by Jan Stryvant
"Oh? Why's that?"
"Because Shep, our head of security, told us that a lot of them aren't finding jobs, and well," Gerard shrugged, "if they want to stay here, we'll give them food and board in return for helping out with the maintenance. Honestly, we're all a bit worried about what's going to happen to the Vestibulum's lycans once they've been set free. There just aren't a lot of jobs around here these days."
"I suspect we'll have something for them," Chad said, speaking up. "I'm surprised a lot of them aren't just going native and living off of the land."
"Oh, more than a few of them are, according to Shep. But come winter that gets a lot harder, and honestly, it's not something we ever trained them for, so they're at a bit of a disadvantage."
Sean nodded and let Chad and Roxy take over the conversation while he just ignored it. One thing Chad had been right about, if all they could use was swords, they were going to be reduced to medieval tactics, and one thing Sean knew about those: they were quite bloody. He'd have to corner his uncle Maitland at some point and see if he could explain to him why the faerie swords were so much more effective against the denizens of the underworld.
Maybe then he could figure out a way to update some of the more modern weapons to give his people more of an edge. Sure, he'd taken on that last raseri djevel and killed it rather handily. Once he got over his fear of it, that was.
But it hadn't had any kind of weapon, and Sean had been training intensively for almost two weeks by then. Just how well could he expect Cali, or anyone else, to train a mass of people? And even if they were able to train most of them up to high standards, if the other side showed up with weapons, they were still going to lose a lot of people.
Once he had a better idea of the threat, he'd have to sit down with Daelyn, Roxy, Maitland, and Chad and see if, between the four of them, they couldn't come up with some better ideas.
Eventually Chad was able to beg off; he had to go talk with their security head, Shep, who was, as suspected, a Lycan. Which left Sean to deal with the council heads, who had all sorts of questions on all manner of things that Sean spent the next hour politely turning aside. But at least they fed him and the girls, and the food was rather good, so he couldn't complain too much.
Once that was done, he found where the hundred men and woman they'd brought were sleeping. As much as Sean wanted to join them, he ended up checking the rifles they'd gotten from Sapientia.
"I got this, Chad." Sean sighed. "You and Max need to go get some sleep. We're attacking in," Sean looked at his watch, "four hours. I need you guys to be fresh."
"There's still fifty rifles to examine, Sean," Chad warned.
"Yeah, now go get some sleep. That's an order."
Chad shrugged and, grabbing Max, left.
In This Place
"So, Carl," Kensington said as he walked into Carl's office. "How do you like your new office?"
Carl smiled and, getting to his feet, came around his desk to shake his boss's hand.
"Thanks, Vincent! This is nice, and even better, I like the promotion and the extra staff!"
"Well, you earned it. The president was very impressed with your work out in Reno, and the bond that you've formed not just with Valens, but with apparently a fair deal of the lycan community."
Carl blushed a little. "Sorry about not telling you, Vincent. But, well, Sean asked me to keep it quiet, and all things considered, I think it worked out best that I did. Walker never expected it, and didn't prepare for it."
Kensington nodded. "You gotta trust your instincts in this job, Carl. You've been on the detail, you know how it goes. Sometimes we have to play our cards close to our chest if we're going to do our job right."
Carl nodded. "Speaking of that, there's something else I want to tell you that Sean told me."
"Oh?"
"Sean told me I couldn't tell you unless you agreed to keep it secret, he had some serious concerns about repercussions, but after what happened," Carl shrugged, "I think I need to tell you. Though I will ask you to not share this around right now."
"What is it?"
"Gradatim got into trouble with the other councils because Sean caught them summoning demons, or devils."
"What? Like the one Walker turned into?"
"Apparently something even worse. When the other councils found out, they immediately came down on Gradatim hard and killed everyone who was involved. Supposedly they have some ancient treaty about this, and the entire council in charge of Gradatim was facing a possible death sentence over this."
"So that's why the other councils weren't too upset over Sean wiping them out!"
Carl gave a small nod. "It had something to do with it."
"Why does Sean want this kept quiet?"
"Because he doesn't want any kind of knee-jerk reaction against the rest of the magic users out there. They did police this rather quickly, as well as brutally."
"Does the president know about this?"
Carl nodded. "It came up when we were all up at Sean's house while they secured the base after the attack. Sean and his wife Cali were telling the president what they know about demons, which is apparently quite a lot. Walker had been in contact with them at some point in his career, and came under their sway. Whether that was willingly or not, they weren't exactly sure."
"Any idea how that happened?"
"No, none at all. They said that there are places on Earth where you can contact demons directly, but they're not common and not easy to get to. In fact, most of them are actually fairly secret and well hidden. But the point was made that we need to start examining Walker's associates to make sure none of them were corrupted."
"What about the Vestibulum? Does Sean think they were involved with this devil or demon Walker was doing business with?"
Carl shook his head. "The penalty for that is just too high, and it doesn't sound like the kind of thing you can easily keep secret."
"Do you think that might be why Adams was assassinated?"
Carl shrugged. "It's possible, of course. Oh, Sean has sent out a lobbyist; he arrived sometime last night, and they've set up an office down in DC." Carl paused a moment. "On K Street."
"That's some pretty expensive territory," Kensington noted.
"And they're trying to get an appointment to meet the president."
"Already? Have you met this guy?"
Carl nodded. "Briefly. He's a friend of Sean's, he's not a lycan, he runs his family's auto repair business..."
"Wait, he runs a garage?" Kensington asked with a chuckle.
"Biggest one in Reno; don't be fooled, the kid is already worth a couple of million, and his father is worth much, much more. He's also friends with Chad, the young man who works as Sean's general."
"So he's somebody to take seriously, then."
"Very much so."
"Do you think the president is going to meet with him?"
"Honestly, I'll be surprised if he doesn't. Sean made a pretty big impression on him."
"Saved his life and helped expose a traitor in his cabinet, right?"
"Exactly. But honestly, I don't have a problem with it. I think the main point of Steve being here is to see that the lycans are represented and to help fight the pushback against the 'Freedom' executive order."
Kensington nodded. "Oh, one last question, how many more on the detail are you going to bite?"
Carl actually blushed. "It's called 'infect', and I can't infect anybody unless a lion specifically passes on it."
Kensington nodded. "I seem to recall hearing something to that effect, that lycans can't just go around infecting people."
"They don't have many rules, but that's one of the big ones. Sean personally passed on all the ones that were infected in Reno after the president asked him to."
"Did you ever get the chance to meet the lion Valens gets his orders from?"
"Nope. I know he talks to him fairly often. But I've never met him."
"Have you talked to the folks over at the NS
A to see if they've got any intercepts on him?"
"Yes I have, and no they don't. Whatever means he's using, it's not something we can tap into. Why'd you ask?"
"Cause the CIA's interim director asked about it at the staff meeting on Friday. I told him I'd look into it."
"Think they're pissed about what happened to Walker?"
"Oh, they're pissed alright. Sometimes, however, I'm not quite sure why."
"That is a concern now, isn't it?"
"One that's going to be keeping me awake for weeks to come," Kensington agreed. "We just may be arranging for some very secret late-night interviews with the leadership of the CIA."
"Seriously?" Carl asked, suddenly worried.
"We have jurisdiction over all things magical in the government. If anyone has been suborned, it's our duty to deal with it. Which means we also have the right to go looking for it."
Carl nodded. "We may want to ask for help with that."
"I'd rather keep this in house, Carl."
"Well, at the very least, grab one or two of the lycans on the detail to go with you. If things do go sideways, they'll have the best chance of dealing with it."
Kensington nodded slowly. "I'll be sure to keep that in mind. Thanks for the head's up."
"Sure thing, Vincent."
#
"So, where do we start?" Steve asked, looking around the office.
"How about you fire that secretary?" Terri teased. "She's way too hot to be around you!"
Steve snorted. "Kyle told me she's a jaguar. Probably rip my throat out if I made a pass at her."
"Jaguar? Still after the cat girls, huh?"
"Maybe I should ask her to infect you?" Steve teased back.
"Careful I don't ask her to bite you first!" Terri snickered.
"Oh, so you've been lusting after cat boys now! I don't think my ego can stand the strain!"
"Better watch out I don't ask Granite to bite you, then I can teach you to fetch!"
"Wolves don't fetch, Terri." Granite sighed.
"You all seem to when Sean asks," Terri said with a smile.
"Yeah, well, lions aren't known for their patience, and I like my head firmly attached to my shoulders."
Terri laughed. "I'd say you were full of it, but Sean sure has changed since he became a lion. For the better, too, if you want my opinion."
"Eh, he hasn't changed all that much," Steve said. "You're all just seeing the man that always lay just under the surface. After spending so much of his life getting crapped on by the powers that be, he's more than happy to do what he can to even the score for someone else. This whole thing is almost like custom-made therapy for him."
"Well, I'm sure his little harem isn't hurting either!" Terri said with a snicker.
"I think those girls all need him just as much as he needs them."
"What? How can you say that?"
"Well, maybe not Roxy, she doesn't exactly need him, but she sure as hell wants him," Steve said with a grin. "But all of them have lost something, something big, just as Sean has. But now that he's got his own life in order, he sees past their problems, sees them for what they can be, not what they are. So he gives them the love they need to be what they were meant to be, and they love him right back for it."
"That's pretty deep," Granite said.
Steve shrugged. "You can't sell things to people if you don't understand what they need versus what they want."
"You mean you can't manipulate them," Terri said, giving him a poke.
"Same thing!" Steve said with a chuckle. "But it's why Sean and I have been friends since forever. Deep down, we both want to help people. It's how my dad built his business—customer service. Help the people you deal with to the best of your ability, and they'll always come back."
"And here I thought Sean was just making up for lost time," Terri said with a giggle.
"If that's all it was, I think they'd have killed him by now. None of those women are people you want to string along," Granite said. "You can see it in his eyes when he looks at them, or the way he looks at anybody who's rude to one of them. Everyone at the compound knows that if you anger one of the wives, after they're through with you and the moment Sean finds out, he'll stop by and ask you what happened in a voice that's so calm you just know he's contemplating your dismemberment."
"Had it happen to you?"
"Once, and trust me, that was one time too many. You can yell and scream at Sean till the cows come home. You can insult him, give him any manner of grief, and it just rolls right off of him, but one cross word to the girls and you quickly find out he really does have one hell of a temper.
"Okay, now that we've thoroughly gossiped about the boss behind his back, what's our plan for the week?" Granite asked from his desk in their new office.
"Okay, first up, we need a list of everyone in the House and the Senate and where they stand on this whole 'Freedom Act'. I want you to assign a couple of folks to each of those leading the opposition. Get together with John and have him go over the basics of surveillance and investigations. I want eyes on those folks twenty-four seven, but this is the capital, so there are going to be lots of people watching everyone else. So the challenge is going to be to not let anyone know we're out there watching them, too."
"So don't get caught," Granite said.
"Exactly. Also, make sure everyone understands that only lycans can set foot inside this office, with the sole exceptions of Terri, John, and I. I've asked John to train a few more people in how to use his gear. I'm gonna want this place swept every morning and every evening for listening devices, and I want there to be at least a dozen folks in here and awake at all times.
"And I want them armed."
"But this is DC, we can't have guns here!"
"I'll hire some lawyers and see what we can and can't do, but as always, remember the cardinal rule—Don't Get Caught."
"Got it," Granite said.
"Now, let's get everyone together in the main conference room. I want to meet the whole team and hear their skills so I can start organizing people into smaller groups."
"There's over a hundred people here, Steve."
"Nothing brings people together like being stuffed in a hot and sweaty room," Steve said with a grin. "If you thought getting shot at was tough, you're all in for a hell of a surprise."
"They're going to hate you, you know." Granite sighed.
"No, they're going to love me. Want to know why?"
"This I gotta hear."
"Because I'm the one that's going to keep Sean off their backs by telling him how wonderful you all are and what a great job you're doing for me. I'm not big on punishments, but I am absolutely huge on rewards."
Steve yawned and looked at the clock; it was after eleven. It had been a very long day. He'd had that large group meeting and laid down the ground rules to everyone about what they were doing and what he expected of each of them. He'd asked some basic questions, and then sorted folks out into some basic groupings based on their responses.
Then he'd talked to each of those groups separately, and done quite a few one on one interviews. He had his team leaders now, and he'd taken the time to refine his selections for the more important positions. Granite and a few of the other alphas here had helped tremendously with that; they knew their packmates very well after so many years of being together.
He was looking over the security squad members. They had twenty, which wasn't as many as Steve wanted. Then again, with all the people out there he'd need to keep tabs on, the hundred and twenty he had weren't enough. He'd be calling Sean in the morning and asking him to send out another hundred.
"Okay, this last part is gonna suck," Steve said to the remaining people in the room. "I'm not going to sugarcoat it; whoever takes this job is probably going to hate it. I need all of you wolves to shift into your animal form."
Walking over to the door, Steve called Terri into the room.
"What's up?" Terri asked.
"Pick two,"
Sean said, motioning towards the dozen wolves sitting on the floor.
"What do you mean? What for?"
"We just got two dogs. Tomorrow we'll get breakaway collars and leashes for them, but from this point forward, you go anywhere, you bring one of them with you; I'll have the other one."
Steve turned towards the wolves. "Sorry, guys, I told you it was gonna suck, but most people here don't know what you are, and I'd be an idiot not to take advantage of it."
"Does that mean we're going to be living with you?" one of the wolves asked.
"Yup. Though I promise you your own bedroom."
They wolves all looked at each other, and then two of the smaller ones got up and walked forward. The larger of the two had completely black fur, and the smaller one was mostly black, with some dark gray patches on their face and body.
"We look the closest to dogs," the larger of them said, "but we've got one demand."
"Oh? What's that?"
"Get Alex to send you those damn treats he's been tossing out."
Steve laughed. "I think I can do that. You are?"
"I'm Boz," the larger of the two said.
"I'm Nell," the other one said.
"Boz, Nell, I'm Terri, and thank you for doing this."
Boz and Nell both ducked their heads in a nod.
"Great. Let's go out to the car and head back to the apartment."
"Isn't the landlord going to complain?" Terri asked.
"Nope, I told them when I rented the place we had two large dogs and were just waiting for them to be shipped out."
"You realize any enemies you come across out here are probably going to figure out we're werewolves, don't you?" Nell said.
Steve smiled. "They'll be so busy seeing you and thinking about how much power I must have over you to make you act like dogs they'll probably miss the rest of our security. Just remember one thing."
"What's that?"
"Anything happens to Terri, and you'll wish I had let Sean have you first after I'm done with you."
"Fair enough," Boz said.
If It's Not One Thing...
