“Now you’re being dramatic,” Frances said. “They wouldn’t kill you.”
“I’m not taking my chances. Plus, he’s immortal and-”
“Perfect for you,” Frances said, interrupting me. “I swear, you’re so stubborn and for no good reason. Just go on a date with him.”
I folded my arms across my chest. “If I go on a date with him, you have to let me set you up with someone.”
She narrowed her eyes. “You have someone in mind already?”
I smirked and shrugged.
“Hey, it’s about time to go,” Tsukiko said.
I looked at the clock, and my eyes widened. It was. Where had the time gone?
“Gather up, creatures. We’re going on a trip,” I said, smiling wickedly.
“Spy time!” Tsukiko cheered softly.
Spy time, indeed.
Sixteen
TSUKIKO
I would never get used to the spinning and swirling vortex of shadow travel. Loralie moved us from our bedroom down to the conference room where our families were gathered to discuss the current situation.
She found a somewhat large, shadowy spot on the wall nearest the table and the spinning thankfully stopped.
Frances and I held onto Loralie’s arms and we all focused on the adults at the table.
Loralie’s grandfather sat in his usual cloak, but had his hood down, exposing his skeletal head. He could transform to give himself a face, but said that the skeleton was his true form and he preferred it. Beside him was Loralie’s father, his hood down, but with a human-looking appearance on—the one he wore most of the time. Loralie’s mother was a petite demon with thick horns that curved up almost a full foot above her head. She was one of the most powerful demons, reporting directly to Lucifer himself. She sat between the two reapers, but despite being smaller in stature, her aura made her seem as large, if not larger, than the males.
Beside them sat Frances’s parents, both monsters created by Dr. Frankenstein. They had green skin, a side effect to Dr. Frankenstein using decaying body parts to create them. Frances was created with fresh parts originally, but she said she didn’t mind the green skin, since it let her look like her parents.
Next to my parents sat my grandfather, his body more wolf than human, but his speech was perfect. I never understood how he did it.
Together, they were the leaders of the monsters, the most elite creatures in all of the world.
Grandfather sniffed loudly and turned in our direction, but then he looked back at Dad and said, “We should homeschool them.”
Mom sighed. “No. The girls need to be out among their own kind. They need to experience the other races.”
Grandfather harrumphed, but did not argue with her.
“We should triple security and assign two bodyguards to each of the girls,” Frances’s father said.
I almost rolled my eyes. So predictable.
“We need to figure out how they are getting into the school and other protected areas undetected. How they got by three chupacabras is bothering me more than anything else,” Dad said.
Same.
“Their knowledge is too strong,” Grandfather said. “There is someone on the inside feeding them intel.”
“We suspect the same,” Frances’s dad said. “But we have no idea where to start looking or who it could be.”
“Satan has been trying to do some probing,” Loralie’s mom said. “So far he is coming up with nothing and that is royally pissing him off. He doesn’t like not knowing things.”
Grandfather rolled his eyes. “Yes, we all know how pissy the dark angel gets when he’s left out of things. I’m surprised he isn’t here right now.”
“I am here and that is all that is needed,” Loralie’s mom said with a shrug.
Grandfather narrowed his eyes. “You report everything to him?”
She smiled. “Do not get so worked up, friend. I know when to withhold things.”
I rolled my eyes. Here we go. The fighting was about to start.
“That’s enough of that,” Mom said, snapping her fan open to cool herself and gain their attention at the same time. “I think we should call in reinforcements.”
Dad groaned and dropped his head back against the chair. “No, not her. Anyone but her.”
“She’s our best defense against humans,” Mom said calmly.
“She’ll wreck everything,” Grandfather snarled. “She is a menace and should not be allowed anywhere near the children.”
“She knows when to behave,” Loralie’s mom said. “I think she is our best choice.”
Who were they talking about? Who was “she”?
“I say we still increase security,” Dad said.
“What news do you have about the werewolves?” Frances’s dad asked.
Grandfather growled. “They are trying to fight us peacefully, trying to institute a democracy.”
“They want a human democracy?” Frances’s mom asked with wide eyes. “Are they morons? Have they not seen the turmoil that democracy is having?”
“They insist it is more equal,” Grandfather said and the disgust in his voice told everyone in the room all they needed to know about his viewpoint on that.
“Then we should avoid assigning werewolves to the school,” Loralie’s dad said.
“What about the chupacabras? Are they siding with anyone yet?” Loralie’s mom asked.
“Not that we can tell, though I am rather suspicious after the one almost let a human into the room where Kiko was,” Dad said and growled softly.
“Do they truly possess the ability to mask their scent?” Loralie’s dad asked. “That seems rather unlikely for the humans.”
“Perhaps they are being assisted by magical means,” Grandfather said. “It wouldn’t be the first time that a human and creature worked together.”
“If that is happening, we need to find out who it is as quickly as possible,” Mom said and snapped her fan closed.
“I shall make the call to her and we should allow the children to return to school in a day or so, once we have the additional security ready,” Loralie’s mom said.
Without warning, Loralie returned us to the room. We fell onto the floor, panting and dizzy.
“Who were they talking about?” Frances asked between gasps.
“I don’t know,” I whispered.
“Me, neither,” Loralie groaned.
Someone knocked on the door, but we were too tired to jump into position.
Mom opened the door and arched her brow when she found us on the floor. “I’m not going to ask. Your presences are requested downstairs.”
“Yes, Mother,” we all answered and stood on shaky legs, reaching out to each other to steady ourselves.
She sighed, shook her head, and walked away.
The three of our gazes locked, and we chuckled, but quickly covered our mouths to keep from laughing too loud.
“Busted,” Frances whispered and shook her head.
“Yeah, but she won’t tell anyone,” I whispered. “She’s cool like that.”
We hurried downstairs and were hugged by each of the family members.