but no mistaking, it was work. But she knew she didn’t ever want to go back to being the person she was before. This was her second chance, hell, it was more like her fourth or fifth chance, and she refused to squander it. By helping Caladh, and therefore the council at large, she would hopefully be scoring some points on the goodness scale.
With a sigh she reached for the newspaper Caladh had left behind. The first article that caught her eye was a doozy: LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE APPROVES MICROCHIP BILL.
“For the love of…” She read on. “HB 3762, the preternatural tracking bill sponsored by Senator Glenn Martin, has been approved by legislative committee. If passed by both the House and Senate, this bill would include provisions for the forced insertion of microchips into every preternatural in the state of Arizona. The bill further assures that humans will not be part of the mandate.”
Her lips tightened. Yeah, right. Just give them time. Soon enough they’d set their sights on their own kind and make it seem like it was for the greater good. If the state government allowed forced microchipping of prets, that slope was slippery, indeed.
She grabbed Caladh’s ten and the bill from the table and walked to the front. The waitress rang her up. Keira handed her a twenty with a “Keep the change.” The poor woman had probably been on her feet all day; she deserved something for her efforts.
“Thanks, hon.”
Keira pushed open the door, smiling again at the jingling bell, and walked to her car. She pressed the remote to unlock the doors and, as she got behind the wheel, her cell phone rang. She dug in her purse and pulled it out. She pressed the phone icon and brought the cell to her ear. “Hello?”
“It’s Javier.” The vampire’s voice was as silky as ever. Keira’s empathy didn’t work over a phone line, but he didn’t sound upset, so she could only assume he didn’t know she’d used glamour on him. “You’ll be invited to the next meeting, which is in a week. One hour before the meeting you’ll get a text message with the location. It’ll also have a special code that ensures your entrance.”
“Great. That’s wonderful.” She threw as much gratitude into her voice as she could without overdoing it. “I appreciate it, Javier.”
“Just make sure you show up, bonita. It won’t end well for you if you don’t.”
From the dark tone in his voice, she knew he wasn’t joking. She had no doubt that anyone who expressed an interest in this rogue group and then didn’t follow through on their membership wound up dead. “Oh, no worries, I’ll be there.” She started to say more but didn’t get a response from him. Pulling the phone away from her ear, she saw that the call had ended. “What is it with people not saying good-bye?” she muttered and dropped the phone back into her purse.
She started up her car and fastened the seatbelt. On the drive home, she went back over her conversation with Caladh. She understood his paranoia about getting other people involved. It would only take one person who was sympathetic to the rogues’ cause to muck up the works. And muck her up as well.
Her thoughts drifted to Finn. Was he part of the group? And what if he was? How would she handle that? She couldn’t tell him why she was in the group—they’d have to carry on with their relationship, such as it was, with her pretending she was genuine to the cause.
If he were part of the group, on one hand she wouldn’t be surprised. He was such a nonconformist. On the other hand, it would shock her to find him with the rogues because he really didn’t seem to give a rat’s ass about anyone but himself. She didn’t think he’d care about what happened with the rift or with other preternaturals. Not unless it would directly affect him.
She pressed her lips together. That was the biggest reason she shouldn’t get involved with him. He was too much like the person she used to be and she was doing her best to make amends for past wrongs. He didn’t give a flying feck about whatever sins he’d committed or those he was about to commit.
He defined what being a demon was all about. Be damned, be unrepentant, and be on your own.
Finn pulled his motorcycle into the garage and killed the engine. Getting off the bike, he pressed