Chapter 17 – Farrah #2
“Please, there’s no need for that,” she says, her velvet voice like a wonderful song.
She’s gorgeous, and I struggle to form words. “Hi. Um, nice to officially meet you. Both of you.”
Layla drops her hand and bursts into laughter. She raises a brow to Locheran. “How on earth did you convince this adorable woman to be your mate?”
Locheran flips her off, which doesn’t have the impact he’s intending with just four fingers.
“She’s so quiet,” Vara adds. She places a paw on my shoulder. I try not to stare at her sharp claws out of my peripheral vision. “Does he not annoy you?”
My face heats. Not just my cheeks, my entire face, and it spills onto my neck and chest.
“Um… well, we haven’t really spent too much time together, so…”
The two women give each other a look and fall into a fit of laughter again.
“Do you two mind?” Locheran says, huffing.
“Sorry,” Layla says when her giggles wane. She holds out her hand. “Please, Farrah, give me your phone so I can put my number in there. You’ll call anytime you need a break?”
I glance at Locheran, and he shrugs before shaking his head. But he smiles, and I take that as a good sign. I open contacts on my phone and hand it over to the vampire queen. She taps away and hands it back.
“We should plan a ladies night,” Vara says. “You, me, Layla, Millie, and Evangeline. We could go to one of the many supernatural nightclubs I own around the city. That means free booze all night.”
“Ooo!” Evangeline croons from across the room, overhearing our conversation. “I’d love that.”
The gargoyles groan. All of them: Locheran, Xander, and Thorne.
I can’t help giggling at their dramatic reaction.
“I’m down,” I say.
“Wonderful,” Vara replies. “We’ll start a group chat and figure out logistics.”
“Works for me.”
With that, Vara pats my shoulder and steps away. Layla squeezes my forearm with a smile and turns to find her seat at the table between her two mates.
I spot Rorik looking longingly at the trio, but when he notices me staring, he straightens in his seat and weaves his hands in front of him. I give him a small wave that he returns with a nod before Locheran leads me to a seat on the opposite side of the table next to Evangeline.
There are a few other supernatural beings in the room that Locheran points out to me after we’ve sat down.
A beautiful fae named Korna with ice-blonde hair and magical eyes sits across the table from me. Locheran swats at my hand when I extend it to greet him, telling me to never shake a fae’s hand because it will lock me in a deal with them. Even if no words were exchanged. They’re deceiving like that.
Next I meet a wolf shifter named Haley who’s built like a warrior, but she’s short like me with dark brown skin and lovely hazel eyes.
A werewolf sits next to her. Apparently, werewolves and wolf shifters are different.
Shifters can transform into a wolf at any time.
Werewolves can only do it during the full moon.
The beefy man’s name is Hawk, which makes me giggle since he’s nothing like a bird.
He’s about as big as Thorne with a thick neck, tanned skin, and silver-blue eyes.
Next is an orc named Dregu with dark green skin and long tusks poking out of his mouth. He’s also a big creature with muscles that rival Thorne’s and Hawk’s.
On the other end of the table is a griffin named Zephrys. I have to stop myself from staring. He’s magnificent. His eagle-like head and lion’s body seem unreal. I almost reach out to touch him to make sure he’s not a hallucination.
The last two creatures I’m introduced to are a demon and a centaur.
Drake, the demon, looks like a bad boy emo rocker from the eighties, dressed in leather with several piercings including a nose ring.
He scowls at me, but Locheran told me that’s normal for demons.
The centaur, who’s standing in the corner out of the way because of her horse body, is named Olinna.
She’s wearing a tight shirt that shows off her human figure.
Her long dark red hair falls over her shoulders in a braid.
Gorgeous. They’re all gorgeous. I’ve yet to meet a supernatural creature that isn’t hot.
Locheran clears his throat next to me and scowls when I glance up at him. I shrug.
It's true.
Once everyone is seated at the table, which is big enough to fit all the monstrous forms except Olinna, Xander wraps up his conversation with another gargoyle who I haven’t met: he’s slim but muscular with skin that has a blueish-gray tint to it. His hair is black like Thorne’s.
He also seems young. Though, most of the gargoyles I’ve met appear young in appearance.
Locheran definitely doesn’t look a thousand years old.
Same with Xander. I wonder how old gargoyles can get.
Locheran says my aging will begin to slow to match his.
Does that mean I’ll live to be thousands of years old too?
Locheran’s hand finds the back of my neck. He squeezes before sliding it to my shoulder and mindlessly rubs my arm with his palm.
It's soothing, but his touch also calls to the mating bond. I do NOT want all the monsters in this room to smell me, so I shrug off his hand. He looks offended at first before I silently tell him why I don’t want him touching me right now.
Rorik chuckles at the end of the table and Locheran flips him off.
Okay. My mate is a big child.
“Let’s begin,” Xander says, dismissing the young-looking gargoyle.
“As you know, the hunters are in the city. They’ve attacked twice, killing two of Layla’s guards and injuring others.
We believe they were planning a bigger attack at the conference, but that plan was thwarted when they kidnapped Vara, and Thorne and Layla tracked her down to their headquarters in Queens.
Nearly a dozen hunters were killed in the battle that followed, but the rest, including their leader—Mally O’Hern—and his son Dean, were able to escape. ”
My breath catches in my throat and my body tenses. Locheran pulls me closer to kiss my temple, sensing my unease.
“We've failed to catch up to them,” Xander continues. “Which leads us to believe they’ve secured many safe houses across the city and are moving between them to avoid notice. We also know they’re getting help from a witch, though it’s still not clear if it’s a willing witch or one being forced to help. ”
“How can a witch be forced to help?” I whisper to Locheran.
“There are certain jewels that can be used to control a witch,” Xander answers because of course there’s no speaking quietly around supernaturals.
I sink down in my seat, not meaning to interrupt. Evangeline pats the top of my knuckles with a calming smile and mouths, ‘it’s okay,’ to me.
“The O’Herns are smart. They’ve been hunting for centuries. They hide behind fake names. They take risks and seem to always be one step ahead, but lately, they’ve been slipping up. And now we have a chance to put someone on the inside.”
The room fills with chatter as the supes turn to each other trying to guess what Xander could mean.
The gargoyle king nods to Locheran and he stands. He holds out a hand for me, and I take it despite my stomach turning with nausea.
Please do not throw up in front of everyone, I think to myself. Locheran must have heard the thought, based on his cough to hide his amusement.
Xander waves a hand toward me. “This is Farrah. Locheran’s new mate. What I’m about to tell you stays in this room. Do you understand?”
Everyone agrees, concern crossing faces mixed with the palpable hum of curiosity.
“Farrah is the estranged daughter of Mally O’Hern. She was disowned when she refused to join them.”
I wince when angry shouts fill the room, the words are too loud for me to decipher.
“For fuck’s sake, everyone,” Xander yells.
There’s a reason he’s king. He’s a powerful gargoyle, and his voice is just as demanding.
Everyone quiets, but I don’t miss the distasteful glares my way.
Locheran growls beside me, fangs bared. His tail whips back and forth behind us.
His wings have unfurled slightly as if readying to go to battle.
His reaction seems to work, though, and the supes who are on edge with a hunter in the room have relaxed some. Not entirely, but at least my blood is no longer vibrating. The fight within me was just as ready to battle as Locheran.
I was taught how to fight up until I refused to hunt at age fifteen. I never let myself forget. I practiced any chance I got. Every year, I took classes, from self-defense to dance or anything to keep my mind and body moving.
Xander continues speaking. “Farrah is no danger to us. Rorik peered into her mind and confirmed that she knows nothing of her family’s plans.”
“How do we know that the witch helping the hunters didn’t place a block in her mind to keep Rorik out?” Dregu, the orc, asks.
“Because I would have sensed it,” the first vampire answers. “I’ve yet to meet a witch whose powers can withstand my mind reading abilities.”
I asked if all vampires could read minds, but apparently Rorik is the only one. However, all vampires can glamour people to forget, or tweak their memories, often used after feeding in an emergency situation.
“Farrah is going to be our spy.”
More grumbling emerges from the supes around the room.
“They’ve been begging me to join them,” I say, my voice strained from nerves. I clear my throat. “I can find out their plans—”
“They’ll just believe you’ve suddenly changed your mind?” Korna, the fae, asks.
I frown because I know it’s a possibility that they won’t. “I could say I changed my mind after witnessing an attack and stepped in to save the human.”
“We’re still working out the details of the plan,” Xander says, regarding the rest of the room.
Most heads nod absentmindedly as if trying to think of their own idea for me. Only a few snarl, maybe not believing any plan we come up with will work.
“My mother will put wards in Farrah’s head to make sure the hunters’ witch can’t get in there and see our strategy,” Evangeline adds. “They might have someone helping them, but we have a witch too. My mother is quite powerful.”
“We will need soldiers from all species ready for battle,” Thorne adds.
“Once Farrah gets a location, we want to send in a team immediately, so the hunters have no time to escape. We want your best soldiers on that team with the rest prepared to move in if there are problems. I will organize these plans tonight, and you’ll get them tomorrow.
Leaders of supes not in attendance will also receive these plans.
We will not give the hunters the chance to get away this time. ”
I can’t stop my heartbeat from picking up speed. Locheran takes my hand and squeezes. “Please remember to capture not kill, if at all possible,” he says. “We can’t risk any deaths, hunter or otherwise, with the unveiling so near.”
The room agrees, though grudgingly, and it helps ease my distress.
I know my family must be stopped, but a part of me is hoping they can be rehabilitated. If I can help them see the monsters as I do…
At the same time, I have to prepare myself for what I’ll see once I’m inside. Once I see their hate in action. I’m sure nothing has changed since the horrors I witnessed as a kid.
I’ve been in denial for far too long. I should be preparing myself for the worst possible outcome. There’s no doubt that my family won’t win this war.
They’re just not strong enough.
And I'm going to make sure their hate ends with me.