2. Nico
NICO
“I can’t possibly accept this.”
I said it with as much dignity as I could manage while immediately tearing open the clear plastic packaging.
Michael snorted. “Sure you can.”
The shirt came free with a satisfying crinkle of plastic. I unfolded it carefully, smoothing a hand over the embroidered Shadowfall logo on the front before turning it over.
I stopped breathing for a second. The back was even better.
The design was incredibly detailed, with artwork covering most of the shirt without making it look cluttered. I traced one of the finer embroidered details with my fingertip.
Then, because I had apparently lost what little self-control I had left, I lifted the shirt to my face and took a long sniff.
There was that faint, unmistakable scent of fresh fabric, a hint of chemicals from the printing and packaging, and the clean smell of cotton straight from the factory. It was divine.
Michael laughed.
“You deserve this,” he said. “And really, you’d be doing me a favour. They send me so much of this stuff.”
He tried to look annoyed, as though having one of the biggest game franchises in the world constantly send him exclusive merchandise was some terrible inconvenience.
He wasn't fooling anyone.
Michael was one of the most popular gaming streamers around, with millions of followers and sponsorships from more companies than I could keep track of.
He also had enough free merchandise to probably furnish an entire room with nothing but gaming keyboards and branded hoodies. He loved every second of it. And, honestly, so did I.
I rubbed the fabric between my fingers. It was some kind of fancy cotton blend, the sort of material I imagined you'd only find in the most expensive T-shirts.
I didn't own anything like this, but if someone had asked me what a ridiculously luxurious T-shirt was supposed to feel like, this would have been my answer.
“I really couldn’t—”
“You really could.”
I glanced back at the shirt, then at Michael again. There was no point pretending I wasn't already planning to wear it.
“If you insist!”
I quickly pulled it over my head, barely remembering to duck my head through the collar. In my excitement, I nearly smacked the laptop sitting on the coffee table with my elbow.
I caught it at the last second and pulled it closer, glancing at Michael. He gave me a look that said that was close. I gave him an apologetic smile before turning my attention back to the shirt.
I straightened it reverently, smoothing the fabric down over my chest and admiring the Shadowfall logo again.
“Look at you,” Michael said.
I ignored him, but he only chuckled before reaching for something on the table and holding it out to me.
I stared at it for a moment. “No.”
“Yes,” he said, grin widening in amusement.
Before I could protest, he slipped the Shadowfall lanyard over my head. I caught it with both hands, immediately turning it over to take in all the details.
It was covered in motifs from the latest update, including several of the new monsters, but what really caught my attention was the character artwork woven throughout the design.
Ailwyn. Lord of the Elves.
My favourite character. I ran my fingers over the image, then looked at Michael, hardly able to believe what I was holding. I wanted to hug him. Or faint.
Michael chuckled. “You know, I’m surprised you aren’t at the packhouse right now.”
“Hm?” I looked up, realising I'd been staring at the lanyard again.
“I heard from Gri—” Michael stopped himself and cleared his throat. “Well. Some of the enforcers were talking.”
“Talking about what?”
“There seems to be some big meeting going on over at the house.” He gave me a pointed look.
A big meeting? At the packhouse? My mind immediately went back to everything I'd read on the Shadowfall forums over the past few months.
The new movie was supposed to be based on the latest game installment, Shadowfall: Requiem, which had been released a few years ago.
Fans had been speculating about filming locations ever since the movie was announced. The story needed wild woods, mountains, and a lake, and there had been several locations thrown around on the forums.
Pecan Pines had been one of them. At the time, I'd assumed it was just wishful thinking. Then the cast had been announced a few months ago, and filming was supposed to begin soon.
And now there was a meeting at the packhouse. I didn’t want to get my hopes up over some vague rumour.
Still, Michael had heard it from Griffin, his mate and one of the pack's enforcers. That made the information a lot more reliable than some random rumour online.
And Michael was an official Shadowfall ambassador…
My eyes widened. The corner of his mouth twitched before he gave me a single, knowing nod.
I slammed my laptop shut so quickly that I winced at the sound. For one horrifying second, I worried I'd damaged the machine.
Then I remembered everything was backed up to the cloud. Anything important could be salvaged. There wasn't time to pack properly. I shoved my laptop into its case along with my phone, charger, hoodie, and the drinks I'd somehow never gotten around to finishing.
Michael helped me gather the rest of my things while I thanked him repeatedly between hurried breaths.
“Thanks. Thank you. For everything.”
“You're welcome.”
“And the shirt, the lanyard.”
“I know.”
“And—”
“Go.”
I ran all the way to the packhouse. The packhouse wasn't exactly a large building, but that didn't mean I knew where a meeting this important would be held.
I tore through the corridors, following the increasingly obvious trail of enforcers stationed at various points along the way, all of whom turned to watch me as I hurried past.
I probably looked unhinged. I didn't care. As I'd expected, the trail eventually led me to a door at the end of one of the corridors. The council room.
Griffin stood guard outside.
His gaze swept over me, from my Shadowfall shirt to the lanyard hanging around my neck, before returning to my face. For a second, he looked like he wanted to ask what the hell I was doing there.
I straightened my shoulders, lifted my chin, and walked straight past him as though I had every right to be there.
Confidence was probably more convincing if I didn't give anyone time to question it. I grabbed the handle and swung the door open.
“Sorry I'm late!”
I looked around, and a roomful of mostly confused faces stared back at me. The first person I noticed was Tony, whose frown was unmistakable. I decided not to bother trying to decipher Cooper's expression.
The pack alpha looked somewhere between confused and exasperated, which was probably fair considering I'd just burst into his meeting and announced myself as being late when I hadn't actually been invited.
Then there was the third man in the room. He wore a similar expression to Cooper, but somehow managed to look even more intimidating. ‘Proper’ was the only word I could think of.
Everything about him looked put together, from the way he stood perfectly straight to the dark suit fitted neatly over his broad frame.
His short hair was parted and combed to one side, not a single strand seeming out of place. Even his jaw looked tense, the hard line of it making his already serious expression seem even more severe.
He looked like the sort of man who had never once in his life been late for anything.
Or, for that matter, burst into an important meeting wearing a Shadowfall T-shirt and an Ailwyn lanyard. I wondered if the meeting wasn't going well. I also wondered who he was.
Another actor, perhaps? He certainly wouldn't have looked out of place on a movie set. Maybe one of the elf warriors. A serious one, judging by the expression on his face.
Then I noticed who was standing behind him. If I hadn't been carrying a laptop, my phone, and several other things I really didn't want to break, I might have dropped everything right there.
Because standing behind him was Logan Lawrence. The Logan Lawrence. I couldn’t breathe. I heard Tony cough, reminding me that I was still standing in the middle of the room.
“Sorry,” I blurted. “I was just... there was a firewall issue, and I needed to back up the system, and the security configuration was...”
Tony suddenly looked concerned. I gave him the tiniest shake of my head.
I was lying through my teeth, and hopefully he understood that. It wasn't the first time I'd resorted to technobabble when I needed someone to stop asking questions.
Judging by Tony's long, suffering sigh, he knew exactly what I was doing. I turned my attention back to Logan. He was smiling.
“I like your lanyard! I don't think I've seen that before.”
Then we started talking about Shadowfall lore, and suddenly, we were interrupted.
“Please tell me he's not assigned to us.”
Logan's expression immediately soured. “Isaac!”
Isaac. So that was his name. I tried not to let his comment get to me. I turned toward him anyway, already putting together a list of my qualifications in my head.
I was a fully qualified IT specialist, one of only two in the pack, actually. I handled network security, system maintenance, troubleshooting, infrastructure, and—
Before I could get a single word out, Tony appeared beside me and caught me by the arm. “Come on.”
“What?”
He steered me toward the door. “Now.”
I looked helplessly at Logan, but Tony was already marching me out.
“Could you give us a moment?” Cooper asked.
Logan nodded, and Isaac did too, though they immediately turned back to each other and resumed glaring at each other.
I glanced over my shoulder at Isaac as the door began to close. Serious. Grumpy. And apparently incapable of appreciating the privilege of having someone like me handling his security.
I decided he had to be one of the lesser marsh elves. Maybe a peasant extra.
Tony dragged me into another meeting room across the hall, with Cooper following close behind, and shut the door once we were all inside. He looked over at Cooper, who gave him a small nod.
Tony turned his attention back to me. “First of all, how did you find out about this meeting?”