Across the alleyway, Lachlan released a female, who looked up at him with post-orgasmic bliss. “Off you go, lass,” he said with a wink, and off she went to join her date. “You’re right, we should go out to eat more often.” He grinned, which eased some of the guilt I felt about yanking him off his sickbed. It had only been two days since he’d been shot…since I’d almost lost my mate, but he’d recovered as though nothing had happened, as though he hadn’t been unconscious for the better part of twelve hours.
“Let’s go.” We walked out of the alley along the sliver of territory where all humans knew exactly who and what we were. The Butcher’s Block wasn’t only about the feeders who chose to live at our beck and call at the estate. They were a thriving community within the larger species of humans who just happened to abide by two sets of laws: the human and the supernatural.
I sensed my bond with Lyric, bright and strong, but that didn’t lessen my anxiety caused by the physical distance between us.
“You okay over there?” His tone teased, but his eyes scanned the street as we headed toward the opera house. “You seem to have a bit of that newly mated male madness.”
I grunted in his direction and led us down a set of stone steps off to the side. Just because the humans knew we could wend didn’t mean it wasn’t freaky as hell when they saw it in real life.
“Took you long enough.” Benedict was already waiting for us, lounged against the railing with his arms crossed over his chest.
“Fuck off.” I embraced the dark ice of between and wended into the hallway just shy of our door.
Benedict and Lachlan followed, both grinning.
“What?” I snapped.
“Told you, he’s all twitchy,” Lachlan raised his eyebrows and smiled shamelessly.
“Mark me down on the ‘never mating’ column,” Benedict added, flashing a dimple.
A growl rumbled through my chest. Newly mated males were never far from their females in the first week or so, and I was miles away from mine. It was perfectly understandable that I was agitated.
Benedict put his hands up. “Let’s just get this over with so you can get back to Lyric.”
“I couldn’t agree more.” Fuck, I didn’t even like the sound of him saying her name.
I pushed open the steel door and walked in the Conclave with Benedict and Lachlan coming close behind me. The mood was undeniably tense, but at least no one was screaming at each other this time.
"You call an emergency session and then show up late?" Genevieve arched an eyebrow at me.
I sank into my seat and cocked my head to the side.
"Since he sits at the head of Conclave, he could call you here as many times as he wished and simply not show up." Benedict drawled.
Genevieve's eyes narrowed.
Luka laughed, his voice booming through the chamber.
"Benedict, mind your manners," I said over my shoulder. The guy was usually on his best behavior, but sometimes his centuries-old grudge with Genevieve reared its ugly head. "We have business."
The entire chamber, minus Xavier, of course, sat up straight.
"Two days ago, my mate and my second were attacked," I said it as dispassionately as possible, even as wrath charged through my veins. "As you can see," I said, motioning toward Lachlan’s hulking figure. "My second is unharmed. Lyric, however, sustained a fatal injury and is now a full vampire."
Now, even Xavier's jaw dropped.
"You turned her?" Jocelyn asked quietly, something like awe shining in her face.
"Quiet!" her mother snapped. "My daughter speaks out of turn, but the question is the same. You turned the human?"
"She was not entirely human, as you well know." My attention shifted to Xavier. "But yes, she survived the transition and is my queen."
Silence reigned in the chamber for several breaths. I looked from one leader to the next, giving everyone time to absorb the information.
"Then I suppose congratulations are in order," Luka said, nodding to one of his guards. The man grunted, and stalked back to the wolf door, and hauled a scrawny man through the opening.
The human was thrown into the center of our circle, where he collapsed, no doubt from the weight of the shackles at his wrists and ankles. Those things could bring down a full werewolf, let alone a mortal.
"Consider him a wedding gift," Luka announced. "We found him scouting the perimeter of our den this evening."
"My lord?" Benedict asked, already stepping forward.
"Go ahead." It was too much of a coincidence not to be connected to the other attacks.
The man looked around the chamber with hard eyes. No fear. No trepidation. No common sense.
"Were you seeking to harm?" Benedict asked, his voice deceptively soft.
"Not by my standard." The man glared up at Benedict through the oily strands of his unwashed hair. His clothes appeared in good condition and were a tactical brand I recognized.
"He's not lying," Benedict said with a scoff. "But he's creative with the truth."
“He knows who you are," Jocelyn noted, moving forward only when her mother gave a nod of agreement.
"Do you?" Benedict asked, his focus solely on the human. "Do you know who I am?"
"I know enough."
"A smart ass, huh? This should be fun." Benedict slipped a knife free and twirled the dagger in obvious threat. "Are you part of the organization that's been targeting royals?”
"I've been sent to deliver a message." The human looked at me with a sinister smile.
"Well, since you came all this way." If the man courted death, I had no problem introducing it to him.
"Your days are numbered." The human glanced around our circle slowly. I would've been impressed by his bravery were I not dumbfounded by his sheer stupidity. Any one of us, including Patrick, could end his life with a flick of a wrist and a honed blade.
“How generic,” Xavier sighed.
"Again," Benedict noted, "he's not lying, so he believes it."
"We will no longer live beneath you or allow others —" his attention snapped toward Patrick — "to make agreements on our behalf. You do not speak for us."
"And who do you speak for?" Benedict asked.
"Those who no longer fear you."
Jocelyn stared at Benedict's exposed forearms, then shook her head back at her mother.
Interesting. "And now that you've delivered your message?" I asked, already thinking of the thousands of ways Hawke could to pick someone apart.
"What you've done is an abomination." he surged against his bonds, but the metal was made for creatures far stronger than he. “She will not be allowed to live!"
Lyric. Whatever group he was a part of somehow knew about Lyric. I bared my fangs, but before I even stood, the man began to shake and foamed at the mouth, falling to his side in a heap.
"Shit," Lachlan muttered.
The sharp scent of poison filled the chamber, and the human’s heart ceased to beat.
Benedict dropped to his haunches and placed two fingers at the man's neck. "He's dead," he confirmed.
"Cyanide. I can smell it," Luka growled.