They were all lunatics. Clearly, their longevity had screwed up their minds. First, a baby had assaulted him. Followed by being ogled by Willow and Jase, and then two more children invaded his privacy. Then he had an audience waiting outside like he was the star in their personal strip club. Although with the look in Jess’s eyes, he knew she liked what she’d seen very much.
He entered Jess’s bedroom and discovered clothes on the bed. Mitch quickly dressed, noting they fitted well, and headed back into the main room. There, he found Jess and a couple of others, including Andie.
“Come and sit down, Mitch, I’ll wrap your wound,” Andie said with a warm smile.
“Thanks.” Mitch’s gaze located Jess, and she seemed okay, so he reined in his misgivings and took a seat.
“Mitch. I’m Maeve, who is known as Baba Yaga. These here, make up the board that runs our community. You have Liadun, whom you know as Banshee. Rhett is Dullahan, or Headless Horseman, as he’s famous for. Lily is Lilith and Marie, whom you have encountered in her Mary Worth form. Killian is Phantom, and you’ve met Jase Monroe, who is Poseidon, and finally, we have Vladimir, who is also Vampire.”
“What’s that thing you turn into?” Mitch demanded of Jase.
“I can shift into Jase, Uber-Merman, and Poseidon. Uber-Merman is Poseidon’s warrior side,” Jase explained after a dark look from Maeve.
“This is Tisiphone; she runs another community.”
“Griffin answers to me, as does Chimera. I apologise for what they did,” Tisiphone said.
“Why? Their actions were not yours,” Mitch replied.
“As leader, I take responsibility,” Tisiphone stated.
“Apology accepted. Now, what the hell is happening? My uncle attacked that restaurant and was aiming for me. I need to get home, have that stupid fuck arrested and jailed for life,” Mitch said and winced as Pandora pressed on a sore part of his ribs.
“You’re going to expose Clifton—oh yeah, we know who he is,” Vladimir replied.
“I plan to send that fucker down until the day he dies. He’ll never see outside of a cell again. Of all of the Weidemans, Clifton is a bastard who gets hard hurting people,” Mitch said crudely.
“He’s one of the worst. Clifton Weideman is an animal,” Vladimir hissed.
“Not going to disagree. And Clifton’s cruelty wasn’t just aimed at you. Nobody is off-limits with that psycho,” Mitch said.
“You’re planning to take him down,” Killian guessed.
“I am about to throw Clifton’s whole past out into the open. The cops will have to arrest him. Some families will finally get an answer to what happened to their loved ones,” Mitch snarled and then deflated. Many grieving families would be affected. Mitch couldn’t help them all, but he’d get Clifton off the streets.
“It seems suspicious that you’ve met Jess and grown a conscience,” Rhett stated.
“Guess to you that is what it looks like. I’ve not been a part of them since I was eighteen. I walked away with an insurance policy so that I could live free from their bullshit. Selfish as that might be, but I was a teenager without support. There’s only one person I could rely on: Diarmad. And he threw himself off a cliff to ensure his family couldn’t use him,” Mitch retorted.
“What a shame, one less Hunter to torture us,” Jase sneered.
“When a twelve-year-old boy jumps down from a cliff to deliberately screw up his legs, that says something. Don’t judge Diar until you’ve walked in his shoes. My family are fucked up; his went beyond that. They want a higher ranking and were prepared to do whatever was needed. Diar wasn’t, and to save himself from being forced into hunting innocents, Diar deals with constant pain,” Mitch snapped.
“Mitch,” Jess murmured, looking sad as she placed a hand on his arm.
“It’s fine. You’ve seen Diar, he’s happy,” Mitch instantly sought to reassure Jess.
“But a child?” Jess said with tears in her eyes.
Mitch pulled her close and rubbed her back. “Diar survived and lives free. My blackmail includes protection for him, too.” Mitch looked over her head and glowered. “You guys do what’s necessary to survive. Diar and I did no less.”
“We need to talk,” Maeve stated. “We have one of us missing. Gargoyle, have you seen him?”
Mitch frowned as he racked his brains. “I don’t think so, but it sounds familiar. There might be something in my records?”
“We’ll check them.”
Rhett threatened, “If we find out that you—”
