Night's Omen

 The heart of the Diamond building was a large conference room, centered with a massive black marble table. Tall, straight-backed chairs lined the archaic table, fashioned of ebony and heavy black-stained wood. They were cushioned with velveteen pillows and had intricate carvings on the back of them. It was all incredibly formal, given that the entire building itself was a gothic style castle in Colorado. It was aptly named the Lion and the Rose, and the guild had bought it out years ago, giving real estate agencies the pleasure of re-selling it several times over back to them through different buyers.

Noelani sat at the head of the table, files laid out before her. It was deathly quiet, the only sound in the room besides the fire from the large fireplace was the sound of papers turning and the occasional sigh that she made. She closed the last one as members began to file into the room and fill their usual places. Murphy sat to her right as he always did, while Firuza sat to her left. Along down the table, William and Benjamin spoke softly to one another regarding the situation at hand. Several chairs were notably absent, as members had already been integrated into other guilds for the purpose of observation.

"Firuza, report."

The cat-eyed Persian leaned back in her chair, her full lips pursed as she thought about what she was going to say before she said it. "Not good," she admitted finally. "I think it's time for us to get involved."

"Why?" She focused her gaze onto the ebon-haired hunter and tilted her head. Noelani didn't deign to get into the middle of this mess if she didn't have to.

"Onyx's guild leader is missing in action. Frost has one dead. Crimson has two dead. This is the first twenty four hours. They're not prepared. That's my honest opinion."

Noelani nodded, and looked at Murphy. "Murph?"

The castle that Diamond occupied was a work of art, which Murphy could definitely appreciate, but he hadn't been around for enough years to have experienced the selling and re-selling that had gone on with it.  Actually, most of the people present hadn't, but it was still a pretty perfect plan for remaining undiscovered, as was essentially anything this guild did.  Too bad the other guilds hadn't figured out how to do the same, yet.

Murphy lounged back in his chair, having definitely made himself comfortable at Noelani's side quite some time ago, and he leaned his cheek against his hand with his elbow on the arm of the chair while he focused on Firuza and her brief report.  He had the same information as she did, they all had it, but this was at the point of opinions.  This was a vote, and it pained him to have to cast his in the direction that he was headed.

Noelani turned to him in search of his opinion, and his eyes fell closed for a moment, bracing himself for what he was about to say.  He didn't like it, and she would know that even before he opened his mouth.  "It's time," he said softly, and then he opened his eyes, made eye contact and straightened in his seat.

"I really don't give a rat's ass about the snake, because he made his bed, but 90% of the people in those guilds don't know what the hell is going on there.  Good hunters are dying, and even more civilians are.  I don't know about the rest of you, but the reason I started this gig in the first place was to save the people who couldn't save themselves from the monsters under the bed and in the closet," he offered, and whatever the rest of them chose, he was New York-bound after this.  That it was his own hometown didn't hurt his reasoning for throwing his vote in to offer aid, but he would have felt this way to begin with.

Leaning forward and clasping his hands on the table, Benjamin listened to Firuza and Murphy put in their two cents, not all that surprised by their decisions to help, but he personally wasn't so sure how much he cared about the random people dying and being taken in this situation.  Even if they went, they could hardly stop those deaths, not without tipping the balance of power so completely that it would be ridiculous.  To really halt this, they would have to kill Midnight's power-base, and that would involve a lot of powerful individuals suddenly dying.  Doing that would reveal them as surely as just showing up and helping would, and he wasn't sure that he was willing to utterly destroy the hunters' main opposition. 

Seriously, that was also assuming that they could.  They were the best, but you were talking about the heavy hitters.  Killing Niall would require killing Verity Celestino, and then very likely Timoziel and Rajz, plus Justinian and Iloquil.  That was too many big names, and Justinian's right hand man's whereabouts were still unknown.  Having Alexander appear in the middle of the chaos where he wasn't expected would be too much and exactly that vampire's style.  Benjamin wasn't into that scene.  If that was what was necessary, the guilds were ass-out, because he wasn't doing it.

"Before anyone pledges their loyalty or starts up a Live-Aid concert for New York's guilds, we need to establish some kind of plan.  I don't know what we can really accomplish without laying some heavy blows.  I will agree that Midnight's rampage has to stop, but because I'm worried that getting away with it will make them feel invincible, which will only make more problems later," he offered, because really, he wasn't in it to save everyone.  He was worried on a grander scale, especially with Midnight Europe's inevitable involvement.  He still thought they should have prevented Niall and Verity from taking charge to begin with, if only because of the tie to Justinian, Iloquil, Timoziel and Rajz.  That was just too much power on Midnight's side.  "At the very least, we should take advantage of the guild leader's absence and ensure that someone with some sense takes charge."

The mirror that hung on the wall on the opposite end of the room had remained still as a mirror should for the beginning of the meeting, but as Benjamin's comments hung on the air, the reflection in the mirror bent, twisting the vision of the group at the table counter-clockwise in a strange, wavering swirl - and then it went dark. Like a door opening to a room where there was no light, the glass gave the viewer a sense of openness, as though there were no surface to it at all. Suddenly, Irene stepped out of it, and behind her with a soft metallic sound, the mirror's reflection twisted around again and was normal.

"Many apologies for my tardiness," Irene said, her feminine voice slightly out of breath. "It has become difficult to avoid members of the guild I do not wish to find my gift out. I'm thankful Zaine saw to pair Dante and I together or I might never have gotten away. Speaking of which," she added, taking her rightful place next to Benjamin, with whom she shared only a meaningful glance of greeting, "He asks that whatever we decide, we do it quickly. I must say, I tend to agree with him. He speaks only of an incident that's just occurred, and he bid me to hurry back to All Hallows."

She spoke through clenched teeth, knowing Benjamin's feelings on this disaster already. She regretted that she had to speak against him, but she had no choice. She had no real attachment to these people, no, but it was her duty as a Diamond plant within Onyx to observe and report, and to give her honest feelings. She suspected many of the Diamond hunters could not have cared less for this save the fallout it would bring, but she was aware that if they did not put their collective foot down now, Midnight may not stop.

Noelani let out a long, vocal sigh as she listened to them all speak their minds. "I echo the sentiment that the leader of Onyx is not favourable in my eyes, nor is he in the eyes of Diamond as a whole. But you're right, Murphy. We can't just tell them that it's too bad and wash our hands of it. I don't know about monsters, but when we have field operatives knee-deep in this mess. We're currently relying on the competency of the rest of the guilds to see them through it, and I'm just not confident in their ability right now." Noelani didn't even bother pretending that she had no real interest in this situation save for pulling her own people out, but that was all they were going to get at the moment. She was so utterly appalled that it got this far. It made her firmly believe that all of the guilds were going to need some rearranging when this was done - after they'd checked to see who was still alive, anyways.

"I dislike that all of us are voting yes because we don't seem to have another option," she said, her voice low and sarcastic. "I hate having my hand forced."

When Benjamin spoke, she nodded in accord with him. "Nothing I haven't already thought of. When we arrive we will need to speak with our own people, and with whomever is still in charge and sane." She paused to consider his statement of leadership.

She glanced up as Irene stepped through the mirror, and watched her as she sat next to Benjamin. After she had spoken, Noelani only concluded: "I believe we can move Devraj up for the time being. He won't refuse," she said, confident that the man would not. To do so would put the guild at the mercy of someone who could potentially ruin it even further.

Firuza shifted in her chair. "Devraj?" she asked. They didn't really have hours to debate the shift in control over Onyx, but they were still waiting for someone to arrive, so she could spare the time. "Would Zaine not be a better choice? He has been in Onyx since - since he was practically a child," she said, blinking rapidly. "I realize Mr. Rashana is qualified - enough that he has been considered for Diamond - but it does not seem to me that he would have any interest in being on the forefront of Onyx."

"Weeeeellll," Noelani said, leaning forward and stretching her arms. "There's this matter of loyalty that I've begun to question. When Firuza tipped her head, Noelani shrugged a little. "Zaine and Lucien have known eachother since they were children. Zaine may be much more well put-together and less likely to do something that would put the guild in danger, but he's more likely to try and cover up Lucien's messes. It makes me wonder what else has been going on that we haven't been told about."

"Dante and Irene are at Onyx; Irene is a trainee, so she would be there more than Dante would, simply by way of routine." She looked at the blonde. "What do you know of this?"

 Irene pursed her lips as Firuza addressed her, then looked at Benjamin.

"The incident I spoke of? One of Zaine's students - and when I say his student, I don't just mean a person with whom he has trained for the purpose of becoming a hunter, I mean someone with whom he has taken a personal interest in - is a doll, as you all know, a subject which I am still educating myself about. Evidently, previous to this she was owned within Midnight - for six years. They found a way to wipe her memory and reconstruct her mind somehow, but it seems as though Niall put some sort of kill switch in her head."

"Excuse me?" Noelani asked, brows arched.

"Dante said that as they were leaving All Hallows with the people they were transporting, Lilyana snapped. I know this girl - I don't know of her, I know her. We train together there. She's not necessarily the type of individual you would want to have 'snap' in a crowd of people." She paused for a moment, trying to gather her thoughts. She was clearly disturbed by this. "At any rate, whatever he did, it went off inside of her. She managed to kill one of the girls there and had begun to go after more when Marius broke the bond between she and Niall."

"And Zaine?" Noelani prompted, utterly disturbed by what she was hearing.

Irene held her hands open and looked at them, unable to give them a good answer. "I don't know. Dante said that he is taking her back to the guild himself, which I don't agree with, and that he will decide what to do with her after, which I also don't agree with. He's clearly compromised. If that were anyone else, he would have put a bullet into their head."

"So, Firuza, to actually answer your question - Zaine is losing is touch, for lack of a better way of putting it. He cannot make the calls that need to be made in order to maintain the security of the guild as a whole and the individuals within."

"It is a pity," she said, tapping her fingers on the table. "He had so much potential," she added, almost sadly.

Irene's entrance was very obviously a point of interest for Benjamin, but as was typical for them, there was no large public display of affection.  They reserved such displays for privacy, as it should be, unless there was a very specific reason for it.  Benjamin's visits to Onyx while Irene was there had called for more public affection because it would have been odd to be two young human lovers in this time and not be so openly interested in each other, but it still wasn't their preference.  Frankly, the open attitude that society as a whole had adopted about sex appalled Benjamin just a little, whether he and Irene could fake comfort with it for a cover, or not.  He was sure as hell happier playing her human boyfriend than he was with an actual human trying to cozy up to her.  He wasn't typically a jealous man because there was not a single doubt in his mind that Irene was his and vice versa, but having one of those sex-crazed human males focused in on her while she was trying to play a cover might make him crazy.  Perhaps that was why nobody ever objected to him sticking his nose in on her covers.

Who wanted that scene?

He exchanged glances with Irene when she took her seat, unwilling to acknowledge his own relief at seeing her hurried, but safe.  He most certainly trusted her abilities and decisions, but with Midnight on the rampage, essentially anything could happen.  When she explained Dante's request, throwing her word in against his own reluctance to get involved, he wasn't necessarily surprised by it, but unhappy at the situation in general.  He didn't like feeling like their hands were forced anymore than Noelani did, and it only made him that much more certain that if Cobriana survived, he was losing his guild.  "Devraj is more than acceptable to me, if we're putting that to a vote, as well," he offered, his tone almost mild after hearing Irene's reasons for voting against Zaine.

Fucking snakes.

That mild tone wasn't sticking, though.  Having Irene bring up Niall's direct involvement in some of the chaos that was happening in New York City was just further proof that going in there without a solid plan was suicide.  It was bad enough that the Master of Midnight's underlings were on the loose, but Niall was nothing to laugh about.

"I understand everyone's reasons for wanting to get involved, truly, I do.  I already said that I can't tolerate the idea of Midnight getting away with this because it will only get worse from here, but again, how are we supposed to stop this?  The only certain way to put an end to Midnight's rampage would be to assassinate the key players on their side.  If we do that, we upset the entire balance between them and the guilds, and that is if we could kill the people necessary to accomplish that.  If we miss even one, there will be more blood than there already is.  Just one of them could wreak havoc on the city," he pointed out, and make no mistake, he was on board for whatever they decided, especially if Irene was, but he required a good plan before he'd go quietly.

 With a heavy sigh, she felt that she had listened to enough. "I know what you are all saying, and I don't disagree. I think we can start by cleaning up the guilds. We'll put Devraj in command and go from there. I suspect he knows more about what is going on than the other members by now, given his penchant for acquiring information. People feel compelled to tell him things even when he doesn't have to extract the information."

She stood from the chair. "I'm going to go and take care of a few things. You all can figure out your own specific plans, though I know it goes without saying not to expose anyone who's already under cover. William, I'll arrange your flight for you as well." She paused and looked at Murphy. "I assume you'll be with me at Onyx for the time being?"

Noelani was a business woman, clearly. She'd heard enough. Nobody wanted to go, but everyone figured they were obligated in one fashion or another. Be it to fix the cluster fuck of a mess that the guilds had brought down on themselves, or to find a better solution for ending this. In fact, Noelani was positive that the solution was something simple and stupid, she just couldn't fathom what it was yet. Everyone was hell bent on trying to defeat Midnight by wiping them off of the face of the Earth, but Noelani recognized that day would never come. Whether anyone else accepted that fact would be their own problem, and any opposition from the lesser guilds would result in a rather swift resolution.

Though not usually just the 'strong, silent type', William really hadn't seen much reason to speak up while they all discussed matters, mostly because he was more interested in their opinions than in sharing his own.  He agreed with them, so saying so would just be redundant; what he was worried about was similar to what Benjamin had asked, and that was what they were going to do about it.  William had only barely considered the idea of just taking out the attacking forces (that had worked in the past in other situations), and then he'd brushed the idea off as surely as Benjamin had said it was impossible, though not for quite the same reasons.  Frankly, he didn't give a damn about any kind of 'balance', as long as the situation was resolved, and maintaining Midnight so that the guilds didn't have too much power just wasn't one of his concerns.  He wasn't an old geezer of a vampire, and he sure as hell didn't like Midnight, so taking out their leadership would have been just fine with him if he'd have thought they could do it.  As it was, it wasn't like they were looking at one heavy-hitter; more like six or seven, depending on whether Alexander appeared out of the shadows somewhere, which Murphy's sister had said he had a habit throughout history of doing.  Whatever that simple, stupid solution was that Noelani was pretty sure was out there, William was a fan of finding and using it.

In his opinion, cleaning up the guilds wasn't going to be that solution, but it was a logical place to start, especially for Noelani.  Considering her position in Diamond and with Murphy by her side, it made sense for her to go into Onyx and put things right.  She had a good plan, putting Devraj Rashana into leadership and then seeing what happened, because Devraj would get the job done.  William was actually a little disappointed that the man hadn't accepted their invitation yet, because everything he'd seen (and he'd talked to Enya in detail about it as soon as the man's name started to come up in Diamond conversations) had suggested that he was wasted working for Onyx and Cobriana.  Actually, he'd have been surprised if Devraj hadn't already taken command in Cobriana's absence.

"Thank you, ma'am," he told Noelani with a tip of his hat as he stood from his seat.  This meeting was obviously over, and he had to grab his bag and get to their private helicopter.  That would take him to the airport fastest, and since all of the others would be arriving immediately, he was going to be behind schedule just because his jackal blood kept him grounded.  He didn't particularly mind, considering how few perks there were to vampire powers as opposed to the potential damage that could be dealt by them.  Still, it was inconvenient.

He slapped Benjamin on the back of his shoulder as he stood, smiling at the vampire who didn't look too pleased, and he winked at Irene.  "Keep him out of trouble until I get there," he told her, and he didn't have to tell the rest of them to keep him in the loop while he was en route.  The few times that Diamond as a group had mobilized, William was always informed right up until he arrived on scene.  "See you all soon."

Murphy glanced up at her as Noelani stood from her chair and basically told everyone to do their own thing and be careful.  For one of the lesser guilds, that would have been dangerous, but with this group?  It only made sense.  Glancing around, Murphy already knew that Benjamin was going wherever Irene was, Irene would be trying to help Dante with his mess, William was going off on his own, and Noelani was headed to Onyx.  Naturally, he was going with Noelani unless something came up that he had to deal with, and Firuza was the only one present that he wasn't certain of.  Then, Noelani gave her plans, just as he'd expected, and assumed he was going with her.

"Without a doubt," he told her easily, because yeah, there probably hadn't been a doubt in either of their minds that he'd be joining her.  He left her alone on a job only when it was necessary, and not because he didn't trust her abilities.  Considering her position, that would have been a stupid move on his part, but he didn't trust everyone else.  True, she was going to Onyx to put Devraj where he should already be, but he had no way of knowing that someone else at Onyx wouldn't behave like a moron in all of the chaos.  Stupid or not, it was a guild of very dangerous people they were walking into, and what they had to say may not be received happily.

He finally stood as well, gave a stretch, and pushed his chair back in.  "I'll meet you back here in ten or less," he promised, and then he was gone. 

Irene squeezed her husband's knee slightly, and then stood. "Those of you who wish to leave now, tell me where you'd like to go." She gave a lingering smile to William as he departed, knowing the man might like to grunt about the inconvenience of flying, but trusting that he preferred his natural immunity all the same. He reminded her of the man responsible for her Benjamin's - and ultimately her own - second chance at life. Marius was a unique individual indeed, as was his consort, the lovely Ekaterina.

Firuza rose first, gesturing to the mirror. "To Frost, if you please," the emerald-eyed woman said, her hands clasped in front of her as she moved to stop just before it. She observed with the remnants in the room as Irene placed her fingertips on the glass. The reflection rippled and fragmented, like water disturbed by a pebble, until finally it reflected a room that was not the same as the one it was in.

Before Firuza could step in, Irene grabbed her shoulder. "Watch out," she said in a low voice. "I will send Taro as soon as I find him, but for now, you are on your own."

Firuza caught the girl in her serene gaze, and gently placed a hand over her own. "See that you do. He won't want to miss this. I hear Colleen Watkins is there currently, or so Link has told me," she said, walking backwards into the glass. She vanished behind the jelly-like silver, and then the mirror went still again.

Irene turned back to look at Benjamin, expression tired. "Where should you like to go, or would you prefer to see where Noelani and Murphy think us best distributed?" Though Diamond was a democracy, Noelani and Murphy often had the final say - in situations such as these, especially. The capable hunters did not resent them for it, because they could always leave to start their own guilds should they have liked. It was sort of strange to think of Irene running her own guild, and she often wondered if she were only around for the powers she had rather than the strengths in other areas. The frown on Benjamin's face betrayed that he had read her thoughts, and she raised her eyebrows at him. "Really, was I that obvious or were you reaching?" she asked. It was hard to tell sometimes where one ended and the other began.

With a roll of his eyes at William's departing comments, Benjamin stood to join the group that was preparing to leave immediately.  He was armed as much as he liked to be when they weren't talking about walking into a suicide mission, and though this situation was bad, Benjamin didn't find it to be quite that bad, so he figured that what he had on him would do the job, and he could procure something else if he had to.  He preferred knives, anyway, and you didn't often have to replace those in the field.

Therefore, his problem wasn't in arming himself or getting to a plane, it was in the fact that he knew without a doubt that he would be going somewhere away from Irene.  He couldn't risk blowing her cover, and though he'd already been introduced as her 'boyfriend', there was no reason for the guild to believe him to be more than passably able to fight.  It was an issue that had never come up during Irene's time in Onyx, so they probably could have brushed it off, but those were questions they didn't have the time to deal with, and suspicion right now just wasn't conducive to the guilds' survival.  That, and there was no reason for him to join Noelani and Murphy, not when the two of them would be grouping with Devraj.  That suggested that he should either join Firuza at Frost until Taro could make his way there, or go to Crimson, which was likely where William would be headed when he landed.  As capable as Crimson seemed, what with Devraj's cousin to aid Batten and his seer sister, they had taken severe casualties in Batten's family alone, so it wouldn't have been surprising if there was trouble there.  The last they'd heard, Connor and Victor Batten were still missing, and Oksana hadn't sent any new word, yet. 

Yeah, sounded like that was where he was headed.

"Crimson, I'm sure, is for the best," he admitted, taking her hand in his own for a moment and giving her an unhappy look as he caught bits of her thoughts on herself.  Of course, she called him out on it, which brought a small smile to his lips and he gave her a surprisingly casual shrug.  They could be like that around each other, but it was typically only for each other, much to William's disappointment in trying to get Benjamin to 'lighten up'.  "Probably a little of both.  I have the utmost faith in your abilities and I know that you'll be with Dante, who is also infinitely capable, but I still have to ask you to let me know if you run into trouble, because I will be there in an instant."

He wasn't lying about being confident in her abilities; she was strong, fast and intelligent, often moreso than he was, but he loved her and that made him worry.

Irene put her own hand on his, an endearing scene to behold, and lowered her eyes like a schoolgirl. "Of course," she agreed. "However, I will do my best to see that isn't necessary. We've all built a rapport with the guild and I'd rather not see it ruined because I turned into a girl," she added with an uncharacteristic smirk.

She turned, putting her fingertips delicately on the mirror and causing it to darken. It rippled for a moment and she stepped aside to let Benjamin in. Really, what happened next was her own fault. She hadn't been concentrating on specifically what area she wanted to put him in with Crimson when another man stepped out of the mirror as though it were the most natural thing in the world, practically knocking Benjamin over in the process. She released the mirror with a snap of her wrist, and then clasped her hands to her face in surprise.

"Loic!" she exclaimed. "What, were you just pushing on a mirror, hoping it would open?" She was smiling when she said it. Sometimes older vampires could push through when she was using the mirrors - such was the burden of her ability. You could go through, but other people could come in. She ignored Benjamin's very dark stare as she brushed past him to the newly arrived vampire.

"I believe you have arrived at just the right time," she said. "Have you heard?"

She prayed silently Benjamin wouldn't begin singing Surfin' Bird.

The impeccable timing was something he probably could have taken full credit for, but that was hardly necessary with someone like Irene.  It seemed that she would gladly let someone else take much more credit for something than they deserved, and so he didn't often taken advantage of that fact.  Honestly, she had probably subconsciously felt him reach and chosen that particular mirror because he'd been there; it was hardly his fault that Benjamin had been about to enter it.

"Something like that," he replied smoothly, and though he wasn't reaching out with his thoughts, he caught a brief bit of song from one of them, he thought Benjamin, and narrowed his eyes in the other man's direction.  "I don't recommend that you develop a sense of humor now."

Benjamin had a sense of humor, actually, but it was a dry, sarcastic sort of humor that Loic didn't particularly disagree with, but the idea of the other man even projecting thoughts of Surfin' Bird at him because Irene had asked him that question was just ridiculous.  If he wasn't in such an irritable mood, he might have found it slightly amusing, and if he hadn't already heard the joke a zillion times.  It was that and Hitchcock references.

"I'd like to think I'm well-informed, but I could be slightly out of the loop," he admitted to Irene, staying in Benjamin's way on purpose until he glanced up and addressed Noelani, and then he only side-stepped to allow the younger vampire passage because Benjamin was interrupting his line of sight with the guild leader. 

Benjamin did NOT fail to realize what Loic was doing, or that it was intentional.  Loic appreciated that, and that the other man wasn't a moron.  "I put out a call to local avians, drawing them to the nearest guildhouse, so they will be our communications network until digital means can be secured.  As soon as I return, I will assign a bird specifically to you and Murphy, so that you can get orders out swiftly if you need to.  You'll be at Onyx?"

Yeah, he'd missed that part of the conversation, but he knew the logical answer, which was why he'd assumed Onyx.  He was going to Frost, personally, which actually made him glad that Benjamin seemed to have been headed for Crimson.  Loic didn't exactly dislike the man, but like was a bit too strong of a word.  He respected him, at least.  Mostly. 

Irene just raised those eyebrows as Loic spoke, thankful that Benjamin didn't try to provoke him. Maybe she had felt him searching, but she wouldn't admit it. If Benjamin was already sour, he would be even less thrilled to think she was daydreaming of Loic - she wasn't, of course, but that's how it would get spun. Not that Benjamin was irrational, but Loic would taunt him.

Warlords.

"Selene," she greeted, her gaze wavering over the hawk on his shoulder. Irene didn't know how Loic had gotten her - well, she did, obviously, but not the details, and she didn't want to know. She'd seen Selene turn into near-cannon fodder more than once, and she questioned the willingness of it all. Of course, she wouldn't say anything, because that would be invasive and rude, not to mention he was twice as old as her if not more. She'd be running through mirrors forever.

Irene was a little intimidated by Loic, sure. Fortunately, she was demure and ladylike enough not to inspire his wrath. He still had boundaries, and evidently classy women were one of them.

The hawk bored holes into Irene's head, and then turned her own neck impassively, fluffing her feathers and settling on Loic's shoulder, careful not to claw him too harshly. She offered nothing more than a soft keening noise, communicating with Loic and Loic alone. Even in her human form, Selene wasn't personable. As a bird she was fucking intolerable. It was ridiculous how much she could alienate a room without exuding any effort at all. It was unclear whether that was because she was a Shardae or because she was a bitch.

As Noelani came back into the room with the only bag she needed, she acknowledged Loic. "Yeah, to the epicenter of this pandemic," she said with an eyeroll. She thought for a moment, and then said, "Timber Wright and Holly Baxter are both in Frost. I'd prefer Timber since she's a bit less conspicuous than that pink-haired girl," she muttered.

"Actually, it's blonde this week," Irene cut in sheepishly. Yes, she knew Holly.

"Whatever," Noelani said with a wave. "I don't care who you send me, but make sure it's someone who isn't an idiot." Loic would know who to sort her way, she trusted. She leaned against the table for a moment and tilted her head at Loic. "I heard Stefan's on the move. You going to try for his hawk?"

At her smug interest, Selene let out a shriek.