I could hear Damien’s phone ringing in my subconscious, my eyes focusing once again on the woman on the monitors. She had stopped and was now speaking to Dora, who had been with me since she’d been a young girl and was only a handful of humans I’d trust. Her family had been with me for centuries, yes, I was that old. Her family had known about us way before we had stepped once again out of the darkness. The humans forgot about the monsters in the dark, and over time we had become the fairy tales of old. Finding out that we had been living amongst them for centuries had been a shock. War had broken out amongst humans and naturals; the weaker naturals had been killed or injured. In retaliation, many humans had been killed. It went on for years until a treaty was agreed upon. Two new separate councils had been formed, one for the Natural’s one for the Humans. On each sat 12 figures both had naturals and humans on each Council; it wasn’t ideal, but it worked.
Dora’s great, great, great grandparents had been the first to work for me and carried on down the line. I’d know Dora even before she’d been born. I’d known her mother and father. I had watched while her mother had carried her throughout her pregnancy. Dora and her own children were part of my ……. Family. Yes, I had people that I classed as family, strange, I know. A fucking nasty piece of shit like me could call anyone that. It amazed anyone who happened to find that out and was something I kept close to my chest. If anyone found out that Lucien Sinclair cared about anyone in that manner. Their lives would be in danger, and that was one thing I couldn’t let happen.
The conversation that Damien was having grabbed my attention away from Scarlett and my thoughts. He was talking to one of my men who had left to get some information, and from what I could judge from his face, he wasn’t pleased. It didn’t look right, in fact, I had a Shite feeling.
‘…. Are you fucking kidding me!!’’ cursing at the person on the other end of the phone, Damien listened growling as he heard what he was being told. Running his hand over his bald head, frustration written over his face. His eyes flashing red ‘’Make bloody sure you are not compromised, then get your asses to the pickup point. Ben and Tony will be waiting for you.’’ he tells him before hanging up, not giving them another chance to saying anything else. Chunking his phone onto the desk. I waited, knowing that once he’d calmed down, and he would tell me what was going on. I did not have to wait for long.
He groaned, running his hand over his face muttering under his voice before turning his head towards me saying ‘’They think they were seen in Nathans territory,’’
‘’Think?’’ I replied frowning, this could cause all sorts of shitty problems, were they that stupid that they couldn’t make sure they wouldn’t be seen. These assholes they were meant to be some of my top trackers. Obviously, I was wrong ‘’that means shit. Either they were, or they haven’t seen it’s not hard is it, fucking hell. Bloody assholes. How are they not sure? Fucking bloody hell’’ my demon growled he knew as we all did what this could mean. Though we were friendly and helped each other in the past, it didn’t say we were best pals.
Nathan was a bastard, a deadly one. Jacob was not far behind. In fact, all the leaders who ruled had to be. We had no choice; if we were not, at some point, you’d be challenged. By both laws, we had to stick to our own territories. If for some reason, you had to step into another’s, then you sent out a personal message to the Leader of the territory you needed to enter. The reason you needed to come had to be good enough to be granted permission. The laws that were in place …. They were there to make sure we followed the rules. All our laws were old, being put in place by the councils. Invites or permission from one of the other leaders was far and in between. They did not happen often. I had not done so since the last conflict.
I’d sent my men out into their territory without asking for their permission, and in doing so, I was going against the very law that was meant to keep everyone safe, but sometimes needs must when the devil arrives. I was guilty of doing it on several occasions. I’ve no doubt that the other leaders of their own territory had done the same. Naturals and humans. Otherwise, we stayed in our own regions. Yes, some of my men were from Jacobs pack and Nathans coven, and I even had a few angels in my ranks, but that meant fuck all in the long run. I had so many people that worked for me I’d lost count. Most were naturals, but I did have a few humans. One that I felt had gained a place through some sort of loyalty. I didn’t trust easy, so those I kept by my side had somehow gained that trust, which was hard to do. If any of my men were caught, then it was the right of the man or woman who runs that territory to deal with them as they saw fit. We had all accepted that agreement when the first laws had been written.
‘'Somethings going down. There’s more patrols than the norm’’ Damien filled him in, as he poured two glasses of brandy passing one towards me before sipping his own, ‘’and from what I gathered from that conversation a more than a few of Nathan’s top men were among them,’’
It wasn’t unusual for someone high up in the racks to be on patrol, I even went with my own men on the odd occasion. The fact that so many patrols were out the same time, and many were top racking men, is unusual. I agreed that something was happening, and I had this sinking feeling that when I found out what the fuck was going on, I wasn’t going to be happy.
‘’I’ll find out more once they get back,’’ Damien told me, throwing the rest of the brandy back a frown written across his face.
Something was going on with him. What I didn’t know. I watched as he placed the glass back down on the desk before filling it up again. I knew something was playing on his mind, the way he’d slung that brandy back confirmed it. I knew before she had attacked Alison, he’d been uncomfortable with Aria being here. She kept arriving unannounced as if it was her right. If truth be told, it didn’t sit well with me either. She was like a bloody elastic band the way she was toing and throwing. She was even more demanding than she usually was and that was saying something. I knew she wanted me to bring her… Scarlett, my beautiful obsession into our games. That was not going to happen. I also knew he realised that I was keeping things from him. I had to keep things close to my chest for a while longer. I hadn’t told him about the fact that something was off about Aria. For months now, I’d been getting the feeling that she was up to no good and that I’d found out that those suspicions were correct. It was all fucked up. Then there was Scarlett, I couldn’t remember when I had defiantly decided to make her mine, but mine she was. For the first time in my long life, I hated even the thought of sharing her, which didn’t make sense. Fuck, I’d always been willing to share Aria, and she had been my only permeant lover over the years. Yes, it was well known we fucked other people and shared other women between us, but this witch for some god damn reason was different. My demon thought it was fantastic that I had begun to fill that way, me not so much. I was fighting against myself, and I would, at some point, have to give in. I was so fucked.
Sitting there, staring at him from the corner of my eye, I waited for him to tell me what was wrong. I was not the type to ask. I knew at some point he’d say to me. He’d never gotten on with Aria from the moment he’d met her, but I didn’t believe that’s what was bothering him. The hatred he’d felt for her had seemed to be carved in stone from day one, but he put up with her being around. I didn’t really think it was only that, that was bothering him, I knew it was something else that had gotten up his asshole and it wasn’t another dick. The ringing of his phone pulled me out of my thoughts, I could hear Ben over the line he sounded over excited. Panic had set in his voice rising with every word that he uttered. I could not make out what he was prattling on about so indicated to Damien to put him on loudspeaker. The attention my little witch wanted off me would just have to wait for the time being. I’d make sure that she wouldn’t be able to walk around on her own again. Alex had been given strict orders that she must always be under some sort of guard, and someone was meant to be with her the minute she left her room. If for some reason he couldn’t for fill those orders, then he had to either inform Damien or myself. For some bloody fucking reason, she’d been able to walk out of her room without a care in the world, as if she was in her own home. It was just lucky that Aria had left if she’d happen to run into her…. Fuck. It didn’t matter that she had warned me to keep Aria away from her. That she’d retaliate if Aria attacked her, I didn’t want her injured. Aria was a powerful demon in her own right. Why Alex hadn’t been there the minute, she’d walked over the threshold of her room is something I would be demanding to know once I’d sorted out what the fuck was happening with Ben.