by Dane, Lauren
Suz took his hand and squeezed it. “You’ll do all you can because that’s who you are. And no one expects anything less. And now you have someone, and it’s probably not the most convenient time.” She snorted. “But love works that way, I guess.”
“I think it’s early for love. But I do like her a great deal and I have since I first met her. She makes me laugh and I can talk to her. I respect her and the job she does. It’s the big bright spot in my life right now. And I’m not above grabbing it with both hands and not letting go.”
“Good. Don’t let go, Tosh, because that’s rare enough you’d better cherish it.”
Chapter 19
FAINE had been working in the conference room adjacent to Helena’s office for all of twenty minutes when The Gennessee came in and turned on the large television in the room. “Hayes is doing a press conference in five minutes.”
Faine sighed heavily. They knew it would be coming any day, but it had been three days of relative peace. No one they knew had been injured or killed. Helena slept at his side each night without bruises or stitches. It had been a good thing.
But that would fade, he was sure, after this statement Senator Hayes would make. So he braced himself.
The room filled quickly and Helena settled, her hip against his chair, attention on the screen.
“Meriel is watching in Seattle and we’ll patch in after this is over.” Rebecca was distracted and Faine understood it.
Hayes, flanked by Carlo Powers, PURITY’s leader, came onto the screen. “We’re here to start a dialogue on this issue. There will be no questions.”
“Someone needs to buy the man a dictionary and help him look up the word dialogue,” Helena muttered.
“Over the last months, some Others have been cooperating with my office and with PURITY to help us uncover the true nature of the Others living in our midst. These creatures are not the kind souls they try to pretend to be. We’ve been given information by the Others themselves that has revealed a world you would all be sickened by.”
The press in the room began to shout questions and Senator Hayes just shook his head. “No questions. This is too serious for questions.”
“This human male is absurdly stupid.” Rebecca sniffed, clearly indignant.
“We have learned there are demons. You can all recall they denied the existence of demons in front of my committee in the United States Senate.”
Not true. Molly denied that Others called demons. Not that there were actual demons. But Hayes was on a tear, the light of a zealot in his eyes. Demons didn’t give a crap about humans or this plane of existence. They had their own world and their own complicated set of rules and organization. Earth was far too loosey-goosey, as his mother would say, for most demons. They liked order.
But he knew there was an ingrained fear of demons based on totally incorrect folklore about them. He understood that ingrained fear and that’s why the Others had kept the Veil and anything on the other side of it secret.
“These patriotic creatures exposed to my office a world of vice. Of evil so strong it made me sick to my stomach just to hear about it. Private armies in training to kill all humans. Bloodletting and Satanism. These creatures are not Americans. They are a threat to our very existence. And now the Others who’d been helping us have all disappeared.”
Helena lifted a shoulder and a surge of desire rushed through Faine at the sight. Mmm, vicious.
“It is imperative that we pass the Domestic Safety Act and as soon as possible. We must identify and place every last one of these abominations in secure facilities they can no longer harm humans. If we can’t do that safely, they need to be eradicated.”
The room, instead of getting loud, went very, very quiet. There was so much magick in the air that the hair on Faine’s arms stood.
“I will personally be taking this to the floor this coming week. I urge all Americans to call their senators and representatives to tell them to vote this bill into law so that we may deal with this threat as soon as possible. We have left this long enough. The Others are a threat we cannot overlook another moment. We will also be urging an investigation into the disappearances of the Others who had been helping us.”
He turned his attention to Carlo Powers. “Mr. Carlo Powers, a fine American and a guardian of our way of life, has a few words.”
Powers stood forward, sending a smarmy smile out over the room. “We’ve tried our hardest to turn the other cheek with these monsters. If you all recall, it was PURITY who began the first steps in uncloaking the so-called Others. Though it was only from the goodness of our hearts and the purest of motives, they decided right then to try to destroy us and any who got in their way. You saw the way their minion, Molly Ryan, stood up on camera and threatened all of humanity.
“But we are righteous and none can harm us. We must unite to take care of this threat. And make no mistake, these creatures are a threat. They will breed into our communities until there are no pure humans left. They will eradicate our way of life, the very thing written into the soul of this country. Every last one of these abominations must be rounded up and dealt with. However that needs to happen. No American should ever have to tolerate sharing the same air with these things. Go to your phones and your computers right now and tell your elected officials what they need to do. Our very soul as a nation depends on it.”
He stepped back and after the two waved one last time, they were hustled from the room as reporters shouted questions.
Molly, Meriel and the rest of the folks up in Seattle showed up on the video screen. “Why was this even allowed? That wasn’t a press conference, that was a speech! They just gave those fascists free airtime for their hate message.”
“Did they just say they were going to kill us?” Gage nearly growled the question.
“Yes.” Rebecca took a steadying breath. “Molly, what’s the plan?”
“I’ve got some airtime of our own in the making right now. I’m going to one of the local stations and that will feed to the national affiliates too. I’m going to do some televised remarks that will also be broadcast on the radio and Internet. I’ll reiterate the talking points we’ve already discussed. Just remember this is exactly what we expected. We’re as prepared for it as we can be.”
Helena broke in. “I’m going to advise that all hunters be on heightened alert. This will spill over into violence against Others. Both men just called for our deaths. We’ll need to step up our security and the security at all the enclaves and our offices.”
“Definitely,” Lark agreed.
“Make it happen.” Rebecca nodded in Helena’s direction and Meriel did the same up in Seattle.
Meriel spoke again. “I’m going to check in with the COO to see where they’re all at and I’ll update when I get that information.”
Rebecca made quick notes and then looked back to the screen. “Thanks, Meriel. I’m going to issue a press release here as well, denouncing the hateful speech of Hayes and PURITY. Of course we have no idea what they’re talking about regarding the disappearance of these Others who were supposedly cooperating with them. If there was such a thing, how could one trust the word of a being who’d do that anyway?”
“Exactly. I’ll do the same, as will other covens and clans.”
The call ended.
Helena waited for a quiet moment with Rebecca. “Sasha will coordinate with your assistant on the details of all your appearances. We can handle the pre-recorded message here, but I’m adding two more people to your personal security and more to your home.”
Rebecca’s mouth tightened a moment.
“I know you’re an incredibly powerful witch. I’m personally totally sure you can handle pretty much whatever comes your way. But you have a family. You have a right to be safe in your home, as do they. You’re our public face and you need to be as safe as possible. Don’t make me frown at you, it’
ll give me wrinkles.”
Rebecca’s mouth curved into a smile, and not for the first time, Faine realized how good she was at gauging people and how to approach them.
“And what about you? Hm? Who protects you, Helena?”
“I do.” Faine bowed to The Gennessee.
One regal brow rose. “Is that so, Lycian?”
“Yes, ma’am, it is my honor.”
“You and I clearly need to have a long lunch and catch up, Helena. In the meantime, I will assent to more security and I appreciate your attention to detail. It’s a weight off my shoulders to know how adept you are at this.” Rebecca paused. “I’m going to need you to come up with some contingencies to eradicate Hayes and Powers. They’ve declared war and we already have. We will not allow this nonsense to continue.”
From the corner of his eye, Faine watched Helena square her shoulders and stand straighter.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Keep me posted on that and everything else. This eradication is on a need-to-know basis. Keep it quiet.”
Helena nodded.
The room emptied and Helena turned to Faine with a sigh. “I was going to see if you wanted to grab a coffee. I can see that is not in the cards now.”
“Do your work. I’ll bring you some shortly.” He pulled her close and held her for long moments. She sighed, holding on, and he felt better.
“Thank you.”
“Your wish is my command, so keep that in mind when you want really dirty stuff.” He kissed the top of her head and stepped back, heading for the door.
She blushed and he liked it a lot.
• • •
TOSH waited to see President Sullivan. He’d met her on many occasions, and while he wouldn’t say they were friends, he thought her heart was usually in the right place.
She had a big job, he knew that. But this situation was far overdue her guidance and presence.
Joe Porter, her chief of staff, stepped into the room. “I’m sorry, Toshio, but she’s been called away and asked me to take the meeting on her behalf.”
Tosh stood. “I’m afraid that’s not going to work for me, Joe. You know why.”
Porter sighed. “It’s Marlon Hayes. The damn fool has just done a public statement. She’s got to put out some major fires. Tens of thousands of calls have just crashed the phone lines and the servers are overwhelmed. She’s got to deal with all that.”
“What on earth did he say?” Tosh had turned his phone off when he’d come into the room as was polite. He had no idea what had happened.
Joe blew out a breath. “He’s taking the Domestic Safety Act to the floor this week. He urged people to call in to get their senators to support it. Off the record?”
Tosh nodded.
“There were some very thinly veiled calls to execute Others. The president is concerned about violence and retaliation.”
Tosh scrubbed his hands over his face. “Is she going to take a position at least?”
“She’s going to call for calm and nonviolence. She wants the people to be heard on this. If she takes a position, she’s cutting that off.”
“Oh bull. Come on, Joe! The time for that has passed. She’s the president and this is her job. This is insanity. A United States senator calls for extermination of American citizens? And she’s not going to get on television right away and condemn that as un-American? He’s whipping up violence. She needs to be a leader right now.”
Porter’s mouth flattened into a line and Tosh knew he’d overstepped, but he didn’t care.
“I want a meeting with her. Please call my office when time opens up. And pray it’s not too late.”
“Senator Sato, you can tell me your concerns and I’ll forward them to the president.”
“No offense intended, Joe, but I don’t want to meet with you. I want her to look me in the eye when she tells me she’s got no intention of protecting the citizens of this country she was duly elected to represent. This has gone on long enough. Time is running out. I’ve got to go and deal with my constituents. Please do let me know when she’ll be available.”
He turned and left before Joe could argue, anger coursing through him as he did.
The hallways were far busier than usual. There was an undercurrent of not just gossipy Did you hear what Hayes said, but anger and, he was sad to hear, not all of it directed at Hayes and PURITY.
His assistant started to speak when he got back to his offices. “I know. I want to see the footage right now.”
“It’s queued up in your office. Go on in and I’ll get you some coffee. You’ll need the caffeine.”
He thought what he’d heard would have prepared him for what he’d see. But nothing could have. Nothing in the world could have prepared him for seeing a United States senator not so subtly call for the extermination of a sizable minority of the American population. It was more than sickening, it was outrageous.
Worse, that the president wasn’t on television immediately afterward was even more outrageous.
“Get me some time on the shows.” He didn’t look up from his screen as he spoke to his assistant. “We’ll need to get a statement up on the website within the hour, condemning any calls to violence and encouraging a real dialogue that includes listening instead of threatening. Get me Meriel or Molly from Clan Owen.”
“On it. Oh, and Senator Sperry is here.”
Well that was one nice thing at least. “Send her back. Get me immediately with the rest of this.”
He stood as Delilah swept in and sat in a chair across from him. “I suppose you’ve heard.”
“I was waiting to meet with the president when it happened. Porter came out to tell me she had to cancel and why.”
Delilah only barely managed to stop from rolling her eyes. Tosh could see the effort it cost her to do so. “What’s her story then? Did I miss her speaking on the issue?”
“The president believes that taking a position cuts the process of input from Americans short.”
“Did Joe say that to you with a straight face? Because he should be ashamed if he could.”
“He’s got a job to do. I understand that.”
“I don’t. Come on, Toshio, they called for our extermination! How is the fact that anyone can stand there with a straight face and say the president won’t condemn such a thing an acceptable job? Huh? That’s not a job. That’s something to be ashamed of.”
“I refused to meet with him instead of the president. I want her to look me in the eye when she says she’s not going to stand up for all Americans.”
“Well, good luck to you. I can’t even get my calls returned.”
“Are you kidding me?”
“Do I sound like I’m joking? This is how it is now, Tosh. From a lot of people. That a colleague would stand up and call for my extermination in front of cameras without any sense of shame is telling. I’m here to let you know I will be on the floor tomorrow. I may get ejected.” Her smile made him a little sweaty, in good and bad ways.
“Should I set aside bail money?”
She laughed and took the teacup his assistant handed her with thanks. “No, I don’t think I’ll be marking that off Marlon’s Christmas list. He wants us to be that. But what I will be doing is calling this what it is. I will not wear a yellow star. I will not let them send me to a camp or exterminate me if I’m difficult, and I will say out loud to the American people that if they support this bill that’s what they’re doing. This is not going down the way it did in the thirties in Germany. I am a motherfucking werewolf and if I’m going down, I will take as many as I can down with me. “
He nodded. “I agree. I’ll be saying the same. Well, not the werewolf part.”
“Yeah? You stepped out of the middle then?”
“I was never in the middle, Delilah. I have always been on your side. But I will not b
e silent about this. This is unconscionable.”
His assistant popped a head in. “Senator Sato, I just sent the text for the press release to your email if you want to look it over. I’m also going to place a call to Molly Ryan in five minutes. She’s on another call right now.”
“Great. Thank you. Tell everyone we’ve got a long night ahead of us. Order in some dinner and let’s get this show on the road.” He looked to Delilah. “Want to combine efforts?”
“Yes. Let’s get some others in on this too.”
Chapter 20
THREE hours after the press conference, Helena found herself in front of the Defense arm of the COO, who’d called an emergency meeting after the speech. Familiar faces showed up on the screen, but she found herself shocked by what Lex Warden had just said.
“Can you repeat that?”
Lex Warden smirked but it was gone in moments. Damn he was pretty.
“I said we’ve elected you. You’re now in charge of this body. You know, you make the decisions as to all the military and defense coordination between Others.”
“Why?”
“I’ve watched you do your job. I’ve watched you do a job in what have been extraordinarily difficult times. You consistently make good decisions. Your judgment is sound. You are vicious, but not without reason and logic. You are well trained and fully capable of training others. You understand what it means to delegate and yet you do not hesitate to take responsibility when you need to. Now, more than any other time in our history, we need to work united. And to do that, we have to make use of our best. You are one of those. As Meriel will run the main body of the COO along with Cade, you will run this body.”
She kept her sigh inside her head. There were no other choices to be made. She would accept, of course. But fear trickled through her veins. The stakes were so high she just decided to pretend not to think about it.
“All right. I accept.”
