I glance at Locheran, and he shrugs before shaking his head. But he smiles, and I take that as a good sign. I open contacts on my phone and hand it over to the vampire queen. She taps away and hands it back.
“We should plan a ladies night,” Vara says. “You, me, Layla, Millie, and Evangeline. We could go to one of the many supernatural nightclubs I own around the city. That means free booze all night.”
“Ooo!” Evangeline croons from across the room, overhearing our conversation. “I’d love that.”
The gargoyles groan. All of them: Locheran, Xander, and Thorne.
I can’t help giggling at their dramatic reaction.
“I’m down,” I say.
“Wonderful,” Vara replies. “We’ll start a group chat and figure out logistics.”
“Works for me.”
With that, Vara pats my shoulder and steps away. Layla squeezes my forearm with a smile and turns to find her seat at the table between her two mates.
I spot Rorik looking longingly at the trio, but when he notices me staring, he straightens in his seat and weaves his hands in front of him. I give him a small wave that he returns with a nod before Locheran leads me to a seat on the opposite side of the table next to Evangeline.
There are a few other supernatural beings in the room that Locheran points out to me after we’ve sat down.
A beautiful fae named Korna with ice-blonde hair and magical eyes sits across the table from me. Locheran swats at my hand when I extend it to greet him, telling me to never shake a fae’s hand because it will lock me in a deal with them. Even if no words were exchanged. They’re deceiving like that.
Next I meet a wolf shifter named Haley who’s built like a warrior, but she’s short like me with dark brown skin andlovely hazel eyes. A werewolf sits next to her. Apparently, werewolves and wolf shifters are different. Shifters can transform into a wolf at any time. Werewolves can only do it during the full moon. The beefy man’s name is Hawk, which makes me giggle since he’s nothing like a bird. He’s about as big as Thorne with a thick neck, tanned skin, and silver-blue eyes.
Next is an orc named Dregu with dark green skin and long tusks poking out of his mouth. He’s also a big creature with muscles that rival Thorne’s and Hawk’s.
On the other end of the table is a griffin named Zephrys. I have to stop myself from staring. He’s magnificent. His eagle-like head and lion’s body seem unreal. I almost reach out to touch him to make sure he’s not a hallucination.
The last two creatures I’m introduced to are a demon and a centaur. Drake, the demon, looks like a bad boy emo rocker from the eighties, dressed in leather with several piercings including a nose ring. He scowls at me, but Locheran told me that’s normal for demons. The centaur, who’s standing in the corner out of the way because of her horse body, is named Olinna. She’s wearing a tight shirt that shows off her human figure. Her long dark red hair falls over her shoulders in a braid.
Gorgeous. They’re all gorgeous. I’ve yet to meet a supernatural creature that isn’t hot.
Locheran clears his throat next to me and scowls when I glance up at him. I shrug.
It's true.
Once everyone is seated at the table, which is big enough to fit all the monstrous forms except Olinna, Xander wraps up his conversation with another gargoyle who I haven’t met: he’s slim but muscular with skin that has a blueish-gray tint to it. His hair is black like Thorne’s.
He also seems young. Though, most of the gargoyles I’ve met appear young in appearance. Locheran definitely doesn’tlooka thousand years old. Same with Xander. I wonder how old gargoyles can get. Locheran says my aging will begin to slow to match his. Does that mean I’ll live to be thousands of years old too?
Locheran’s hand finds the back of my neck. He squeezes before sliding it to my shoulder and mindlessly rubs my arm with his palm.
It's soothing, but his touch also calls to the mating bond. I do NOT want all the monsters in this room to smell me, so I shrug off his hand. He looks offended at first before I silently tell himwhyI don’t want him touching me right now.
Rorik chuckles at the end of the table and Locheran flips him off.
Okay. My mate is a big child.
“Let’s begin,” Xander says, dismissing the young-looking gargoyle. “As you know, the hunters are in the city. They’ve attacked twice, killing two of Layla’s guards and injuring others. We believe they were planning a bigger attack at the conference, but that plan was thwarted when they kidnapped Vara, and Thorne and Layla tracked her down to their headquarters in Queens. Nearly a dozen hunters were killed in the battle that followed, but the rest, including their leader—Mally O’Hern—and his son Dean, were able to escape.”
My breath catches in my throat and my body tenses. Locheran pulls me closer to kiss my temple, sensing my unease.
“We've failed to catch up to them,” Xander continues. “Which leads us to believe they’ve secured many safe houses across the city and are moving between them to avoid notice. We also know they’re getting help from a witch, though it’s still not clear if it’s a willing witch or one being forced to help.”
“How can a witch be forced to help?” I whisper to Locheran.
“There are certain jewels that can be used to control a witch,” Xander answers because of course there’s no speaking quietly around supernaturals.
