by Lauren Dane
“I like the mountains. It’s nice to be able to go run.”
“It’s not as heavily forested as close to the city as Seattle is. But it’s good. The wildness of it all, city and nature, feeds my magick.”
Helena’s magick was vibrant. Golden yellows and blues. Lark’s was electric in a different way. But Helena’s had a taste his beast could identify with its eyes closed.
Driving that thought from his mind wasn’t too hard as he headed through the streets to the office. More police presence of late. And now, he noted, they were far more militarized.
He wasn’t alone. “Automatic weapons. Christ.” She blew out a breath as she noted the cop on a nearby corner.
“At least here they have some decent relations with Gennessee.”
“Decent.” She shrugged. “Getting worse though. It’s factionalizing more by the day. Out here it’s not too bad. We’ve worked with them since the Magister. But their relationship with the shifters is more tenuous.”
“The packs down here have some problems. Lazy to have let things get so bad.”
He disapproved quite deeply of how poorly and disorganized the werewolves ran themselves in Southern California. They had big problems with rogue wolves, so big they allowed the witches to cull their numbers. Lycians handled their own problems. In Faine’s opinion, to have allowed not just outsiders but another race to deal with an issue of their own making rendered them weak.
“They could take lessons from the Wardens. Undisciplined down here. Someone needs to take over and whip them into shape.”
She laughed and he turned, not very used to hearing the sound from her. He liked it. His beast liked it too. “What?”
“You and Simon are so judgy when it comes to the wolves here. It’s cute.”
“Cute?” He snorted, not sure if he should be offended or not. “I’m not cute.”
“You totally are. They are undisciplined down here. For too long they just let things happen and didn’t really care to enforce their own rules. But they’re trying now. If they don’t rise to the occasion, they’re screwed. I guess if facing obliteration can’t up your game, you’re beyond help.”
He grumbled, not entirely satisfied. “To have witches culling their rogue wolves is a disgrace. Lex Warden should take over. They’d be better off with real leadership.”
“Lex has enough on his hands right now. I think they’re scared. Which is good. They switched out their leadership. If they can use this to tighten their pack up and be better, they deserve the chance. It’s not that I enjoyed having to do their enforcement. I didn’t. I have enough to do without being their boogeyman. But these are dark times. Their new Alpha is stepping up since they pushed the old one out. We can’t all be as awesome as Lycians.”
He hmphed.
“I’m not joking. You and your brother are trained in ways I could only dream of getting my people up to. But for them it’s been a huge cultural shift. They’ve done their own thing for so long and it’s hard to get used to the new reality. I don’t like it much either, but you adapt or you die. If they don’t get their act together, it’s Cade Warden they need to worry over, not Lex.”
Cade Warden was the Supreme Alpha of the National Pack. In charge of all the Packs in the United States. Though Faine had only met him in person once or twice, he’d been impressed by Cade’s power and commitment to protect his wolves. It was an Alpha’s job after all, but one that was difficult, especially now.
“I should thank the wolves down here anyway.” Helena spoke as he turned down the street where the Gennessee offices were.
“Why is that?”
“Tracking wolves is serious business. Because I had to do it so often for so long, I’m good at it. It’s made me a better hunter.” She turned and then laughed at his expression. “What? I’m trying to have a glass-half-full moment.”
“I’ve yet to see you track, but I’ve seen you in several other guises as a warrior. You’re quite good. If you’d like, I’m always happy to help with training of any kind.”
“Really?”
He turned to her, smiling at the excitement in her tone as they waited in line for security to come and examine the car.
“Yes, of course.” He liked that she’d responded in such an enthusiastic manner. He also liked the possibility of working closely together with her in that way.
Witches at the security points checked for magick as well as bombs and guns. No car was allowed to park in their lot without a pass and a check.
The witch who’d come nodded at Helena, taking the pass and running it through her handheld. Helena was adamant that everyone, including her, have their documentation reviewed each and every time. All visitors were logged. All employees were monitored as well. Owen had adopted this policy recently, as had several other Clans and Packs.
Helena had told him it impressed the gravity of their situation in ways her saying so never could. Every day they were confronted with the severity of what was happening. Each time they had to run a security protocol, or be the subject of one, it underlined it. Made them safer because of it on multiple levels.
She was right.
Once they’d gone through the car check, it would be an armed camp inside. Even before the Magister they’d prepared and trained their hunter team. That level of preparedness was an adaptation to the far more dangerous environment they lived in and was now an international model for the other Clans and covens dealing with the new threat post-Magister.
Once they’d been waved through and he’d taken a spot in the garage, she got out, bending to grab her things. He wanted to take her bags but knew she wouldn’t allow it or anything anyone could ever perceive as weakness. She moved like a predator, her gaze flitting from place to place as they moved. Evaluating. Always measuring threat.
It was so sexy he had to look away, pushing his beast firmly beneath the skin.
From there they passed through more checkpoints, including a fingerprint and retina scan, and finally they were on their way to the restricted floor where the hunters and Full Council’s offices were.
“I’ll see you in the conference room in ten minutes.” She stopped at the end of the hallway, touching his arm briefly. “Thanks again for the ride.” She handed him a bundle. “I made you two more burritos.”
He paused, filled with warmth and something else he didn’t examine too closely right then. She’d taken care of him.
She blushed, which charmed him more. “I mean, you made all the food and I was wrapping up an extra for myself. You have to keep your strength up if you’re going to drag me all over the place.”
He took the bundle, briefly placing his hands over hers. “Thank you. I’ll see you in a few minutes.”
Trying not to be flustered by the way he’d put his hands over hers, the warmth still on her skin, Helena headed to her office. Once she’d closed her door, she changed into one of her more professional outfits and did a better job with her makeup while going through her messages.
Grateful for her assistant and her top people who she’d hand all this stuff off to, she headed into the conference room. It was already filling up. Though he’d gone into a sort of retirement after an injury years before, her father waited at the table. He taught her everything she knew and had run the hunter crew long before she and Lark had been born.
He stood to give her a hug. “Good morning, sweetheart. Call your mother today, all right? She worries.”
Helena smiled at him. He worried too, she knew, though both her parents seemed to be doing better since she and Lark had finally worked through some long-standing but stupid personal stuff and were once again as close as they had been before.
United Jaansen sisters made a scary threat. It was fun to be that once more instead of mourning the distance between herself and her sister.
“Will do. I have to stock up on her tea anyway.”
“That’ll make her happy. She’s not in a position to do much for you or your sister. But her teas and tinctures a
re something tangible. Does all three of you good, and when all my girls are happy, it does me good too.” He said it quietly, making sure no one else heard, knowing she’d be embarrassed. But it warmed her. She needed that.
Swallowing back the emotion, she nodded to the head of the table where Rebecca Gennessee sat as leader of the Clan, several of the Full Council to her right and left.
As a woman, Rebecca was someone Helena had grown up thinking of as an aunt. But when she embodied The Gennessee, she was every inch a leader. Slightly aloof, her magick rolled off her in waves. It was awe-inspiring as well as comforting.
“Thank you for the detailed report on yesterday’s situations. Do we have any new information regarding the firebombing?” Rebecca nodded in Helena’s direction.
“I’ve checked in with the local police this morning. They told me nothing. The FBI has a new task force. I touched on that in my update to you. I’ll get you more information when I get it. As of now I have a call in to the agent who was on the scene in Whittier last night. I’ll update you when I hear back.”
Before anything else could be discussed, the videoconference started with Lark’s face on the screen, which widened back a little to show Meriel Owen at the head of the table in Seattle.
Meriel spoke, clearing her throat. “I appreciate everyone coming together for this. I know things are busy right now but I figured if we could do it all at once with all the involved parties, it would be the best use of our time. Molly is going to start us off. Just quickly, before we do that though, I wanted to say Lex Warden, who is the liaison between the werewolves and the COO, is here. We’ve also got Grace Warden, the female Supreme Alpha; Max de La Vega, the Alpha of the de La Vega Jamboree and the liaison with the COO for the cat shifters; along with his brother, Gibson, who is their Bringer. Lark will liaise with the Vampires when we’re done here.”
The Vampires had been pushed past their patience when a car carrying their protected was attacked and the Vampires and humans inside were killed. They’d pulled back and were a breath away from open war with the humans. For the time being, Molly was keeping this from happening with her mixture of charisma, common sense and breathtaking ability to cajole just about anyone about anything.
Breathtaking or not, that would only last so long. Everyone was pushed to their limit and a lot rode on what happened over the next little while.
Meriel introduced everyone else and, finally, Molly took over.
The video equipment didn’t hide the healing wounds on her forehead and right cheek, though the bruises were mostly faded. Or the brace on her wrist. She’d been attacked in a federal hearing room just two weeks before. It was a lucky thing she was alive. Now she was not only alive, but Helena noted the light of ferocity in her gaze as well.
“We’re going to need to get moving again. Our road show has to get back to work if we want to take advantage of this window we’ve got. I’ve been in contact with senators Sato and Sperry, along with Representative Carroll. This new FBI task force is Senator Sato’s idea and he was able to convince the justice department to give it some actual teeth. It’s staffed with Others as well as humans, and will operate out of three major cities at this point, each taking a third of the country. How was it, Helena?”
“The locals waited far too long to respond to the scene and when they did arrive, they were hostile. I regret to say this is not unusual. However, once the FBI came on scene, things changed. They listened to me and followed up. My people reported that their agents were respectful and thorough. I don’t know what that means other than our brief exposure last night, I’m still waiting on a call today, but at least we’ve got that much.”
“Good.” Molly made a quick note before looking back to the screen. “Helena, I’d like you to take the point on this team. I’ve spoken with The Gennessee and she’s given her support.”
Helena blinked, surprised by Molly’s request.
“As most of you are aware, Helena runs the hunter team for Gennessee. It’s her efforts and innovation that’ve kept the West Coast witches safe. And through them, other witches as they are trained by members of her crew.” Molly spoke and Helena saw herself through the other woman’s eyes. It was flattering and sort of overwhelming.
“With major help from Lark.” Helena didn’t want anyone thinking she was taking all the credit for what she’d done with her sister.
Lark broke in. “Helena’s leadership is exactly what the team needs.”
“There’s no one I trust more to head this team than Helena.” Rebecca spoke from her place at the head of the table and Helena realized she was one of the last to know about this. The full council of Owen and Gennessee both had discussed it to let it get this far, and Lark had known that morning when she’d called too.
Part of her job was understanding that other people made the decisions she carried out. She accepted it. But part of Helena, the part she walled off and kept to herself and let no one else rule, was pissed that no one, including her sister, had bothered to bring this up with her first. She could have told Helena on the phone earlier, at least to allow her to be prepared.
Resentment was useless, no matter how valid. So she shoved it away and focused on her job.
Rebecca spoke again. “The witches are leading this charge with the human government. It makes sense that we are in charge of any security team to protect our people. It’s no secret we’re the most human looking of the Others and there’s no sense in not using that to our tactical advantage.” She paused to let that settle in. “We’ve got a prominent place on the Council of Others as well, and Helena, I’ll expect you to sit on their defense task force.”
Over the phone lines Helena heard the rumble of shifter agreement to that.
Okay then. She started making mental notes to hit the ground running once the meeting ended.
“Owen is in total agreement. Lark will be here working on continuing our nationwide training for Others but she will continue to liaise with Molly and Helena and the other members of the Council of Others regarding our internal and external security.” Meriel nodded. “Faine, if we could continue to rely on your help and the support of Lycia, I’d consider it a favor if you could serve as Helena’s lieutenant on this security team. She’ll need to be protected while she’s protecting everyone else.”
“Of course, Ms. Owen. I would be honored. You have Leviathan support for as long as you require it.” Faine rumbled this from his space next to Helena and the echo of it seemed to brush her skin.
“We start tomorrow afternoon in Sacramento with a two p.m. meeting. Helena, if you could get with Sato’s people as soon as possible, I’d appreciate it,” Molly added. “We’re arriving late tonight. I’m going to forward you the details.”
“We’ll have you met at the airport and escorted in. I’ll leave for Sacramento as soon as I can to ready things. I assume Gage will be part of your detail?”
Originally, Faine had been Molly’s bodyguard, but when things had gotten very serious between Molly and Gage and she’d been injured, Owen had sent Faine to Los Angeles to help Helena while Molly had been confined to her bed for a while.
From the look on Gage’s face, Helena wagered no one, not even a nearly seven-foot-tall Lycian, would be good enough to take care of Molly. He’d want to do it himself and she understood that.
“Yes.” Gage spoke, looking sort of feral. Though still smoking hot. Aside from the attempts to kill her, Molly was a lucky woman. “I’ll touch base with you in an hour or so with more information.”
Helena nodded.
The call ended and Helena turned to her father, a man who’d run the hunter corps before she and Lark had taken over when they were in their early twenties. “You have to take over for me here until I’m back.”
He sighed and Rebecca mirrored that sound.
She shrugged. “I can’t do it all if I’m going to be traveling so much. There’s too much here that should be covered. You know the job already. People respect you. You’ve wor
ked with most everyone on the team and they need to rely on a leader. Our people need to be safe.”
Her father nodded. “I’ll step in, but not as your replacement. I’ll be your other lieutenant here. It’s the best way. You lead this crew and you do it better than anyone else could.”
She didn’t say it, but it hung between them unspoken anyway. Anyone but Lark.
She swallowed but didn’t argue. “Fine. Work with Marian and Evan. They’re in charge while I’m gone. I’m briefing everyone.” She glanced at her watch. “In twenty minutes in our common room. I need to be out of here by noon.”
Her father nodded. “On it.”
They dispersed and Faine waited for her. “I’ll drive. We can take my car to Sacramento.”
“You can fly up if you like. It’s a long drive. No use both of us having to drive. I just want to get started and it’ll take a while to arrange flights. And I like to take all my weapons.”
He just raised one brow at her, daring her to keep arguing. She wanted to, just on principle and just because she wasn’t one to turn down a dare. But she needed to get moving.
And every time they got into an argument, she only ended up more attracted to him.
“Fine. Thank you. If you drive I can work.”
“Or you can sleep.”
“No time for that.” She needed to contact the hunters in the San Francisco office to have them meet her in Sacramento. She’d leave the majority of her people in place, but she’d used the witches from the San Francisco office several times before so they knew the routine and would work perfectly.
He frowned at her and she had to swallow back her demand to know how it was he could do that and still look so good.
“See you in just a few minutes at the briefing.” She turned and left, taking a thick file folder from her assistant, who walked at her side as they headed to the hunter’s conference room.
“All the information is here. I printed out everything Molly and Lark sent. The hotel has a floor set aside for you in Sacramento. The usual. Get me your schedule and I’ll take care of all the reservations for the team as well. Your special ammo is in the lockbox. I’ll have it loaded when you’re ready.”