Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 105144 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 350(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105144 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 350(@300wpm)
The table goes silent again and I close my fingers, extinguishing the energy ball. There’s something diplomatic about the way Xavier is conducting business, with just the right amount of unhinged threats. Because he wasn’t just insinuating that I can sit and talk and listen, but that I’d do whatever I need to do to keep the peace…by any means necessary.
I’m introduced to everyone next and it’s becoming more and more clear what this meeting is. Everyone at this table is a representative. The female werewolf is the alpha from the Charlotte pack, and the two others next to her are brothers from a pack in Raleigh. One of the vampires is in the VC and the other two are here to “be a voice for the newly turned”. One of the humans is from the 704 Reapers, which is a gang I’m not familiar with, and the other is here “on behalf of the Morris family”. The uniformed cop is the chief of the local police, and he’s pretty friendly with the gang members.
The waitstaff begins serving us our first course, and fancy crystal glasses filled with blood are given to the vampires. I keep a pleasant smile on my face, body angled in toward Xavier’s to make it look like I’m a little uncomfortable and am subconsciously leaning on my husband for social and physical support. While I think almost everyone here is smart enough not to physically try and cross a witch, I want to use it to my advantage to come off as politically aloof, like I can’t quite follow along or am too simple minded to really get involved in the business.
There are human security guards at the entry points, and I wouldn’t be surprised at all to find out that everyone in this room has their own people waiting nearby. The air is friendly enough, and right now I’m listening to the 704 Reaper guy ask the police chief how his tomato garden is coming along this year and telling him about how his wife keeps pestering him to put up wallpaper inside their chicken coop so she can post about it on social media.
These meetings must have been going on for a while, and though no one fully trusts each other, there is clearly some sort of unwritten rule of being respectful. I just need to keep quiet and listen. If anyone is smuggling drugs into the city, my money would be on someone in this room. My knowledge of mafias and gangs is limited to what I’ve seen in movies or read about in sexy, dark romance novels, which probably isn’t the most realistic.
Business is discussed, but nothing feels overly formal. There’s no threats laid out, and everything seems to be running pretty smoothly. Clearly, everyone at this table has a big influence over the way not just the city, but the entire area is run. Having the vampires come out has changed things—not for the better for the humans. I don’t quite grasp everything they’re talking about since I’m being thrust into the conversation with no knowledge of any backstory, but the vampires have taken over territory that was previously human-run.
But the weirdest thing that I’m not even allowing myself to make sense of right now is the pride I feel when I look at Xavier and know he’s in charge. He’s keeping the peace between these groups somehow, even if it’s for his own benefit.
The Order would shit themselves if they knew what was going on here. Humans, vampires, werewolves, and now a witch all sitting together, peacefully discussing business—even if that business is keeping the vampire-caused deaths out of the public eye. It’s something they wouldn’t think would be possible…and something they’d try and shut down immediately if they found out about it.
Because the only thing more dangerous than monsters are monsters joining forces.
CHAPTER 25
I cross one arm over my chest and stretch, letting out a breath. I just finished a grueling workout, one I know I’m going to feel in the morning. It’s been several days since I’ve pushed myself like this, and it felt good to get back to it. Mentally, it was a good break, and gave me maybe an hour’s worth of peace from the thoughts running a million miles an hour in my head. So much has changed in such a short time, and I can’t wrap my head around half of it.
“I hardly ever come down here,” Mabel says, appearing in the doorway of the workout room.
“I guess you don’t really need to,” I reply, still a little out of breath. Mabel steps in, looking around curiously. She’s dressed like a 1950s housewife today, looking sweet and innocent. “You’re always in good shape.” I switch arms to stretch the other side. “Actually, being physically fit as a human before you were turned doesn’t really have much bearing on vampire strength, does it?”