I sink down in my seat, not meaning to interrupt. Evangeline pats the top of my knuckles with a calming smile and mouths, ‘it’s okay,’ to me.
“The O’Herns are smart. They’ve been hunting for centuries. They hide behind fake names. They take risks and seem to always be one step ahead, but lately, they’ve been slipping up. And now we have a chance to put someone on the inside.”
The room fills with chatter as the supes turn to each other trying to guess what Xander could mean.
The gargoyle king nods to Locheran and he stands. He holds out a hand for me, and I take it despite my stomach turning with nausea.
Please do not throw up in front of everyone,I think to myself. Locheran must have heard the thought, based on his cough to hide his amusement.
Xander waves a hand toward me. “This is Farrah. Locheran’s new mate. What I’m about to tell you stays in this room. Do you understand?”
Everyone agrees, concern crossing faces mixed with the palpable hum of curiosity.
“Farrah is the estranged daughter of Mally O’Hern. She was disowned when she refused to join them.”
I wince when angry shouts fill the room, the words are too loud for me to decipher.
“For fuck’s sake, everyone,” Xander yells.
There’s a reason he’s king. He’s a powerful gargoyle, and his voice is just as demanding. Everyone quiets, but I don’t miss the distasteful glares my way. Locheran growls beside me, fangs bared. His tail whips back and forth behind us. His wings have unfurled slightly as if readying to go to battle.
His reaction seems to work, though, and the supes who are on edge with a hunter in the room have relaxed some. Not entirely, but at least my blood is no longer vibrating. The fight within me was just as ready to battle as Locheran.
I was taught how to fight up until I refused to hunt at age fifteen. I never let myself forget. I practiced any chance I got. Every year, I took classes, from self-defense to dance or anything to keep my mind and body moving.
Xander continues speaking. “Farrah is no danger to us. Rorik peered into her mind and confirmed that she knows nothing of her family’s plans.”
“How do we know that the witch helping the hunters didn’t place a block in her mind to keep Rorik out?” Dregu, the orc, asks.
“Because I would have sensed it,” the first vampire answers. “I’ve yet to meet a witch whose powers can withstand my mind reading abilities.”
I asked if all vampires could read minds, but apparently Rorik is the only one. However, all vampires can glamour people to forget, or tweak their memories, often used after feeding in an emergency situation.
“Farrah is going to be our spy.”
More grumbling emerges from the supes around the room.
“They’ve been begging me to join them,” I say, my voice strained from nerves. I clear my throat. “I can find out their plans—”
“They’ll just believe you’ve suddenly changed your mind?” Korna, the fae, asks.
I frown because I know it’s a possibility that they won’t. “I could say I changed my mind after witnessing an attack and stepped in to save the human.”
“We’re still working out the details of the plan,” Xander says, regarding the rest of the room.
Most heads nod absentmindedly as if trying to think of their own idea for me. Only a few snarl, maybe not believing any plan we come up with will work.
“My mother will put wards in Farrah’s head to make sure the hunters’ witch can’t get in there and see our strategy,” Evangeline adds. “They might have someone helping them, but we have a witch too. My mother is quite powerful.”
“We will need soldiers from all species ready for battle,” Thorne adds. “Once Farrah gets a location, we want to send in a team immediately, so the hunters have no time to escape. We want your best soldiers on that team with the rest prepared to move in if there are problems. I will organize these plans tonight, and you’ll get them tomorrow. Leaders of supes not in attendance will also receive these plans. We will not give the hunters the chance to get away this time.”
I can’t stop my heartbeat from picking up speed. Locheran takes my hand and squeezes. “Please remember to capture not kill, if at all possible,” he says. “We can’t risk any deaths, hunter or otherwise, with the unveiling so near.”
The room agrees, though grudgingly, and it helps ease my distress.
I know my family must be stopped, but a part of me is hoping they can be rehabilitated. If I can help them see the monsters as I do…
At the same time, I have to prepare myself for what I’ll see once I’m inside. Once I see their hate in action. I’m sure nothing has changed since the horrors I witnessed as a kid.
