the guys are already returning with the leaders of the other MCs. “Since we’re already planning to have a meeting soon?”
Morrigan considers him for a moment before nodding. “We’ll bring them up to the meeting room. I know the people of Iero will want to thank them, but I’d like to speak with them before we invite them any further into our city.”
“Agreed,” Sable says as she joins us. “I knew none of you would take the time to clean up.”
“What can we say? We live for council meetings,” Frost returns easily.
Morrigan’s smile is tight as she turns to greet the MC leadership. “First and foremost, thank you for your help in the battle today. We will, of course, offer you and your clubs a meal and a place to lay your heads for the night, but we were hoping you would speak with us.”
A woman with a president patch on the front of her jacket nods her head. Both she and the woman with her still wear their helmets. “We assumed a conversation would be needed. I am Aleka, president of the Gorgons MC. This is my vice president, Nicoleta.”
“It’s nice to meet both of you.” Morrigan reaches out to shake their gloved hands.
The president and vice president of the Wild Hunt MC introduce themselves as Orrin and Sylvan. They’re bothattractive men, but there’s something about them that almost scares me, like a warning beacon or something. It’s weird as hell.
For the Wayward Pookas MC, both their president, Rían, and their vice president, Caelan, have long black hair that’s pulled up on top of their heads. Their golden eyes dart around the council members, and when Rían tilts his head, I realize horse ears are hiding in his hair.
Well, okay then.
I guess it’s true that pookas can’t take a fully human form.
Interesting.
“If you’ll follow me, I’ll lead you to the meeting room. It’s the only place that’s large enough for all of us to meet at once.” I gesture toward the front door before glancing back at Morrigan. “Keres and Coda still aren’t here. Do you want to send for them?”
“No need,” Sable says as she joins me. “I ran into them on my way over here. They were checking in with their families before they were heading this way.”
With a shrug, I lead everyone inside and up to the meeting room. As we’re settling into our seats, the last two councilors join us.
Steel brushes his lips across my forehead before he takes a seat with the other MCs, and I head to the front of the room to my sisters.
“Once again, the council wants to thank the Gorgons MC, the Wild Hunt MC, and the Wayward Pookas MC—and, obviously, the Headless Riders MC—for assisting us today,” Morrigan begins, dipping her head toward the MC leaders. “Until the Headless Riders MC, we’d only had negative experiences with MCs, so I’m sure you can understand why we’re wary of them.”
“While understandable, we hope you won’t hold it against us,” Aleka says, reaching for her helmet. “If you don’t mind, Nicoleta and I would like to remove our helmets. We haveglasses with us, and we’ll keep our eyes closed while putting them on, but we understand if you’d prefer to look away.”
Morrigan turns her head away. “Of course. We’d like you to be comfortable while we speak, and we’d never hold our experiences with others against you.”
While most of the council members turn their heads away, I keep my eyes on the two women. I’ve never met a gorgon in person before, and I’m curious what they look like.
Color me surprised when they remove their helmets to reveal two normal—albeit gorgeous—women. No snakes in sight, and I’ll admit to being slightly disappointed.
After they slip their sunglasses on, Aleka lifts her head and grins at me. For a moment, her ebony braids waver and reveal hissing black snakes. I blink, and all I see is hair.
Did I really see snakes?
“Did you see that?” Phoebe murmurs, nudging me.
I nod. “So I really saw what I thought I saw.”
“For sure,” she agrees.
