Supes aren’t supposed to attack each other.
Certainly, Layla would understand, especially after the way he spoke about Farrah.
Not even a minute later, Rory gasps and picks himself up off the ground.
“Locheran, baby, you know I like it rough,” he chuckles and brushes some dirt off his black suit.
“No one invited you. Why are you here?” I ask and cross my arms.
“Actually,” Rorysays, stretching his neck as the bones work to mend, “Xander invited me.”
“Of course, I did.” Xander scowls at me. “We’ve been using Rorik and his mind reading abilities to extract information from captured hunters. Why wouldn’t I invite him?”
Rorik holds up a finger as he speaks. “As the king’s first in command, you should know this. Also, wouldn’t it be second-in-command since Xander is king, which means he’s first and that’d make you second, and… you know what? It doesn’t matter.”
I ignore the ‘first in command’ comment because he’s technically right, but Xander has always called me his first in command, ever since we were young. He says it’s because he trusts me with his life. He trusts me to make decisions without consulting him. I often make decisionsforhim. I could never be second to him because he considers me his equal, even though he’s royalty.
Besides, Ididthink about inviting this fucker. Then I decided not to because he’s an asshole.
“Fine,” I say, relenting to Rorik’s presence. “Take a seat.”
Dickhead,I silently add, knowing Rory would have heard the word.
Rory. What adumb name for a vampire.
I get to work beforeRorycan respond to any of my thoughts and fire up my laptop. Once I have the surveillance picture pulled up, I project it to a screen on the wall.
“I’ll make this quick as most of us are eager for night two of the conference. We pulled this image of a hunter last night from a suspected safe house. We have a team observing the house now, but there hasn’t been any activity since this image was taken. If we get confirmation that the O’Herns are holed up here, we’ll move in.
“You should have already received this image on your phones. Please share it with the soldiers of your species. They need to be on alert. We believe as long as the hunters are here in the city, they’re planning another attack. They seem to want Vara for her golden feathers or a gargoyle for their horns; however, no supernatural is safe.”
I close my laptop and scan the team. Angry and eager faces stare back at me.
“They’re getting desperate and messy, which can work to our advantage, but I want to be clear. Do not take a life. Now that the unveiling plan is in motion, we need to do everything in our power to show humans we are of no danger to them. That includes not harming hunters. Defend yourself, capture them, and turn them over to human law enforcement agencies we’ve allied with where they’ll be punished under their rules. I know that isn’t fair sincethese hunters want to kill us, but this is why we worked with human politicians to craft new laws to protect us. Only resort to death if your life is on the line.”
I wait for their confirmation and despite the begrudging nods, everyone agrees.
“Great. There will be a panel tonight discussing some of the newly constructed laws as a result of the unveiling plan. I highly recommend sitting in and taking notes. Try to have fun tonight but don’t let your guard down.”
I pause to let my words settle in.
"You’re dismissed.”
“This could have been an email,” Rorik mumbles as he slowly makes his way out of the room with the other supes.
I flip him off and he pretends to grab it and put it in his pocket. He blows me a kiss before walking out the door.
Xander and Thorne, who had been up against the wall watching as I led the meeting, return to my side.
“You’re seeing Farrah tonight?” Xander asks, already knowing the answer because I’m sure Farrah told Evangeline who then told him.
“We’re meeting up around ten after I lead tonight’s presentation,” I explain.
“Why don’t you go to her now?” Xander says, a hand on my shoulder.
“I can do the presentation,” Thorne adds.
“You hate talking and being on stage in front of people,” I say.
