Chapter 57
Chapter Fifty-Seven
Hailey
It was hard to get out of bed the following morning. I was pressed tightly between Ilyas and Louis, and the rest of the guys were scattered around the giant bed. Maybe I was a little psychic, because I’d known I’d need this much space.
I was so fucking happy, it was like my chest was going to explode. A hand reached over, and I grasped Eric’s fingers. Love slid down the bond, and I threaded our hands together. Propping my head on Ilyas’s chest so I could see him, I gave him a soft smile. “Good morning,” I whispered.
“Good morning, my love,” he whispered back. His face didn’t have that blur of sleep, so I knew he’d been awake for a while.
“Are you okay?” Did he regret last night?
He nodded. “Just thinking.”
Ilyas stretched, rolling onto his stomach and using his wings to gather us closer. “Mmm, about what? Can we help?” Ilyas mumbled without fully opening his eyes.
“I think I’m going to help Nextra.”
I frowned, and Ilyas pushed up on his elbows so he could see us both at the same time.
“Are you sure?” I asked him, because I knew how conflicted he was about this.
He didn’t owe the clan, but he didn’t get into creature rights because he was the type to turn the other cheek.
Eric sucked in a deep breath. “Yes. It’s the right thing to do for the rest of my kind.
I don’t have to want to live with them to want what is best for them.
I can hate them and hope they transform themself into something better.
I just hate that there might be any danger to you.
If it was just me, I would have done it last week, but I don’t want you to be hurt.
The idea of anything happening to you because of me—” He choked up, and Ilyas leaned over to kiss him softly.
“You aren’t alone. We will protect Hailey, protect you both.
Do what your heart tells you.” He frowned.
“I should have also told you before we bonded, but the both of you should get a little boost in longevity. Most gargoyle mates share a little of our life force, but I’m not sure how it will effect a human.
There hasn’t been much interspecies relations between my kind and either of yours. ”
I kissed him softly on the cheek. “We’ll take it as it comes. Fifty years with you would be wonderful. A hundred years would be a dream come true.” Ilyas turned his face so he could kiss me with a lot more tongue.
“Stop hogging our mates,” Syke grumbled from Eric’s other side, and Ilyas tucked his wings tightly to his back so we could see the rest of the bed’s occupants.
Syke was grumpy in the mornings, so I reached across to him. He used his shadows to pick me up and drop me on his body, then he buried his face in my throat. “Mmm, that’s better. Good morning, my sexy little bond mate. Last night was… delicious.”
Flashes of the night combined with the pleasant ache between my thighs, and he gave me a cocky smirk.
He hooked his leg over Eric. “Ilyas is right though. Do what you need to do, and we’ll support you. There are few beings that could stand against our family now, and if you add Otis…”
My cheeks went pink. Otis. Fuck, poor Otis. He had to hear last night. I hoped he wore headphones. Syke laughed darkly. “Stay out of my head,” I chastised, slapping his chest.
Eric was still staring at the ceiling. “I’ll file the motion today. It’ll take some time for it to reach the Supreme Council, but you should still be prepared for blowback.”
“I’ll blow on your—” I slapped a hand over Syke’s mouth.
Louis chuckled from Ilyas’s other side. “We’ll be extra vigilant, Eric, with your safety too. We should invest in getting you extra security for a while.” He stretched. “We need to get ready for work.”
Syke ran his hands down my spine and cupped my ass in his hands. “A little breakfast first?”
Louis stole me from Syke, hauling me into his arms. “Shower first.”
* * *
The handover from Chet went smoothly, though I could still see the auditor in her new office, working away. I walked over to Liam and sat beside him on his desk. He reminded me of a young Otis, though maybe not quite as serious.
“How has she been? Did she find anything?”
Liam shrugged. “I don’t think so. Chet’s made us give her a wide berth, but sometimes I hear them arguing in the office. Besides, there is nothing to find, right?”
“Right,” I agreed.
Otis was still in the office, talking to Chet as they left for their days off, and I tried not to flush as I remembered the look Otis had given me this morning.
I hadn’t even been able to meet his eyes, but I’d caught him looking at me with a hooded expression.
I knew he’d heard everything, and while I was horrified, a small part of me relished the thought that he might have been a floor below me, listening to my guys give me pleasure and stroking his cock. It was tantalizing.
Louis growled from his desk. “Hailey, I’m going to need you to stop thinking about whatever it is you’re thinking about before I give the auditor more than enough fodder for her reports.”
Syke leaned against the filing cabinet. “I know what she’s thinking about.”
I narrowed my eyes on him and thought about him on his knees, begging for me because he was cut off. He laughed as he grabbed the file he needed, walking past me and whispering, “I’ll get on my knees and beg you anytime.”
It was a relatively quiet day, which was a relief. We’d decided, for safety, that I would stay on shift with the guys, and that Eric would spend the nights here too until everything died down.
I touched the scar on my face. It was healing well, and I didn’t even notice it now unless I smiled extra wide and it pulled. Whatever the plastic surgeon demon had done, it had increased the healing process exponentially. I was thankful. I wanted that whole thing to just be a bad memory.
While Eric said Officer Nextra had nothing to do with it, I didn’t feel relieved.
It meant that there was some unseen force out there waiting to send me a page like this was 1995, so I could blow the men I loved to smithereens.
He’d be disappointed. The only bargaining chips he had to use against me were the very men I would have to blow sky high.
It still made no sense.
At about three in the afternoon, I got a message from Eric. It was done. Now we just had to see where the chips fell. Maybe the orcs would take it well. Maybe Buck and Eric weren’t the only ones who believed that change was necessary.
I wouldn’t bet my current happiness on it though.
At six, I was on a call with an influencer who’d accidentally thrifted an antique drinking carafe with an indentured djinn attached—which was a new one—when the switchboard lit up like a Christmas tree. Lights flashed across the board, and I jammed the woman on hold.
“Otis!” I shouted, and the minotaur came running. He looked at the switchboard, then at the guys. “Everyone grab a line.” He squeezed my shoulder. “It’s fine. Finish up your current call, and we’ll work through the rest.”
Taking the woman off hold, I wrote down her details and directed her to the nearest embassy that dealt with djinn affairs.
It looked like a nightclub uptown, but it was listed in the official directory, so what did I know?
The djinn were a dying species, even among the creatures, and very few of them made it to North America.
As soon as I hung up, I connected to another call.
“I couldn’t get through to the cops, but there’s a riot in Southside.
They set my car on fire. I’m at a restaurant, and the owner locked the door, but they keep trying to kick it in.
” The voice on the other end quavered. “Is this another riot?” The way he said riot this time had a capital R.
It was a word that still sent a chill down most people’s spine, human and creature.
I took a deep breath. “I’m not sure. Can you describe who is trying to kick in the door?”
The voice was muffled, and I could hear him ask his table companions. “The smoke is thick, but I think it’s orcs.”
Fuck. My eyes went to Otis, and his grim expression told me it was the same on his line.
I shot a look at Syke, and he was already pulling his phone out, calling Eric.
I calmed the panic that was constricting my chest. “The police are aware, and the best thing for you to do is shelter in place. Stay inside, keep the doors locked, and stay calm. The CVPD are on their way, as is the Creature Crisis team. If you need to leave, try to leave out a back door, away from the rioters. Help is on the way.” I grabbed the caller’s name and number and hung up.
“Ilyas,” I murmured. I searched the bond for Eric, and I could feel his panic, but he wasn’t scared.
“He’s okay,” Ilyas assured me, tapping his chest. “I can feel it. Once he is here, we’ll keep him safe.”
I wanted to talk to him, but we hadn’t tried that skill yet, and Louis said it could take years to develop the magic it used.
Otis hung up, and the switchboard was still flashing. “We need to go. I’m calling Chet and his team too. We’ll need all hands on deck.”
Syke appeared in front of me. “Eric is almost here. He said he’s at the end of the block.” He stroked my cheek. “Show me your necklace from Ilyas.” I handed it over, and he wrapped a small ball of shadow magic around it. “It’s like your teapot now. If you need me, smash it. I’ll be right there.”
Pushing up on my toes, I kissed him. “Be safe?”
He smirked at me. “The only thing I’m in danger of is indigestion.”
Louis rolled his eyes as he kissed me too. “Be safe.” I could feel his bond leaning toward me, and I could tell he didn’t want to leave. I pushed reassurance down the connection. “No one is getting in here. I’ll be fine. Go.”
They suited up in Kevlar and grabbed weapons, and then Ilyas stopped in front of me, swiping a kiss across my lips. “Stay with Eric at all times.”
“I will.”
Otis reappeared, his radio on his shoulder.
They were all kitted out for a riot, and panic thrummed through my veins.
Stopping in front of me, Otis looked at the switchboard.
“Do what you can. Reassure them and keep the calls moving. Triage the calls for later.” He paused. “Don’t leave the building. Promise me.”
I nodded, my eyes feeling too big in my face. “I promise.”
Sighing heavily, Otis leaned forward and kissed my forehead. I sucked in a shuddering breath. Why didn’t I think about how this moment would feel when I bonded a bunch of first responders?
They’d been gone mere minutes when the elevator opened, and Eric was there. I ran into his arms, and he clutched me to his chest. He looked disheveled, his suit jacket unbuttoned and his hair sticking up at all angles. “Did you make it here okay?”
He nodded. “Yeah. They are just using it as an excuse for some destruction of public property. They haven’t made it to burning effigies of me yet, though I have no doubt I just went from persona non grata to public enemy number one in the clan.
” He sat at the switchboard beside me. “It’s okay, Hailey.
I expected this. The orcs always teeter on violence.
They don’t need much of an excuse. It’ll burn itself out before you know it. ”
My gut said this was the beginning of something we couldn’t take back, and it would change the face of the city forever.