because she’s one of the Ante-Fae doesn’t mean she knows all of them. I guess it couldn’t hurt to ask, but don’t tell her why. We don’t want her going over there alone to poke around.” I really liked Raven, but Herne was right. She could be reckless at times.
“Raven mostly pokes around where ghosts are involved. And this is a corpse, not a ghost.” Yutani let out a sigh. “I think I’d rather be chasing down Straff again instead of dealing with dragons. This is a hell of a mess.”
“I know what you mean.” I glanced over at Talia, who was still absorbed in her work. “I feel like we’ve been under a massive weight ever since this business with Typhon started. It’s like a rock hanging over our heads.”
“The sword of Damocles,” Yutani said. “Hanging by a single thread and once that thread breaks, we’re so much cannon fodder.” He leaned back in his chair, crossing one leg over the other. “So you and Herne are actually tying the knot?” He examined my face with a dark gaze.
Yutani was an intense man, and I could feel the chaos of his father’s blood swirling around him. It had grown stronger as time passed. The Great Coyote’s magic seemed to fill Yutani’s aura and he walked on the path of chaos. Yutani was magnetic, and he ran on a spectrum that I chose to avoid, but there was no denying how attractive he was. But Yutani liked control, and whoever he ended up with would have to bow to his leadership.
“Yeah, we are. I decided that I can handle life as a goddess. Though even the sound of that is so absurd that I still can’t quite believe it. Herne’s a powerful man, but I often forget he’s a god. And now…”
“Now you’ll join him in that realm. You’re going to kick ass as a goddess, Ember. And I hope to be around to see it.” He grinned at me, breaking the mood. “Okay, I’ll go show this to Herne. I just wanted to make sure that I wasn’t imagining things. I’m not sure what we can do about it, but at the least, we need to make sure Straff is still locked up in that dungeon.”
“He wouldn’t go back to the same feeding grounds, though, would he? Maybe it’s a copycat killer?”
“Could be, but if it’s not…” Yutani stood, following me out the door.
I headed back to my office while he went to talk to Herne. I hoped it was a copycat. The last thing we needed was to go up against Straff and Blackthorn again. Once had been enough.
At four o’clock, we met with Jana Wildmere from the Shifter Alliance. She was a short woman, about five-four, sturdy and solidly built. She looked like she probably was a bodybuilder, but in a weird juxtaposition, she was wearing a short pleated pink skirt, a cream-colored V-neck tank top, a pair of heels that showed off her impressive calf muscles, and her purse was covered with silver sequins. Her blond hair made her look like a short, athletic doll.
“Won’t you have a seat?” Herne said, ushering her into the break room where Talia, Yutani, Viktor, and I sat.
Rafé was busy entering data at the desk that Herne had crammed into the storeroom, and Angel was still at her desk. Given Rafé and Angel were in a relationship, Herne had decided it would be better for both if they had some distance between them.
“I’d like you to meet Ember, Yutani, and Talia, three other members of our team.”
Jana smiled pleasantly, though there was a predatory air about her. I chalked it up to her being a wolf shifter. They always had a competitive size-up-the-opponent vibe to them. I reached out and she shook my hand, then offered her hand to Yutani, Talia, and Viktor in turn.
“Let’s get down to business, shall we?” Herne said.
“Yes, please. The council members on the board of the Shifter Alliance are curious as to what this is all about.” She leaned back, waiting.
Herne let out a long breath. “You know about Typhon? I assume you were there when my mother and father talked to the United Coalition?”
She nodded, her smile evaporating. “Yes, I was there.”
“Well, we’ve come to the conclusion that, given all the attacks from the vrykos lately, and there are likely to be more incidents in the future, we need resources to fight them. My agency can’t take care of every uprising, and the