The stink hit Midas first, and he coughed from the reek, but it caught up to me soon enough.
“Phew.” I tugged the collar of my shirt up over my nose. “Did a sewer line break, or what?”
“You can’t feel it?” Remy turned a slow circle. “I bet your shadow senses it.”
True to her prediction, Ambrose had decided to make his presence known, and he was jittery from the ambient energy in the air. It trickled over into me like a hit of caffeine and strung me out right there with him.
“Black magic.” I recognized the flavor, for lack of a better word. “Lots of it.”
Guilt tightened my throat, and I felt like a coward even though I was running toward danger and not away from it. I hadn’t bonded to Atlanta in the magical sense, not as her potentate, but I had come to love her during my apprenticeship, and it tore me up to leave while she was in danger.
Midas vibrated with tension by the time we reached the parking garage, his inner beast growling steadily.
“Third level.” Remy pointed up the ramp. “First one there gets to ride shotgun.”
Midas and I exchanged a look, but neither of us sprinted after her, and we both smiled at the same time.
Remy scowled as if we had wounded her by not wanting the copilot’s seat, but come on. If you’ve ever watched a movie or TV show set in space where the ship engages its warp engines or hyperdrive or whatever, and the stars streak past the viewscreen in solid lines, you can imagine the view when Remy drives through downtown at night.
The fleeting moment of levity passed, and we jogged to catch up to Remy at her lime-green car.
Insulted, she shoved us both into the backseat and let the backpacks take shotgun.
Neither of us complained.
Even as she cranked her radio up through the roof to punish us.
After touching base with Bishop, I yelled at Midas over the noise, “Have you updated your mom?”
“Doing it now.” His thumbs flew over the screen. “Any news from Bishop?”
His temporary relocation to the Faraday from HQ was messing with my head, and my heart.
As much as the enforcers needed his help, I hoped he hadn’t decided to retreat there to avoid me.
“He says the numbers on the roof have leveled off, but now there’s movement on the ground.”
The news didn’t appear to surprise Midas, so I assumed his people were telling him the same.
“The enforcers on patrol are reporting unusual crowds in downtown.”
When a native Atlantan labels a crowd as unusual, it’s saying something. Crowds are commonplace, what with the tourist attractions. Folks who endure Dragon Con each year don’t bat an eye at gatherings numbering in the thousands when the con can bring in upwards of eighty-five thousand people in full costume who spend five days living their best geek lives within a few blocks of one another.
“So far, the coven is showing no signs of aggression.” He lowered his phone. “Mom’s going to call you.”
A breath hitched in my chest at his serious tone. “All right.”
The background noise quieted, and I could hear myself think again.
Midas stared at his hand, and I couldn’t guess at the thoughts moving behind his eyes.
When my cell vibrated, I hesitated to answer it, but I had no real choice. “Hi.”
“This is Alpha Tisdale Kinase,” she said formally. “I’m requesting a moment of your time.”
Official OPA business then.
Double gulp.
“I can spare a minute.” I stared out the window until the motion flipped my gut. “What do you need?”
“I would like to request your permission to deploy more enforcers throughout the city.”
A heavy pack presence could do as much harm as good if the citizens got it in their heads the pack had the ability to enforce martial law in a city overseen by a potentate, even if I wasn’t it. Yet. This was a line I had been inching toward for a while now, and as much as I hated to turn down help, I couldn’t step over it.
The ghost tour gig had taught me how to handle people. Time to put those years of soothing irate customers who got pissed when no ghosts showed up on their tours to work. Not that Tisdale was mad. But she did want what I couldn’t give her. Turning on my professional guide voice, I dusted off my rusty bargaining skills.
“I regret to decline your generous offer, but I will grant you two dozen enforcers within the city limits.” If I didn’t specify those were in addition to the enforcers who lived downtown, or the ones already on duty, I could be forgiven the oversight. “However, you must inform your people that I will also allow representatives from the Clairmont pack, the Loup Garous, and the Kingsman lion pack to assist me.”
There were several vampire clans in the area I could also petition, but they tended not to get involved in outside squabbles. The average vampire feared true death too much to risk so much as a hangnail in life.
Undead life, but whatever.
“I’ll let my people know.” I heard the smile in her voice. “Thank you for your time, Ms. Whitaker.”
Within seconds of ending the call, she texted me a row of hearts and the simple words I’m proud of you.
Warmth unspooled through my chest, and I cradled the emotion growing there gently, afraid I might crush it before it fully bloomed.
So, this is how it feels to have a mom who loves you.
It was weird. Nice. Really weird. But…yeah…nice.
Remy met my gaze in the rearview mirror. “Have you got any of that lined up, Miss Potentate, ma’am?”
“Nope.” I almost dropped the phone my palms were so slick. “I’m about to start making calls.”
“Woohoo.” She punched the gas. “Time to wheel and deal.”
“Kill the radio.” I swallowed a few times to hold down those bowls of cereal I was starting to regret. “We don’t need these alphas to know we’re sending our distress signal on the run.”
Midas rested his palm on my thigh, and tingles spread from that contact. “You got this.”
With the Kinase family stamp of approval, how could I go wrong?
Nine
Midas was aware that, as the future Potentate of Atlanta, Hadley had signed on the dotted line to throw herself headlong into danger. But oh how he wished she didn’t have such excellent aim.
Midas loved Atlanta. It was home. His family was here. His friends were here. His roots were here.
But he would be lying if he claimed it hadn’t occurred to him that he could strike out like his sister, Lethe, and expand the Kinase pack network by establishing his own in a quiet city far from here.
Maybe on an island. In the Pacific. Guarded by sharks. With laser beams attached to their heads.
As far as dreams go, it had potential, but reality burst his bubble if he thought too hard about logistics.
He could never rob his mother of her heir, not after she lost Lethe, and he would rip out his own heart before he made Hadley sacrifice hers by choosing between him and her duty.
“Okay.” Hadley tossed her phone onto the seat between them, slumping as it left her hand. “We’ve got pack and pride backup en route.”
No one else could have made those asks and had them answered with a yes. “Any other calls to make?”