Chapter Twenty-Two
ONCE WE WERE SEATED AT THE LARGE DINING TABLE, I took a look around myself and tried to catalog names and faces, along with species. There were Soren and I; Dwennon and a beautiful, petite, redheaded woman that Soren informed me was Dwennon’s mate and second-in-command; the trio of merleaders; Milena, with a tall man just as runway-perfect as she was; and then another powerful vampire, along with his human female companion.
The only people I couldn’t file away as either human or a specific preternatural species were Milena and her companion. Something was familiar about them, though, and I’d bet my ass they weren’t entirely human. I made a mental note to ask Soren later. We were all served a first course of pumpkin soup, and then the meeting began.
“As some of you have noticed, tonight the merleaders have joined us for our monthly meeting. Normally, they only venture on land once or twice a year to check in with us and share their concerns. Livana got in touch with me a few days ago, though, and I thought you all should hear what she has to say in light of the recent issues we have been having.” He motioned for the merleader, Livana, to speak.
I found myself leaning forward, enraptured with the singsong quality of the beautiful merwoman’s voice. Another pinch from Soren brought me back to myself, shaking my head to dislodge her powerful pull. I kept my eyes averted from hers as she spoke, and it muted her allure just a little. She thanked Dwennon and everyone for having them here on short notice. Dwennon, Soren, the other vampire leader, and—much to my surprise—Milena all nodded in acknowledgement.
“We came to make you all aware that there has been an abnormal pattern of killings in my area, seemingly by merfolk.” Her emphasis on the word seemingly implied she wasn’t convinced her people were doing the killing. “Several bodies have been found in, or near, our area of water. We have hidden as many as possible, but several have been found; and although most people will believe it was accidental drowning, some will start to wonder why so many are happening at the same time. Also, it seems a rumor has spread locally of a mermaid sighting.” She spat the last as if it were too disgraceful to even speak. “The occasional death could be attributed to us, but we have never been this reckless as a group.” She gripped her glass of water and took a long drink when she was done speaking.
Soren’s entire body had become rigid next to mine, and my mind raced at the implications. Dwennon looked over at Soren and raised his brow. Soren cleared his throat and confirmed what everyone already knew. “We have seen a large number of rogue vampire attacks in the city by young or newly made vampires. My investigation has led me in circles, and I cannot locate the source or reason behind the attacks. The leader of the southern vampire coven confirmed the same thing in his area.” He glanced at the vampire sitting at the end of the table, who nodded in agreement.
Everyone was looking grim and tense when Dwennon took over again. “I’m afraid I don’t have any good news to contribute to this meeting, either. We have had to hide several bodies over the last few weeks. They were found in the ghettos and in abandoned alleyways.” A muscle ticked in his cheek as he struggled to keep his anger in check. His wife ran her hand down his arm, and he unclenched his jaw to continue. “All the bodies were torn apart from a were or shifter attack. We don’t usually have rogues or lone shifters, so this has caused several packs to go into hiding or move out of the city entirely.”
Everyone was quiet for a moment, thinking over all the information that had been presented. I was in my own little world, my mind racing to process all that I had learned, when a thought came to me. “Someone wants to frame the preternatural community,” I whispered under my breath. But why?
Soren hissed, and I looked up just in time to see every eye in the room trained on me. Supernatural hearing. I was such an idiot. My hand itched to grasp the dirk through my gown, but Soren grabbed my hand, saving me from making that mistake again. I plastered an indifferent look on my face and set my jaw.
“What did you say, Sage?” Dwennon asked from his end of the table.
I turned to face him and repeated myself, slowly and loud enough that even the vampire’s human companion could hear me. “I said, it seems to me that someone wants to frame the preternatural community since they are not trying to hide the fact that these are supernatural killings. Instead, they are flaunting the fact that they are. The only conclusion I can come to is that this person wants the world to know about you, and they want to expose your nasty side. They want the world to hate and fear you.”
I held my breath, wondering how they would take my butting in and making assumptions.
“She’s right. If we’d had this meeting a week or more ago, we might have come to the same conclusion ourselves and perhaps prevented some of these deaths.” This came from Dwennon’s mate, and I gave her a small smile in thanks.
“But who and why? That is what we need to find out before they do irreparable damage and we end up in a bloody war,” Soren stated grimly from beside me.
I couldn’t argue with that logic. Someone was trying awfully hard to cause panic and bring the preternatural community under suspicion.
“Another thing is that if this person is going through all this trouble, we can only guess they have something bigger planned, something to top anything we have seen so far,” Soren added.
I shook my head. It made sense the more I thought about it. “Something huge is about to happen; this was all just a taste of what is coming,” I said thoughtfully.
Something shifted in the room. I wasn’t sure what, but I felt it just a second before everyone jumped to their feet. Damn, I was getting slow, and I was the one with the warper abilities.
Soren had me behind his back before I could process the movement. I heard a growl coming from the shifter’s direction and a hiss coming from the vampire’s direction.
Slowly, I reached down, pulled my sgian-dubh from its sheath at my ankle, and spoke very softly. “Soren, move.”
He shook his head—just a slight movement, but I saw it, and it ticked me off. Last thing I needed was an overbearing vampire bodyguard. I took a breath and prayed that my voice came out steady.
“I am going to move in front of Soren to talk. On my word, I mean no harm. I have a dirk in my hand, but it is only for my own protection.”
No one said anything, so I took it as a good sign. I moved as slowly as possible with all my muscles clenched in a fight-or-flight reflex. Moving around Soren, I stopped in front of the table full of preternatural creatures barely reining themselves in. Only Milena and her companion were seated at the table, watching the whole fiasco like it was some play going on for their amusement. I held out my hand, slowly set the sgian-dubh in front of me on the table, and then held up my hands in acquiescence.
“Who are you to know so much about us? If you were just a mistress of Soren’s, you wouldn’t know nearly as much as you do,” Dwennon growled. His eyes elongated slightly as he spoke.
Damn, another strike out for me.
Soren put his hand on my arm, and I made an executive decision under pressure. “I’m a warper,” I said softly.
Soren flinched, and Dwennon looked confused, as did the merleaders. Only Milena didn’t look surprised; her brow only rose slightly at the admission.
Who the hell is she? I wondered again.
“A warper?” Dwennon asked.
Soren answered for me. “A warper blessed by the druid priestess Amerach. She warped here from a hundred years in the future because of what is happening in our time.” He sighed and sat down heavily in his chair.
I heard a chuckle come from our vampire friend at the other end of the table. “Soren, you have let the lust you feel for your pretty little mistress addle your wits.”
Before Soren could reach his hand out to stop me, I let my warper power ooze out of its place inside me to encase everyone in the room. I picked up my dirk and walked over to the vampire with his sneer still frozen on his face. It would be so easy to kill him, I thoug
ht vaguely. My powers rushed warmly over me, and I brushed my hand out to caress the pliable bubble, wishing I could stay this way, safe inside my bubble of power.
When I let the bubble snap back into me, only a split second had passed for everyone else in the room, and I was holding the vampire in a death grip with my sgian-dubh pressed against his throat. His human companion screamed, and I rolled my eyes at her hysterics. Everyone seemed frozen in shock at my show of power, and I laughed out loud. I admit I sounded a bit hysterical, even to my own ears.
“I did warp here, vampire, and I can do without your smart-ass comments,” I spat. “I’m here to help you all take care of this big mess. I didn’t make the mess, but I don’t have a choice—I have to help you clean it all up, or my ass will have to stay here permanently. And I like my own time very much,” I hissed through my teeth.
“I didn’t ask to be brought here; I didn’t ask to have the pleasure of taking out one of your rogues the other night, either. I didn’t ask to see her kill a man right in front of me, but here I am, and I deserve a little more respect,” I snarled as I flung him away from me. The vampire swung around, and I immediately fell into a defensive stance, my dirk in the ready position.
He straightened his dinner jacket and looked at me like he saw me in an entirely new light. He bowed slightly at the waist and then looked up at me. “My apologies, Madame Warper, I am at your service.”
He held out his hand to me, and I stood there, blinking stupidly at him for a second. I walked slowly over to him and let him grasp my hand; he brought it up to his lips and kissed it lightly.
“If anyone can help us, I’m pretty sure you would be the woman to do it.” He smiled widely at me, flashing fangs, and I rolled my eyes at the vampire. Figures. I should have just threatened his life at the beginning of dinner. I looked around the table at all the preternaturals gaping at the show I’d just put on for them and lifted my brow.
Dwennon cleared his throat and said, “Well, that answers that.”
I bent over and sheathed my dirk before I rejoined Soren.
“You are going to get yourself killed, pulling those kinds of stunts,” he whispered loudly as I sat down, “but you looked bloody sexy doing it.”
I blushed against my will.
Dwennon looked around the table at everyone. “We should all work together and put everything and everyone we have into finding the person responsible for this mess. I agree with Sage—this is building up to something huge, something that will make all these recent attacks look like child’s play. We need to stop whatever it is before it happens. I trust you all feel the same way.”
Everyone nodded their assent, and they all agreed to keep in close contact for the next week with any news.
Later that night, as I lay in bed thinking over everything that had happened that evening, I knew I’d have to come clean with Cerberus before they heard secondhand that a warper was in town. Everyone at dinner had agreed to keep my presence a secret so we would have a slight advantage, but I didn’t know any of them well enough to trust their word, so I planned on coming clean the next day. It was the right decision, and it would take a load off my mind—and chest—to be able to be truthful with the only friends I had.
Time Warper: Fated, A Sage Hannigan Novel Page 23
