It didn't happen often that you found all three of Bruja's exalted leaders in one place, and there was a reason for that. It would just be too tempting of a target to wreck all three guilds simultaneously. To leave them all leadership in one fell swoop and plunge the entirety of Bruja into chaos while she searched for new leadership would make for excellent timing for whatever trouble someone might desire. That was exactly why it was Ash who was providing the three of them with a safe, quiet place to do their business. He had his office cleared of anything sensitive that might either catch their eyes or be in the way, such as paperwork and anything he was looking into personally, and other than being its usual comfortable self, the space was all for them this afternoon.
He had the feeling, given what he knew of what had gone on recently, that it wasn't about to be something that they took the time to appreciate, but he'd never cared much whether he got the gratitude that others might owe him, or not. This being hunters, he didn't expect anything, but he'd made it clear that he didn't want blood spilled while they were there. His rules would stand, regardless of their rank in their own organization. They'd all agreed easily, which he wasn't surprised over, but he knew that they were particularly pleased with each other. It would be interesting. He intended to be keeping part of his attention on that room, just in case there were auras that needed to be soothed, and to keep up to date on information. Better informed was better equipped.
Being no stranger to the Hollow at all, Connor was both the first of the guild leaders to arrive and the most comfortable instantaneously. He even wasted a few moments at the bar chatting with his cousin and the cute blond waitress as though nothing of interest was going on, and part of that was just to improve his overall mood. He liked them both, which helped, and Chase actually stepped in right after him. She wasn't going into the room with he, Lucien and Christian, but they all knew what kind of a target this could be. Proximity helped for her, and he knew she'd be paying attention for any potential threats in their near futures. She was better than the most intimidating-looking bodyguard.
"So, what's the deal with you and your crazy voodoo girl? Still seeing her?"
"No that it's any of your business, man, but I still see her often enough. It's a loose kind of relationship," Darren explained, and Connor not only grinned, but rolled his eyes.
"'Not my business,' my ass. Let me pull a stunt like the two of you pulled on me, and see if you think it's your business," he asserted, but he was pretty friendly about it. Despite all the craziness and how much of a nervous breakdown he'd wanted to have about being bonded to a vampire, Elke was probably best-case scenario. He'd be stopping by her place after this run-in to fill her in. He figured that if her life probably depended on whether or not Connor got himself killed, he'd better keep her well-informed.
"Stop whining, already. It could have been worse, and you know it. Elke is an extremely nice lady," Chase put in from the bar stool she'd settled on, also rolling her eyes. It was a trait they'd both gotten from their mother, obviously. Darren did it, too, which definitely supported the idea that it was a 'Liten' thing.
"Alright, we can totally stop discussing my personal situations any second now," Connor pointed out, glancing towards the door. He didn't know exactly when the others were arriving, but he didn't know what 'guests' the other leaders might bring. He wasn't exactly advertising the fact that he was a bloodbond, even if it was Elke. Yes, they knew that she was a good person, but the rest of the guild need only know 'vampire' for some of them to go batshit.
It was a good idea and an excellent choice of location, especially given the fact that Leone and Midnight didn't get along. Lucien accepted that and appreciated it, but he still wasn't looking forward to this. He was sucking it up and willing to accept the blame for his mistake, but he wasn't about to have everyone negate the fact that the information he possessed and the plan they had would have worked. The only variable that had changed had been Niall, and in his own way, he changed the rules. Who could have expected Niall to enter the picture? He'd spoken to Gabriel on the subject after the vampire had a short amount of time to recover, which Ms. Summers hadn't liked at all, but Sullivan confirmed his beliefs on the subject. Not without throwing in a few words about how much of a bad idea it had been, how much he'd told Lucien what a bad idea it had been, and how much he'd said that Rafael shouldn't be there and been correct. Lucien hadn't argued, for once, and it was because he knew that Sullivan and Ortega had earned that compliance out of him. They'd both gone into Midnight, been tormented worse than he'd ever even dreamed, and survived. It didn't matter to him if they'd survived because of their own strength or because Niall had let them go, just that they had. They'd earned the right to give him hell for it, and the fact that he'd have gone in himself if it wasn't so damn obvious who and what he was didn't matter. He knew it, but it frustrated the hell out of him.
That was exactly why he'd been spending time alone lately, which actually wasn't helping his mood. He didn't know what the deal was with Zaine and his decision to spend his time alone so often, but most serpiente didn't do well with that. He just refused to take his very obvious anger and frustration on someone who didn't deserve it. Rather than fume, yell at people who didn't really deserve it and break inanimate objects, the latter two being things he'd never preferred, he'd taken to training harder and taking more hunts than he had been. It was good for working out that frustration. Still didn't fix anything, though.
Hopefully, this would.
"I highly doubt that Niall released Sullivan and Ortega to us just to turn around and send someone to attack us," he remarked, but they all knew that it was always a possibility that the new Master of Midnight was gloating before striking. Lucien assumed the vampire would have killed them and dumped the bodies somewhere they'd find them in that case, but better safe than sorry. He knew that Shane and Batten were both bringing someone with them, and could even guess who they'd bring. He didn't understand the draw of either, but being friends with one of the most practical choices in his guild didn't hurt. It was why Zaine was there, and not Xander.
Christian's gait was as always - casual. The man never seemed to stress about anything, even when he was stressed out. It was probably why he was head of the Frost ring of Bruja - nobody with any sort of full-tilt attitude could front the guild. Christian was a man known for being calm, and for being organized. Case in point, while the potential for someone to cause chaos among Bruja if they were to take out all three leaders was very true indeed, Christian had, and would always have, someone on standby in case that should ever happen. It wasn't precisely something he told people, though - in fact, between the papers that had been drawn and the person named the successor, nobody else knew, and they would never know until that day.
He liked discretion. Even Capricia, who was currently one of the highest ranking hunters in the guild, didn't know. He couldn't trust she wouldn't tell Connor - or, not that he couldn't, but he didn't feel like having to burden her with that. Capricia could keep secrets. He glanced at her as they entered, and she gave a light shrug of her shoulders as to their silent language - he'd asked her to evaluate, and she had and responded. With that, she departed from him and went to stand by the bar where her may-as-well-be-sister-in-law and Connor stood.
Christian himself just sauntered until he reached a comfortable distance from everyone, listening to Lucien speculate to his second-in-command, the Serpiente trainer Zaine. From an onlooker's standpoint, it made little sense as to why Zaine, with his methods, wasn't in Frost himself, but when you got to the core of it, he and Christian clashed horribly, for whatever reason. It wasn't even that they disagreed about method or opinion - they just mixed like oil and water.
"Do we have any texts on Niall?" he asked, folding his arms as he came to rest. The Therrayan that had been assigned to Frost had not yet returned from council with any information, and Christian suspected that either he was having difficulty finding them, or he was having difficulty getting permission to remove them from the massive library that the scribes had. Really, the point of having a group to document all of the Nyeusi was moot if you couldn't get any of the info when you needed it.
Capricia greeted Connor with a light kiss on the cheek before she brushed along to a stool. She wasn't going into the office, since it was for the "big wigs" only, but that didn't mean she couldn't contribute as she deigned.
"I wonder how long he's been there," she said. "If Jeshickah left midway through their stay and was present but not accounted for, or if she's been gone a while now and we're just seriously uninformed. I mean, it isn't like they're knocking down our doors to tell us what they've been up to," she quipped.
Zaine really had never acquired a taste for crowds or people, and so he really couldn't empathize Lucien's torment at the moment. He couldn't imagine it, and didn't try, thanking stars that Lucien wasn't the sort of type to betty up and want a sympathetic ear to listen to. No, Zaine really couldn't have gone down that path.
"He's a Silver, I got that much. Text around him is pretty guarded, according to what I hear, which is... aggravating. A point of interest that was brought up is that there's another person he's working with. Ortega said something about a woman, and she wasn't a vampire. Who the hell just strolls around Midnight so sure of themselves without fear of being put on a leash? I mean, glorified pet?"
Zaine was pretty clueless about this, but then again, he didn't make it a point to learn things like a vampire's favourite colour or how long they've been around. He really didn't find a deep interest in them except when it came to cutting them apart. He resumed his silence and nestled back in his dark corner - because every room Zaine was in was shaped like an n-gon, n representing the number of dark corners he could possibly find to hide in.
Connor smiled when Christian walked in, and there were multiple reasons for that. For starters, he'd always liked the Frost leader. The man was much more level-headed than any of the hunters in his guild, he had the same kind of casual danger to him than Connor himself possessed, and he was downright likable. Then, there was the fact that the Frost leader walked in with Capri, which was another point in his favor. When she approached and kissed him on the cheek, he was sure to turn to catch hers as she slid past him to a stool.
"Well, from the sound of it, they're actually not opposed to breaking in and throwing information at us," he pointed out, glancing at Lucien. He'd heard pretty quickly from both Chase and Shannon about what had happened, and he hadn't been pleased to know that one of his trainers, and friends, had been targeted like that. It was a bad sign. He'd encouraged her, if she wanted to remain up to speed on things, to spend some time with the Macaw instead of the vampire, just in case. Ortega was in the safety of the guildhouse, whereas Sullivan had gone home.
Obviously taking a hint as to the direction of the conversation, it was Lucien who gestured towards the office, and Connor actually tapped both Capri and Chase on the shoulders to suggest they join. Cobriana might have planned on it only being the three of them, but Connor was already of the opinion that Zaine, Chase and Capri were valuable to have in the room.
Chase followed Connor's lead, unable to help joining in the conversation. She hadn't managed quite the avenues that Zaine may have, considering the Therrayan for Crimson tried to stay away from her because she learned things just from being in the same room, but she had spent some time around both Gabriel and Rafael.
"From what I've gathered, Niall was in and out of Midnight earlier in their stay, usually with Jeshickah, but also with another woman. Everything about him lingers on what happened after Ortega and Sullivan were captured, but there are bits and pieces of conversation that I haven't been able to make out. I think his appointment was planned for some time and kept quiet," she offered. It was sometimes hard to describe the feelings she got from certain things, especially since it wasn't always a clear-cut scene in her mind, but she'd had plenty of practice at it.
As they all entered the office, she glanced Zaine's way, because he HAD hit on the point of interest that she'd wondered about as well. "I was looking into the woman Ortega mentioned, too. I haven't found much about her, either, except that she has darker skin and silver eyes, and everyone considers her some sort of witch. I don't know if she really is, or if it's just a title. It has that sort of ring to it, the 'Silver-eyed Witch'." Actually, just about every time she'd seen the woman in her mind's eye, that had been ringing through her mind like background music. That, and screams. She could only assume it was Rafael and Gabriel's screams, and she didn't want to admit that she probably didn't have as much information as she'd like because the subject matter was giving her a migraine and nightmares, but it was the truth. Connor had actually told her to stop, most likely because Jonathan had said something to her brother, but she'd just made her glances briefer and less often wherever she could stand to.
Connor had heard this information from Chase as she'd gathered it, which really meant that he had more details than she was offering the others. She was much more candid with him, and he'd even been present during some of her 'glances' or whatever she wanted to call them. That meant that if she was saying anything while she was looking, he heard it. It didn't often make sense, but he knew that she wasn't kidding about the 'Silver-eyed Witch' thing. He just didn't know what it meant.
"She's freeblood, whatever she is. Maybe even his bloodbond. It seems like the new Master spends a good bit of time with her, both in and outside of the dungeons, so she has some kind of rank. That doesn't really explain what she is if she's not a vampire, though. I haven't heard of anyone mortal having any kind of sway in Midnight."
That really suggested bloodbond to him. Maybe it was his own take on things because of his own situation, but what other ideas were there? A triste didn't even occur to him, despite the fact that they were sitting in one's office.
Chase concerned Lucien some, especially when she started offering information that confirmed and went beyond what Zaine knew. None of their information junkies had returned from council with any information, and Zaine had his own methods of picking up information that Lucien would not peg the pretty little human for having. The rumors about her were looking more accurate as time passed, so he wasn't really in any hurry to spend much time with her. He didn't know her well enough to judge what she'd do with any information she gleaned.
It meant that he wasn't pleased when Batten gestured for the three they'd brought with them to come up to the office, but he couldn't deny that he liked having Zaine join in. He couldn't be a hypocrite about it, so he just let that one go in favor or receiving whatever information they were all going to throw in. This was more than he'd known about Niall before.
"Since when is a Silver permitted to reign in Midnight? The line is, and always has been, against Midnight. They rule in Mayhem, so why are they allowing this?" he offered, mostly rhetorically. He didn't expect anyone to know, but it was certainly a concern. Wouldn't his sire, whoever it was, step forward and remove him? "I assume there's no word on who his sire is? Or his age?"
Of course not. Zaine had said the text around him was pretty guarded, and if he'd figured out who the sire was, he'd have said so. That was a concern, though. Silver's line was powerful, and many of them were very old. To know who the sire was would be to know how much strength Niall may have gotten from the old blood. Not that Lucien had any delusions about being able to attack Midnight or Niall, but the vampire had struck back at them. It would be nice not to be completely in the dark if this didn't turn out to be the last time.
"Maybe a bloodbond," Christian half-agreed, changing his posture. "But maybe not. Can we rule out shapeshifter? What breeds to we know that have silver or otherwise-light eyes?" he asked. He glanced at Capricia. Mentally, he scrolled through the listed breeds he could think of. "Strigi?" he asked, finally. Did owls have silver eyes?
"Mm, I can think of only one person I know of that has silver or gray eyes, and she is a witch," Capricia said. She jerked her head up towards the second level of the bar, indicating that she was speaking about Danielle. "But I wouldn't say that it's a Vida trait. Still, I have a hard time believing people in Midnight would think that of her if it wasn't some sort of title - at least, not without the new Master ripping out their brains by the stem," she said with a shrug.
"What other option is there? Surely a Vida wouldn't be associated with Midnight. No Macht Witch would." He paused. "But then again, if a Silver vampire is running the show now, I'd say there's a big, big part of the story we don't have. Now, the Therrayan we have did say something about another Midnight existing, which isn't terribly far-fetched if you think about the slave trade as a global notion. If the Mistress or Master of that Midnight is also a Silver, then I'd say we've got a connection."
He wondered if they had their very own "silver-eyed witch" there, too. Of course, Christian couldn't possibly know that Verity's brother Timoziel was sired by Rajz, the current Master of Midnight Europe, or that Rajz and Niall had the same pairing as their own sires. Documentation on Iloquil and Justinian was available, but it didn't mention fledglings, because to the Therrayan knowledge, or anyone else's, actually, there hadn't been any.
No, they couldn't really rule out shapeshifter. It was a possibility, but he wasn't so sure that he bought the idea that an owl was so incredibly badass that she had everyone in Midnight calling her 'The Silver-eyed Witch'. He wasn't going to completely dismiss the idea, but he just really didn't see it happening. He was betting on something else. Besides, if she was a chai bird, why would she ever promote the discovery of whatever it was they'd done to Ortega? Chase had said it was a vampire who'd done it, and that was a bad, bad thing for a vampire to learn how to pull off. It just didn't seem to be good strategy.
Of course, if she was something special to the Master, then perhaps she just didn't give a damn.
"Agreed," he said with a nod in Capri's direction as she made her opinion regarding the title known. It was unlikely that Niall would allow such disrespect if she was really as important as she seemed to be. The 'witch' bit must really be something that mattered.
This was too many 'what-ifs' for his taste, really. They didn't know jack-shit, so this was just all of them trying to figure out what was most likely. It still didn't mean they were right. "It's possible, but I'd still hesitate to think that Silver's line would be supporting Midnight. If there really are Silver vampires ruling, or even involved, then they're either outcasts or lying."
Nobody said that vampires always told the truth, and what better way to psych out potential enemies than to claim the line that was most known for putting out powerhouses? "We need to see if we can figure out more about a Midnight in Europe to confirm any part of that sort of idea, and we need more information on Niall himself. A sire would be an excellent place to start. If we can figure that out, we can try to determine the level of threat he could be."
And, the level of crazy. Not all fledglings seemed to inherit their sire's crazy, but all you had to do was look at Kendra's line. Generally, they were artsy and off their rockers.
Chase gave her brother a long look, like she didn't really think she believed he'd said that. "Connor, Niall is a threat, and a big one. He's fairly new to town and was allowed to take charge of Midnight," she pointed out, and he at least had the grace to just shrug his shoulders instead of arguing. "I don't think knowing how powerful he is on a personal level is even important, since he has so many resources that it'd be amazing if anyone even got close enough to find out."
There was something, though. She'd had to go visit Sullivan at his apartment, which she'd been surprised to note was much more of a defensive and offensively equipped place than she'd expected, but she'd gotten him to agree to sit through holding her hand and concentrating on Niall and what had happened. She was good, but with that kind of added focus and contact, she'd gotten a much better idea as to what they were dealing with. It was part of why she couldn't imagine Niall not being a threat.
"He's the King of Nightmares. We all know that some vampires achieve enough power that they form a sort of specialty, like the one that forced Ortega into a half-form that he shouldn't possess, and Niall's is simply nightmares. He's strong, and we don't want ever to take him on close enough that he can cloud our minds and warp our reality. Since we don't know the range of it, I honestly just suggest leaving him, and Midnight, be," she pointed out. Really, she didn't know that there was anything else they could do. Being informed and knowing what was out there was important, but Niall would never be a hit. If he became a hit, he would be one that was impossible while he was in power. She didn't know if he'd be possible otherwise, and the only thing she could think of that might destroy him was a room with a firestone-laced perimeter and an explosive. It was just suicide, considering the last thing you wanted to discover if you actually survived and succeeded was that his sire was even more dangerous and impossible to kill than he was.
Connor listened, his jaw tightening with Chase's explanation because he knew what she'd endured to get that information, and he couldn't argue. He glanced at the others in their presence, namely Lucien, and quirked an eyebrow up. "No arguments there, I take it?" He sure as hell wasn't assigning anyone to touch that situation.
Lucien pushed away from the wall he'd taken to leaning against as they all talked, and it was quickly becoming obvious to him that the consensus was that they didn't mind looking, but they weren't going to touch. He wasn't in any hurry to send anyone else there, either, but that didn't change the fact that giving Midnight a free pass to do whatever they wanted wasn't the best option.
"So, we don't know who the woman is, and all we have to go on about the Master of Midnight himself is what Ms. Paxton has gleaned from dreams? We're going to accept this as a reason to allow Midnight to go completely unchecked? Bruja has always been the only way of keeping both Midnight and Mayhem in check, since they don't check each other that often. We can't completely back off just because of Niall's show of aggression. It will be seen as a sign of weakness, and he'll push for more ground than he's already taken."
He got more of an unpleasant look from Connor than Chase when he called it 'dreams', but he didn't care. He wasn't here for friends, but for a solid decision. They needed to try for unity, but he wasn't inclined just yet to agree to letting Midnight run wild. They had already been taking more and more ground before this, and now Niall seemed ready to really push the limits.
"Seriously, I don't know what you expect us to do. Not only did a seasoned fighter who happens to be a vampire of considerable age get completely destroyed by the very people you want to teach a lesson, but one of your hunters has been confined to the infirmary since Midnight let him go, and Victor can't honestly tell me whether the man is going to be able to shift ever again. Besides the emotional trauma of the entire situation, he's stuck in a half-form that is supposed to be impossible to achieve and he's malnourished to the point that he's healing at human speed, so his broken wings won't be healed enough to even find out if he can shift them away. Colleen was trying to get him to shift to full parrot so that she could deal with pure animal anatomy instead, and he couldn't do it. The vampire went off on a crowd of criminals, and we can only be glad that he did it, because the alternative was killing him or letting him kill two of your hunters and one of mine. Frankly, Cobriana, I don't think any of us are in any situation to take this enemy on in his own fortress."
Yeah, the jab at the accuracy of Chase's information had stung, and he'd been stewing over Lucien's stunt since he found out. You had to give him credit, though. He hadn't called him on it being personal over the fiancee and kid.
Really? "I never pegged you for being a coward, Batten. We have never made our decisions based on the fact that an enemy could hurt us. The majority of our assignments are paid, but the overall idea is public safety, is it not? I know you've done jobs for free just to ensure that a monster isn't on the loose. Letting them go unchecked is not going to do anything except preserve our own hides, for a little while. Eventually, we'll be in just as much trouble," he snapped.
Christian slammed his fist down on the counter at Lucien's remarks about the guilds not moving due to fear and then dragging the 'moral purpose' of Bruja being about public safety. "Now you hold on just a god-damned minute, Cobriana," he snarled. Capricia's head snapped from her fingernails to her guild leader, brown eyes wide. She'd never heard Christian talk that way before - ever.
"If you want to talk public safety, let's talk public safety. I don't think you seem to understand what's going to happen if we just stroll back in there after Niall graciously let your two hunters - sorry, one hunter, and one rogue vampire go. And yes, graciously, because that's what it was, considering that he didn't put their remnants in a blender and mail it to you in the form of a special smoothie. Did you ever think that the reason Sullivan's girlfriend was so upset wasn't because of the danger you'd put him in, but the danger everyone else had been thrown into? I know you're no stranger to collateral damage, which is half of what this little bilge into Midnight was about - and I can't say I wouldn't have done the same thing, so I won't even begin to try and lecture you like I bet others have - but you're not looking at the bigger picture."
"Katherine and Gabriel, who are they? Police. Who do they know? Half of NYPD is Nyeusi - lions, leopards, even a black jaguar. There are some birds, plus a Mira vampire already at her ascension for power, and that's just a scratch. Katherine's family? She's related to the Paxtons through a half-sister, and that links Connor and Chase - and Kenzie. And Jonathan. And Anya," he said, dropping the names like hammers, syllables punctuated as he spoke through clenched teeth. "Nevermind Jonathan's extended family, which branches further out and connects even more people."
"And of course, let's not forget the guild leaders ourselves. Connor, clearly, you've got one hell of a clan going - not to mention Darren and all of the people he's tied to. For me, Evangela, Andrea - Derrek, her brother, his girlfriend Melody. And you, Lucien? Rhona, Irulan, and their massive family, not to mention Eden and the entire host of his club should a vampire get the taste for fine females of the shapeshifting persuasion. There's a six or seven degree mark between everyone in this room, and it branches out exponentially."
He glanced to Chase and Connor. "You say he deals with nightmares - if he can inspire them, then he can conjure a person's worst fear without necessarily knowing it. Nothing says he didn't pick names and faces out of the three heads of those people in that cell. Connor, you have Rafael watch Kenzie sometimes, right? Guess what - now Niall knows about that. Knows who she is, knows what she means to Rafael, and probably has a good idea of what she means to you."
"Fucking shit Christian, shut up," Capricia commanded, her face white as snow. "I don't even want to consider the fact that these freaks can go after us one by one," she snapped.
Christian just glanced at her and shrugged. "But it's exactly what's going to happen. I'm not saying that we sit back and do nothing. I'm saying that we should take this for what it is and leave it alone until we know more. I, for one, am not authorizing any of my hunters anywhere near Midnight or its associates until we are completely up to speed on what's happening. I'll have the announcement drawn up as soon as we're back, but I'm going to go ahead and say, for the record, anyone caught trying to engage a Midnight target is going to end up with a bullet in their head compliments of me."
His icy eyes were narrowed as he looked from Connor to Lucien. "The last thing I need is for Niall to get frisky and let his silver-eyed bitch or any other power-wielding vampire loose on my family and their families because I couldn't keep my ducks in order. You may be willing to risk that, but I'm not. Period. Until I know more or until I've drawn up some sort of binding contract that keeps my family out of this mess, that's how it is." His sarcasm fell through at the end, becoming painfully obvious by the way his words bit. And then, like nothing had happened, he relaxed back against the bar. It was rare that Christian had a lot to say, but when he did, he sure did.
Neither Connor nor Chase said a damn thing while Christian unloaded, and that was a serious effort on Connor's part. Chase had always been the calmer, more level of the two, and he attributed it to her ability. She'd learned control. He'd learned to be loud and aggressive, though not nearly so much as some of the hunters he knew. He still wanted to punch Cobriana in the face, but Christian had pretty much managed it without actually getting physical. Points for him.
He'd also managed to put into vivid focus all of the things that Connor hadn't wanted to consider. They knew that Niall had pulled Katherine's information out of Gabriel, and it was to be expected that the vampire's shields were better than Rafael's. Connor hadn't wanted to think it, but Christian was right.
He turned to Chase suddenly and made eye contact, which really seemed to be enough.
"That's too many people to watch, Connor," she told him softly with a shake of her head. "I can do my best to keep an eye out for immediate family, but we all have way too many members of an extended family. Christian's right. Without knowing what Niall would do, including whether he'd start on distant family or immediate, it would be very difficult to keep everyone safe. This is a fight we can't win."
She would do everything she could to watch Christian's family, Connor's and hers, but she really didn't know Lucien well enough to get a good read on Rhona. She'd try through Irulan, though. If it weren't for the fact that there were others at risk, she'd have told Lucien where to stick it if he didn't want to put any faith in her, but she wasn't that way.
He didn't like what Christian had to say anymore than the others did, though it bit worse for him. They were worried about their families, and it was like twisting the knife to know that his was already gone. Christian had said something that hit home, though. Rhona and Irulan. Tsunai and his child were gone, but he wasn't entirely alone. He still had people to worry about, and he was lucky they hadn't been targeted up until this point. It had to be obvious in Gabriel and Rafael's mind that he'd been the one to send them, and Gabriel's body had been dropped with his name on a note. It hurt his pride to shut up on account of Christian, but he did it this time.
Mostly.
"A 'binding contract'? Are you really considering trying to meet with that vampire?" he asked, and it wasn't a derisive, sarcastic question, just a disbelieving one. His temper was still flaring, much like a cobra's hood might, but he was strategizing again and not snapping. Christian and Connor couldn't go, not with any reasonable level of safety unless it was agreed on prior. They were human. Granted, he didn't know that Connor was a bloodbond, which made him off-limits, or that the vampire he was bonded to happened to be Theron's preferred fledgling. Those were toes that shouldn't be stepped on, so Connor could go, but why would Lucien know that?
The idea of a contract, despite Cobriana's disbelief, might actually be a good one. "You might be onto something, Shane. I personally want to let the 'clan' know that they're on alert for the time being, but that can't last. Getting an audience with Niall and trying to draw up a contract would be a solution. Think he's sane enough to go for it?" he asked, and he was focusing on the group at whole, namely Christian, but he glanced at Chase. She had a better impression of Niall than anyone, so far.
She knew what Connor wanted, and she frowned further than she already was, tempted to try reaching out for information, but not really wanting to. "Everything I've gleaned from him personally has been fragmented and out of order. I don't know if it's a defense to keep someone like me out, or if he really is unstable, but he wouldn't be in the position he is if he was completely insane. Sullivan and Ortega's past experiences reflect a calm, dignified demeanor. I don't really see how it could do any additional damage to try for a contract, so I merely suggest caution. Treat him like a dangerous political enemy, but a gentleman, instead of a monster and I think we'll all be better off."
"Alright," he said with a nod. "Darren's been rooming here, anyway, so Leone will keep him safe. I want Kenzie staying in Crimson until we get this settled, and Capri, I'd really like to have you and Anya stay in my rooms at the guildhouse. They're big enough that we shouldn't be cramped short term," he offered, and the other option would have been Elke's home. He didn't think anyone outside of his circle would know to look for anyone he cared about there, and she adored Anya, for sure. She wouldn't want anything happening to Capri and Anya, but he wasn't so sure if Capri would want to be cloistered away with the vampire instead of at the guildhouse, where she could still be involved with things. He just hoped she didn't insist on staying in her house, or at Frost. This was exactly why the guild leaders HAD quarters at the guildhouse, otherwise he'd have just gotten a comfortable couch in case he needed to crash overnight.
"I think, considering the fact that he let your people go, Lucien, the least we can do is recognize that for what it was - a warning. Jeshickah wouldn't have let them go, we can all agree on that. Ortega is rare, and Sullivan is 'pretty'. She'd have found a use for them, for sure," he added, a grim look on his features. He sat down in a stool by the bar, his posture casual. It was unnerving how Christian could flip from strategical, political and cold to, well, Christian Shane, father of one and babysitter to many.
"I'm not sure who to suggest to go in. Do we even have any hunters who have been contracted out by them in the past?" he asked, looking at Lucien and Connor. "Some of my people were mercenaries before, and I don't particularly care for the idea of body-snatching, but sometimes it just is what it is. I'd even say one of the three wolves we've got could send word, but that trio has their own way of doing things, and I very seriously doubt Xander would set foot near Midnight, or let Kimber or Thomas attempt to. They're pretty firm about the orders they do and do not follow."
Capricia jumped up, snapping her fingers. "Darren!" she exclaimed. "Didn't you say that the female jaguar you met was from Midnight? Because then we joked about how all the bad shit is attracted to you, like that crazy vampire. I don't mean to use you as bait or anything, but did she ever give you a way to contact her?" Capricia knew that Darren had mentioned this to Connor, at least, but she'd just made it public knowledge.
"And before anyone says anything, she only came by a few times. You can ask Danielle - Dave kept a bucket of cold water on standby. He said she always came by to play - literally, she had a ball that she liked for him to chase around with her. And then she'd like, go back to wherever she came from. I think she was lonely, but she certainly wasn't here to 'scope' anything. She was really not all there in the head. Ash was pretty careful about watching them. Also, Elke I think saw her once or twice - she might remember her, too. Actually..." she trailed off. If they could find that cat, she could have Elke try to convince her to contact Niall. Elke wouldn't be in any danger around a cat. Capricia didn't know Elke was Theron's favourite fledgling, but that would have only fluffed her ego a little. Her glorified baby-sitter was an uber-powerful and squishy-cute vampire. How typical.
"I'm going to go ahead and protest to this moving to another guild house, though," she said. "I can stay with Anya and Elke, but not forever. I have things I need to do at Frost. I can always have Thomas accompany me, right? Christian, you don't think he'd mind if I needed him to run back and forth with me to Crimson, do you?"
"I can't really speak for Grimm, but I'd say any opportunity to see Kimber is one he'll take. Not only that, but her brother Remy would probably be willing, also." He paused, and then frowned. "Connor, I think as long as we can keep our hunters in check until we come to some agreement, Capricia herself might be okay. Smaller family members, including ones who aren't equipped physically or emotionally to fight, should probably be watched."
"That means Rhona's moving into Onyx," Zaine said. "Won't she be thrilled," he added dryly. A Sunday school teacher moving into a place of violence - he honestly didn't see what Lucien saw in her. Irulan really was much more capable, but then again, they were both annoying to him. "And Kenzie will be in Crimson? Connor, are you sure there's not a convent you could stuff her in for a while?" he asked, a brow raised. Everyone knew Kenzie liked attention. "You'd better have Skye and Kimber stuck on her twenty-four seven, or you'll end up killing your own trainees."
He paused, and then spoke after another moment of thought. "I'll call Mitzi and let her know that I want her to stay at Onyx for a while," he said finally. "She's in and out far too much, if anyone saw her - well, she and Mickey are the only two Lincei I know of, and Mickey is halfway 'round the world." He looked at Lucien, and then excused himself, pulling his phone out as he exited the room. If Zaine had only known that Mitzi was a direct relation to someone who worked inside Midnight Europe, things would have been either much easier or much more complicated - Sparks was a mouthy vampire and not much of a fighter, but he was valuable to both Europe and US, through Persephone.
Christian ran his hands through his short hair, groaning angrily. "What a fucking mess. Okay, so, we're all in accord - put out an order not to stir the bee's nest until we can get some ground rules? It's going to look weird if only one guild puts up that command, so I'd like to come to some terms of agreement, here."
Connor didn't really know what part of this Lucien wasn't getting, but he was convinced that the guy had a hard head and just didn't want to get it all. He'd definitely offered up two individuals that Jeshickah would have had a field day with.
"I don't know of any hunters in Crimson who have contracted with Midnight, but I'm not surprised. It isn't like we make it a habit to advertise our jobs," he pointed out. He was sure there were some hunters under his command that had the personality to do something like that, but a lot of them had reasons not to. He wasn't going to cross-examine everyone in his guild to find out.
He'd opened his mouth to offer to go extend the invitation to a meeting himself, figuring that as a bloodbond he'd be safer than most, when Capri mentioned Darren. At first, he just stared at her like she was insane, offering up a black leopard that he happened to be related to, to Midnight, but she had a point. "Darren?"
For the first time since Chase, Capri and Connor had turned their attention to the meeting they were all there for, Darren found himself being drawn in, and he glanced from face to face as they all looked his way. For a brief instant, he gave them all wide, surprised green eyes before recovering and shrugging. "Uh, yeah. I have a number. Was kind of surprised she gave it to me, but I've never used it. I can call her," he offered, and he actually hoped Elke would come to the Hollow when he was there, anyway. He really liked Elke.
He just hoped that by being 'bait' this time, it didn't blow up in his face. His luck seemed to be a mix of really good and really shitty. Nothing really in the middle. He also hoped that Capri would stop offering details about whenever Persephone would show up, and gave her a look that suggested he'd like that, since he definitely didn't need a bunch of people whose respect he'd have liked to have thinking he was a total idiot.
"Hey, with Elke would be fine with me!" Connor said, putting his hands up slightly defensively. All he cared about was that she was safe. They'd managed to take Rafael and Gabriel together, so he didn't want to play around. "Yes, Darren, calling her would probably be the easiest, if you can. Staying here and not leaving without either Ash or Danielle would be a good idea for you, too."
He sighed, glancing up to Zaine as the man mentioned his younger sister, and he winced. "Don't I wish there was a convent," he muttered, but he knew better. He'd have asked Skye if she could just take her home with her for a few days, since what could be safer than a lion and a hyena who both didn't hunter and mercenary work? Besides an entire guild, of course. Problem was, he didn't know if she'd try to hit on Skye's husband, just because she could, and he didn't want Skye pissed off about it. He'd have to ask Sitara.
"We'll be setting some ground rules," Chase said firmly. She didn't really agree with Connor's ridiculously aggressive protective measures, but she also didn't agree with Kenzie hitting on the men that she did at her age. She was stuck in the middle, so she was going to have to be the level-headed one. That Zaine had picked up on the problem suggested that it was something that really needed to be done. It made the fact that Rafael was so badly hurt even worse, since he'd always been a good person to hang out with Kenzie. He wasn't interested in her the way she was interested in every other male hunter, and he'd brushed off any attempts she'd tried. From there, he'd managed to field her more often than anyone outside of her family.
She was almost tempted to put him on babysitting duty once he was well enough to move around, just to keep him from getting restless and feeling useless. That was a common trend among hunters, and was something she'd keep in mind. She didn't think he was going to be wanted roaming around for awhile.
Lucien nodded in Zaine's direction, both about Mitzi and Rhona, and said nothing as his second wandered off to call the girl. Instead, he let the others continue speaking, trying to think over what had already been discussed. A temporary hold on any Midnight-related jobs was acceptable, he supposed. He still didn't agree with stopping entirely, but until an agreement could be reached with Niall, yes. "I will make the same announcement, provided we all agree to work on this contract quickly. Who is Elke?"
He didn't want to even consider that she might be the same woman he'd met with Sigried, but he'd never heard the name before that. Could it really be her? There had been mention of her in relation to cat shifters, and he did remember that the woman loved cats. Could it be the same?
"A friend," Capricia answered. She smiled to Lucien, having caught the hint that Darren was throwing. "She's the only vampire I don't have any intentions of splattering, and when I say only I do mean only," she added. She leaned lazily against Connor for support, crossing one foot over the other at her strange slanted angle.
"What, Zaine, has Kenzie put you on her 'hit list', too?" she asked, her mouth quivering a little. Kenzie was eerie in her facial features of resembling a precisely aged-down Capricia. It made Capri especially curious as to what she did and when she did it, but she certainly wasn't going to parent the girl's sex life. Clearly, Capricia wasn't anyone to be in a position to tell someone how to manage that. She was the most non-maternal person in the world - and Connor the most unlucky. And they had a daughter. And a house-vampire. No, no lectures from her. Hypocrisy didn't match her lipstick.
"She'll be fine. Hope your hunters aren't dumb enough to fall for her tricks and leave it at that. Or have Sitara watch her. I doubt Kenzie would disrespect her; Sitara has a rather impressive sniper rifle that Kenzie can't take her eyes off of. I'm willing to bet she'll stick to sweet-talking her into going shooting before she'll try to make out with anyone - not only that, but Shannon's put the fear of God into all of your trainees after all of this. They're afraid of women, at this point."
"It sounds like we're done here, for now. If Darren can get a hold of this Persephone character, we can try and see from her reaction if a meeting with Niall is something we're able to attempt. If it's a task that's not too out of hand, I'll find a way to make it happen. In the meanwhile, the Therrayans are hunting for information, on both this Midnight and the Midnight in Europe. Anything I can get at all is something I can use, so I'd pass the word to your scribes as well - and if I find out information has been purposely withheld..."
He trailed off. The Therrayan Council always had "their own way" of doing things, but in situations like this, Christian couldn't see any fatal flaw in not giving them what they'd asked for; he could certainly see a fatal error if they withheld, though. The Therrayan Council was meddlesome in his opinion, a group of stuffy old men from 'round the globe who convened and dictated what lore went where. He had no real power among them, though - none of the leaders did. It was up to them, ultimately, unless Christian wanted to beat information out of them, but even then some of the texts weren't even translatable without one of the old bastards there to do it. Damned group had a special key and everything.
Well, at least Capri hadn't given any details other than that Elke was a vampire. The way Lucien didn't look at all surprised by he and Capri being friendly enough with a vampire to bunk with the woman didn't make him feel any better about it. He really didn't like the response they got.
"Ah. Tell her to give her sister my regards."
Then, Lucien offered Christian a nod and a promise to be in touch and followed Zaine out of the room. Connor stared after him, and finally turned to Capri. "It unnerves me that he might have a reason to say that," he remarked, and he had to be honest about the fact that he didn't know if Sasha had ever taken an interest in the snake king. He didn't know her too well, but if he had to guess? A king, for sure. He didn't know if he felt bad for Lucien, or if he wanted to laugh at him. The guy seriously didn't have any idea what he was getting into.
"Ah, anyway, Christian. Yeah, I think we're done, and I'll call you when and if we get in touch with her. You'll have all the details I have on that one, promise," he offered Christian, also extending his hand for a shake. "I'm sure Capri wants to stick around for it, anyway, and anything I fail to mention, she will."
Darren, for his part, was more torn between being amazed that he was getting dragged into this and that Connor was going to house Kenzie at Crimson. If he hadn't been worried about her being around the bar at all hours, he'd have offered to keep her in the Hollow. She didn't seem to know what to do with Ash, whether it was flirt with him, ask him sincerely curious questions, or be on her best behavior, and somehow managed some kind of strange middle ground. Ash just took it in stride and humored her without encouraging the flirting. Darren gave him credit for his patience.
Christian shook Connor's hand firmly. Thank God one of the leaders had more sense than pride. Was it being human that made you see things a little more clearly? He didn't know. The remark about telling Elke's sister regards was ominous enough, but Christian didn't comment on it. He usually kept his comments to himself, which gave him way more ammunition when he finally did pop. "I'm going to get home to my family. I trust you'll let me know when and if Darren finds Persephone."
He pulled Capri aside for a moment and they spoke, but it was very brief. It was more or less business specifically pertinent to Frost and not to the actual situation at hand, so he didn't feel the need to share. He walked to the door with her as he spoke, and closed it behind himself, leaving Capricia there alone.
"Well," she said after a pause, brows raised. She put her hands behind her back and walked back over to the bar where Connor was, again, and rested her chin on his shoulder. "You know, I don't think we're compensated enough monetarily for this much stress. I'm pretty sure by now I should have a fifty-thousand dollar engagement ring." She smiled at him wryly, and then laughed at his eyes as they bulged. "I'm kidding, Connor. Do you know how much that would get in my way when I fight? This ring is fine," she assured him. And it was - small, but sparkly. Capricia could be flashy without it; that only added to it.
"So, what did that mean, 'give her sister my regards'? Sasha's a little batshit, if I recall correctly. Elke said she's had a pretty... real history. I wonder how he knows her," she said, glancing at the door where the Serpiente had departed. She looked from that to Chase, changing the subject. "When are Jonathan and Kenzie supposed to be here? I'll give her the good news, that she's about to be surrounded by men who'll get stabbed if they so much as look at her. She'll be happy to know Connor's sanity is slipping," she said glibly, a smile on her face.
She was trying to make the best out of the situation, but underneath it, she was nervous. She wasn't scared yet, but she understood the severity of this better than some of the people seemed to. After all, that large extended family included her own, when it came down to it. Even if her father had passed away, she was still just as connected. She didn't need that sort of responsibility on top of what she already had; a meeting was necessary.
"Darren, you know, Ash or Dave or someone probably already has mentioned you know Persephone," she said, staring at him and returning the glare he'd given her when she 'outed' him. "I mean, even your Rainbow-Brite girlfriend knows you know her. Shit, she probably hit on her. But she's like, slow, right? Or crazy? Or something." She frowned. "Your ex sure didn't seem to like her at all. I bet bitch was jealous," she guessed, a sinister smile on her face. No, Capri hadn't cared for Mars too much. Andrew was the only Vida she was chummy with. Mars had tried too hard and thought she was too good, but since she left the guild, Capri hadn't had a need to bother mentioning it.
"Of course," he agreed easily, letting Christian and Capri attend to their Frost business while Chase called Jonathan and asked if he could bring Kenzie over. That left him and Darren to chat for a few minutes, during which the leopard located the number Persephone had given him in his phone.
"Seriously, this had better not blow up in my face."
"I wouldn't have you call if I really thought it was going to blow up in your face," he pointed out. Darren wasn't calling until they knew what to say about it, but Connor put out a mental shout for Elke's attention, followed by a recap of what was happening. It disturbed him a little that it was becoming so easy, but they'd been spending a good amount of time together. It helped immensely that Capri was friendly with Elke, since that meant that 'family time' could include the vampire, who had definitely accepted his family as being an extension of her own. Everyone was settled again by the time Capri returned, and he tilted his head in her direction, leaning into her ever so slightly, when she returned.
Well, until she mentioned a fifty-thousand dollar engagement ring, and then he jerked some and his eyes bugged out a little, both because of the price and how much he knew it'd take to keep repairing it after fights, and how much damage she could do with a punch like that. Considering he sometimes took those punches, it was a personal reason on both counts. He'd chosen a smaller one, still sparkly but with a more practical size to it, specifically because he knew she'd be likely to fight with it occasionally. Even if she removed it some of the time, or most of the time, it would happen. He knew her better than that. Besides, she wasn't the only one who knew she could be flashy without the added sparkle and size to a ring.
"Honestly? He's a snake, and Sasha's the same way with snakes that Elke is with cats. Sasha probably likes him because he's not just a snake, but their king. She's not as humble as Elke. I'm not going to put much stock in it, because he's probably deluding himself into thinking she's something she's not." Meaning, he probably thought she wasn't crazy, and she was. Oops, bad move on the cobra's part.
"She WILL think Connor's sanity is slipping, until she finds out we're putting her with a bunch of women who don't think it's cute," Chase pointed out, ignoring the way her brother rolled his eyes. Putting her with Shannon might help, since Shannon definitely wasn't the sort to encourage that sort of behavior. Having Sitara bribe her with some shooting time was also a good idea, and Chase would be keeping a number of them in the back of her mind. If Kenzie was spending any amount of time there, they would need multiple options. That girl was way too inventive for Chase's tastes.
Personally, Chase saw the resemblance between Kenzie and Connor, even if neither of them would admit it. Kenzie was just smarter about it than Connor had been at her age.
"That, or we can see if Stavros will watch her. I don't think she'd like it much, but it's an idea if she complains about being surrounded by women." Which, she might.
"We'll keep it all in mind, and see what works. It's not like we've tried to keep her in the guildhouse for anything more than an afternoon," Connor pointed out. It was actually tempting to try to put her in the Hollow during the slow time of the day, and then the guildhouse overnight. Ash could use some help around the place, he was sure, and Kenzie probably wouldn't mind some extra money, if she could get over the idea of working for it. Whatever, they'd figure it out. First things first.
Darren needed to call Persephone. "Actually, I heard about your friend from Ash before you told me. Ash thought it might be a problem somewhere down the road, so he warned me first. Don't worry about us knowing, and let's just hope it works. What's the plan? We just see if she will meet you here?"
He glanced at them all, looking for any input they might have. He didn't know the girl, just the stories.
Honestly, he didn't care about THEM knowing. He was more worried about it getting out. His family wouldn't hold it against him because they knew he wasn't supporting Midnight or friendly with it. He didn't like that the rumors didn't have to be THAT far from the truth to be ridiculously bad for him. It just sucked.
"Dude, my 'rainbow brite' girlfriend is, like, a mind-reader or something. Of course she knows that I know Persephone, and yes, Mars admitted that it made her jealous and the fact that Persephone was Midnight and apparently liked me freaked her out," he pointed out. He didn't know for sure, but he figured something was up when Paris just seemed to know too much without him saying it. Especially when she was drunk, which usually also meant that HE was drinking Mojo Juice so that she didn't feel like she was the only one who couldn't reason properly. He'd remember the next day, though. Mars was a completely different story, and he couldn't tell if he was more frustrated when she went all jealous on him, or when she claimed it was concern for his well-being. "Anyway, I don't know what she is. She's not all there, but I'm thinking maybe she's half-feral or something. Her eyes shouldn't look like that without a lot of time as a cat, and since she's in Midnight, I don't think she was just a stubborn brat like I was. Whatever your plan is, I wouldn't make it too complicated, but I've never called her, so I don't know who will answer or what's going to happen."
Since he'd already said that he'd never called her, he figured he'd point it out again, just in case. He really didn't know jack-shit about what was going to happen, but the affirmative from those involved prompted him to make the call. This would be interesting, at least.
"He's deluding himself into thinking she's something that she's not? What would that be - interested?" she asked with a snort. "I'd tell you to let this Sasha bird around Zaine, but my money would be on him attacking her and being strangely happy to do it, and that wouldn't be very pleasant for us," she said with a roll of her shoulders. She hopped up onto the counter after hooking her foot on the rung of a stool and turning mid-movement. Now she was successfully tallest, and felt validated.
Bully for Jonathan, he'd just picked Kenzie up from the mall and was only a few minutes from the Hollow. They both went in, and Kenzie filtered over to a table to go through her bags of stuff without even a hello to anyone in the room. "She found a dress and the only size left was extra-large. She's on the warpath, especially for fat people," he warned, pushing his sunglasses off the bridge of his nose and nestling them on the top of his head.
He leaned in to give Chase a little kiss, something 'mature' like a brush of the lips and then a peck on the cheek. Even if he and Connor were cool, Jonathan knew he'd like to beat the shit out of whoever Annika, Cherie, or any other female in his family brought home. "So, can I get the unabridged version? And I'm not going to be the one telling Little Miss Credit Cards that she's staying at the guildhouse. I'll leave that to her beloved brother and sister," he added, patting Connor on the shoulder. Truth be told, they all probably wished they could just wish Kenzie to a tower somewhere for a week or two. Or two-hundred.
Capricia ventured away from the group after giving Jonathan a greeting pat on the back, and slid into the booth across from Kenzie. "Hey, twin. I heard you got owned by the fatties," she said, tucking a strand of her own long blonde hair behind her ear.
"Ohmygod. Yes. Did he tell you? Like, who the fuck makes a halter-dress in extra-large. Do I go to Africa and try to cover elephants in gold lame or turquoise chiffon? No? Then don't make dresses that will fit them," she snapped. She tucked the same piece of blonde hair behind her own ear, and then dumped a bag onto the table. "Want to see all of the cool new jewelry I got? It was buy two, get one, so I got like, ten."
Meanwhile, when Persephone's phone rang, the Jaguar was nowhere to be found at the moment - and rightfully so, she was in the next room pummeling Cerberus. The two, despite being a cat and dog, worked well together - very well for the Triste's liking, and Niall had certainly noticed. As with their own private situation, it seemed opposites did indeed attract.
"Hello?" she asked, opening the phone up and placing it next to her ear. If it had been Niall, the greeting might have been 'You may speak', or even just 'Speak', but Verity knew that Persephone conducted business her own way, and she wasn't interested in having to put a client she'd just brassed off in check when they tried to cop an attitude with her. She frowned as she was met with silence on the other end.
"I know you're there, I can hear you breathing," she said. Her accent was faint, voice youthful and merry - how could the woman on the phone right now be the silver-eyed witch that they were currently trying to track down? Darren, of course, would be none the wiser, and that was just dandy.
"Shall I find Persephone for you, is that what you've called for?" she prompted. She examined her long, glass-like fingernails as she waited. Through the large mirror of her office-type area, she could see Niall walking and talking with that Aristos trainer, the man who used fear. As it seemed, the two had much to discuss where their powers were concerned.
"She might be interested, but I doubt that'd be in his favor," Connor muttered, but he wasn't going there with it. Lucien had pissed him off, but he didn't have to wish him ill. He also wasn't going to wish Zaine on Sasha, even though he'd be interested in seeing Zaine be 'strangely happy' to attack her. Connor didn't dislike her at all, but he didn't trust her, either. That was all Elke.
Personally, Darren thought it was better, right at this second, to be the one stuck calling Persephone. He didn't want anything to do with 'Little Miss Credit Cards' and her warpath, even if he was usually pretty good at tempering her. It was the great thing about family, since it made him one of the few guys that she didn't hit on, but she still liked. Today, though? He wasn't about to break the news to her. Let Capri, or Connor.
Of course, he stepped away from the crowd for the call, lest someone else answer and hear all kinds of bickering and conversation in the background, so stepping into the dry storage closet was actually his best bet. It also meant that, when some strange woman answered, he didn't have anyone to look to with a panicked expression, though. Probably better, since that would have only worried them. As it was, he froze, and the woman kept talking, trying to inspire him to respond. Great. Now he was running the risk of pissing off whoever the woman was, and he was worried it was Jeshickah. Who else could it be?
She didn't sound ridiculously horrible, though. He felt bad just thinking it, since she had to have a bad side to be there, but she didn't sound like someone evil. Most of the bad people he'd met sounded bad. "I'm...sorry, ma'am. I wasn't expecting someone else to answer," he said honestly, trying not to sound as nervous as he felt. This felt like walking through a mine-field. If he screwed up, it could seriously make for a bad day. "Could you, please?"
Connor was not surprised that Darren peaced out to the closet to make the phone call, since Kenzie's voice could definitely carry, and nobody wanted that. In fact, despite Jonathan's 'comforting' pat on his shoulder, he was perfectly fine with letting Capri settle Kenzie down for a few minutes first. He personally couldn't relate to the whole 'there was only an extra-large' thing, since he really didn't put that much effort into shopping, but that was where Capri excelled. Capri shopped more than he and Chase combined. Surprisingly, he wasn't nearly as against the idea of Jonathan with his sister, even seeing it, but that was probably because he and Chase had fought extensively over it long before the two had married. He and Jonathan had also had some rough points early on, but Jonathan had come through for Chase in ways that he'd have never expected out of a guy for her, so he couldn't really hate him. He'd hated the idea of her being with a guy who was a mercenary, but it had worked out. Jonathan was all the things she needed, as much as he hadn't wanted to admit it, without actually being a hunter.
Which, considering Connor was guild leader, had been a great thing. He'd been pretty pissed about it at the time. Now? He was okay. He didn't want to see them making out or anything, but that wound had healed over far too much to really salt it anymore.
"We'll see how far Capri gets before I jump in. Pretty sure we all know how badly I botch those talks," he pointed out, and it was so true that it wasn't even funny. He and Kenzie pretty much lived on different planets, and as much as the family didn't talk about the fact that he was only a half-brother to his sisters (because it really didn't matter, they were all family), it seemed painfully obvious with Kenzie. Of course, he'd seen families where the kids were full-siblings and just as different, so who knew? They just had different priorities, and she was still young.
That tower was looking really good right about now.
"Hey," she said pleasantly as Jonathan came in, but she didn't pounce him or anything. She left those obvious moves to Kenzie, who liked to do things that would give Connor a coronary just for fun. So, even though she wasn't the sort to push for more PDA, she leaned into him as he updated them on Kenzie's state of affairs. Frankly, she gave him so much credit for taking the mall trip so well. Not many men would.
"Well, the three top dogs finally agreed to putting in an announcement for their hunters to lay off of Midnight until further notice," she started, glancing at Connor, who rolled his eyes.
"Christian and I didn't have a problem. It was Cobriana who wanted to be a dick about it."
"He has his reasons."
"Yeah, and it's cause he's a dick. You heard him bitching about our information coming from your 'dreams'. You didn't see Christian acting like you were a fraud, or anything. Cobriana's just an asshole, and this is all his fault to begin with," he snapped. He hadn't said it to the guy's face to prevent trouble, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to say it.
"It really doesn't matter. He agreed to the announcement, and to the contract," she pointed out, then glanced back towards Jonathan. "Anyway, Darren's calling the jaguar girl that stops in here sometimes to help give Dave a headache. She's from Midnight, apparently, and they're going to see if she can help in getting Niall to meet with the guild leaders in the hopes that they can come to an agreement that will protect families from retaliation."
"I'm having Darren stay here with Ash, and hoping that we can keep Kenzie from destroying Crimson from within if we hold her there for awhile. Niall already made it painfully clear that he could, and would, target family, friends and loose acquaintances. Apparently, besides sending someone to bring Sullivan's girlfriend in, he also told her that he'd target anyone she knew, too. Everyone's on high-alert, especially where the family that can't really protect themselves are concerned. Frankly, I don't think any of us stand much of a chance if he really wants to kidnap or kill one of us, but you know how hunters are."
"Oh, don't be silly," Verity said, her laugh like wind chimes. "I'll have someone fetch her at once, would you hold on for a moment?" There was the sound of high-heels against tile flooring, and then the woman's echoing voice in the hallway could be heard, "Fetch Persephone," and then silence. After another moment, jogging footsteps approached. "Here she is," Verity said. She held out the phone.
Persephone took the phone, wiping sweat off of her brow. Cerberus had caught her pretty good on the side of the face, and she could see bruises already forming - bruises that would fade within hours. "This is Persephone," she said, clipping accent heard through her breathing. She didn't even pretend that she wasn't winded; she was more than willing to let someone humanize her. It would make it more fun when she killed them, in the end.
"Well, can you expect Lucien to want to trust what she says if she always has 'acquired' the knowledge somehow? And then you tell him that she dreams it, but he's got no background story about her abilities at all? Come on," he said, furrowing his brow at Connor. "No offense, but you wouldn't see me doing it, either, if I didn't have the full story. He knows he fucked up, and he's going to be twice as hard to deal with now because he's angry at himself for doing it."
He kissed Chase on the cheek again and smiled. "I know you appreciate my pearls of man-wisdom, but trust me when I say that he'll come around after he's done beating himself up. I'm willing to bet that Zaine fellow has probably already made his own points." Jonathan didn't know Zaine, didn't like him, and didn't want to know him. He knew that Kenzie followed him around like a puppy, which made him dislike him even further, but he also knew that Zaine didn't seem to do anything other than break people - physically and mentally. He hoped he showed the Serpiente king the same courtesy he showed everyone else when it came to raw, brutal honesty. It would speed things along.
"So, Kenzie, I'm just going to go ahead and tell you - you're going to be staying at the guildhouse for the next three weeks." Capricia leaned forward on the table, holding her finger up when Kenzie went to yelling. "In a nutshell, we think there are some bad people that know how to find us. Us being the families of pretty much every hunter, and before you ask, for once, it isn't mine or Connor's fault."
"What? WHAT? What about school? Three weeks? That's like a month!" Kenzie said.
"We hadn't covered school yet, but I can have your mom call in and claim family emergency. I mean, it isn't like we aren't able to do that," she said with a shrug.
"I can't go to school? That's not fair!" She stood up and slammed her hands down on the table. "This is such BULLSHIT! Why do I have to suffer because someone else fucked up?" she demanded.
Persephone needn't have worried about Darren humanizing her, since he'd already been totally fooled, and he actually thought it was a trick at first. She got silence on his end for an instant as he tried to swallow the understanding that not only had the woman who answered been friendly and something that suggested that she might actually be likable, but Persephone sounded totally normal. She didn't sound crazy, or 'out there', or whatever it had been that they'd all thought.
"Do I have the wrong number, or something?" he asked, confused, but on the verge of anger. Had he been played? It definitely sounded like it. "I didn't think 'Persephone' was a common name."
Fuck. If he'd been played by a Midnight chick, what was the purpose? Why would she keep returning? What was the deal, and how much trouble was he in this time?
Just because Jonathan had a point didn't mean that Connor had to like it, and he displayed the fact that he recognized the point and disliked it by scowling more than he already had been and saying nothing. Hey, he wasn't arguing, and that was something. It wasn't like it mattered for more than a moment or so, since Capri dropped the news to Kenzie.
"I do appreciate your 'man-wisdom'," she told him with a laugh, both over the comment and the kiss. "You have a very good track record for being right, and my favorite part is the delivery."
Example: 'pearls of man-wisdom'. He could have said anything to describe that, but he'd chosen that. She liked the stupid little things that he did. It was all in the details for her, and Jonathan didn't disappoint. As for the actual business at hand, she didn't doubt that he was right about Lucien, and hoped he was right about Zaine. It would certainly allow it all to go more smoothly.
Considering the screaming that Kenzie launched into, 'smoothly' wasn't at all likely, so she'd take what she could get.
"Hey, welcome to our world. You're not the only one upset, Kenz," Connor pointed out, and he actually managed to both look and sound sympathetic. He didn't want her cooped up and her life disrupted any more than she did.
"Believe me, it's better to be away from school for a few weeks than what these people could do to you. Rafael and a vampire he was working with are both in very bad shape, and the last thing any of us wants is for you to be there, too," Chase offered when she got a second to throw that in. She had to talk fast, and definitely didn't know if Kenzie absorbed it, but she tried. It was true, and they weren't changing their minds, so it wasn't necessary that they talk her into it, just preferred.
Persephone's brow knitted as she sat down in a comfortable chair in Verity's office. "It's not a common name, not to my knowledge. Who is - " and then she realized. "OH! Hallo kitten! My, it has been a while, hasn't it? Did you want to play, is that why you called? I got a new ball," she began. So, sue her. Persephone still got a little kitty-cat like at the prospect of toys and catnip.
Persephone would by mystified if he'd been cross with her, particularly because she'd more or less forgotten that she'd been 'undercover' when they'd met. She had found it was easier to scope things out for people if the rest of the world thought she was a poor, abused pet. They would be more apt to talking and forgetting she was there, and from that she'd gleaned enough to know who was trustworthy and who was expendable.
As it turned out, a lot of people were expendable.
"But the junior PROM is coming up! They announce the court next week, and I'm just supposed to vanish? I'm trying to get elected, how do you think that's going to screw up my votes?" she demanded. She looked at Capricia, trying to appeal to her. "Come on, you know this is insane. Like those people even care about me. They probably don't know I exist!"
"Well, that's what we're hoping for, but I can't really guarantee it," Capri said sadly. "In fact, I'm going to be keeping Anya with friends until this is settled," she said. She didn't feel like bringing up the Elke thing again, so 'friends' was a good term.
"Anya is a baby. I'm seventeen. Hardly defenseless," she snapped. "But thanks for the comparison."
Capricia slammed her own hands down on the table, leaving forward into Kenzie's face. "Listen, this is shitty for all of us. If I can find a way to make it work so you can go and have your little dance, than I'll do it, but right now I've got a lot of shit rolling downhill and we're all standing at the bottom like dumb-fucking-diddly-dee, so I'd really appreciate it if you'd calm the fuck down and let me do my job." She withdrew from the table quickly and snatched her keys from the bar counter where she'd left them.
"I'm going to go get Anya and take her to Elke. And then I'm going to go to the guild and try to start un-fucking this situation before we inconvenience anyone else," she snapped. She gave Connor a rough kiss on the cheek and squeezed Chase's hand before she left.
"I'm going to wait in the car," Kenzie said angrily. She grabbed her things off of the counter and then brushed past the group, retreating to Jonathan's car before she had to hear anyone else's shit.