The voice came from the front of the room. Finn shot a glance toward the podium to see a slender, swarthy man standing behind it. Was that the guy? Caine had given Finn the name and a vague description, but not an actual photo.
The mouthy vamp glared at Finn. “This isn’t over, demon, not by a long shot.”
“I’d be disappointed if it were,” Finn murmured silkily. It was just as well their altercation had been curtailed. The last thing he needed to do was let his desire to bash some heads together get him kicked out of the group before he’d even gotten a chance to sit through one full meeting. He waited until the two vampires settled into seats, then he went to the end of the last row and stood next to a troll taking up two seats.
The large man looked up at him but didn’t move. Finn stood there, staring down at him, until finally the troll sighed and moved onto one seat. Finn gave him a brief lift of the chin in acknowledgment, then pulled the chair on the end of the row away from the troll to give them both some room. He sat down and looked at the man at the front who was now talking to Phoebus.
Both men stood to one side of the podium, speaking in obviously hushed voices. Finn scooted his chair a little farther away so that his back was to the wall, then he called upon his chameleon abilities and ramped up his hearing like that of a shapeshifter. Damn. There was too much ambient noise in the room for him to filter out a conversation taking place at the front of the room. And as tempted as he was to get up and move closer, he didn’t want to call attention to himself. So he stayed put.
About a minute later he was glad he had.
Gorgeous in a light green V-necked dress that bared her shapely arms and ended midthigh, Keira stopped just inside the doorway and looked around the room. As usual she wore high heels, this pair a bright yellow.
Shock at seeing her there, in this place, with these people, held him immobile for a second. Then, not wanting her to see him, at least not until he figured out how to feel about her being there and what to say about him being there, Finn slowly stood and moved casually behind one of the support columns in the large room. She must have seen someone she knew, because she smiled and lifted a hand in greeting, then walked down the center aisle and did her pardon mes down the row until she reached an empty seat next to the vampire Finn had seen her chase after at Devil’s Domain one night. The guy for whom she’d blown Finn off after they’d shared that sizzling dance.
He stared at her, confused as hell. For all her talk about wanting to be a better person…Damn it, he’d believed her. She’d seemed so sincere; she certainly seemed to be above someone who would join this band of misfits.
Better than him, hands down. Even if he was here under false pretenses, this could have been something he might have joined to see where it would take him. For shits and giggles, and to break up the incredible monotony of being an enforcer for Lucifer.
She glanced around again, and Finn shifted his position so she couldn’t see him. If he leaned backward he could get a look at her profile, and staying where he was he still had a good line of sight to the podium, where it appeared the Grand Poobah was about to speak. Finn folded his arms over his chest and leaned his shoulder against the column, settling in for what he hoped would be a short and sweet speech.
Keira opened her mouth to say something to Javier beyond her original greeting. Glancing his way, she realized she could save her breath. He was too busy flirting with the elf sitting on his other side.
“I can’t wait for Natchook to speak.” The young woman sitting to Keira’s right, some sort of catshifter from what Keira could tell, leaned over and spoke softly, keeping her gaze on the front of the room.
Keira frowned. “Natchook?” She was at a disadvantage—she had been from the beginning—in not knowing who any of the players were. If Caladh knew, he’d never told her.