Incipient A Dark Paranormal Romance - Bianca Scardoni Page 0,91

drawing my attention outward. “We’re ready to start the meeting,” he said as the room quickly slipped into an attentive silence. “Bennett, would you like to speak first?” he asked, turning to a young dark-haired man with matching dark eyes. He didn’t look a day over twenty-five.

Bennett turned to the three older men standing close by and whispered something. I tried to place them but was certain that I’d never seen either of them before. They appeared to be a little older than William, perhaps in their sixties, though their cold, intimidating presence was nothing like the Senior Magister’s. After a moment, Bennett nodded to the men and then said something back to William, though we couldn’t hear any of it from where we were sitting.

“Very well.” William nodded and then faced the crowd again. “Let’s get right to it then, shall we?” There was a small smile curving his lips, though I couldn’t help but notice the rigidness of his shoulders or the way he was furrowing his brows. He wanted to appear calm and in control, but his body language was saying something entirely different.

“As some of you already know, demon activity is on the rise again,” he began, his tone and eyes somber. “Granted, the activity is greater than what we have seen in the past but rest assured that protocol will remain the same. High Casters and the like are strongly encouraged to increase their hours this week, starting tonight if possible.”

Disappointed groans and prattle rang through the hall.

“We’re already doing twenty hours a week and that doesn’t even count work,” complained a woman from the audience, though I couldn’t tell who was talking since I could only see the back of everyone’s heads.

“I’m afraid this is an all-hands-on-deck situation. If you’re already putting in twenty, you’re going to have to put in more. It’s as simple as that. Protective sigils must be put up around town, consistently, especially in vulnerable places. Hospitals, schools, local bars and discotheques, as well as every square inch of land that borders this town.”

My mind snagged on the word discotheques just as Morgan leaned in and whispered, “Did he really just say discotheques? What year is this?”

I bit down on my lip to stop myself from laughing.

“What’s more, we’re going to need all active Rigs patrolling, starting immediately. Please check in with your Handler for your new schedule if you haven’t already been given one. We want to make sure we have teams out there around the clock, especially with the kind of numbers we’re seeing right now.”

“What kind of numbers are we talking about exactly?” called someone from behind us.

“We don’t have a specific number at the moment, but it is substantial.”

“Relative to what?” asked a different man from the audience. “With all due respect, Magister, how do you expect us to prepare if we don’t know what we’re dealing with? You haven’t even told us what’s drawing them here in the first place.”

An outburst of applause sounded around the room as other people shouted out their agreement. The crowd was hungry for details and they were not leaving here until they got what they wanted.

My gaze returned to William who appeared flustered, as if debating how much he could actually share with them without eliciting mass hysteria. Turning to Bennett and another man, he covered the mic and whispered something to them. After a brief exchange, he nodded and faced the crowd again.

“Ladies and gentlemen, come to order please,” he stated firmly as the room once again quieted. “There is indeed a reason for the increased demon activity we’ve been seeing, and while I’d wanted to withhold this information until we gathered all of the necessary details, I can no longer do so without putting the rest of us at risk,” he said pointedly as he smoothed the front of his cassock, eyebrows puckered. “Most of you are already aware of the circumstances surrounding Lucifer’s visit to our realm. What you do not know is that he appears to have left behind more than just his mark on our world. A parting gift if you will.”

An eerie hush fell over the crowd as everyone waiting for the big reveal.

“It is with a heavy heart that I inform you that Lucifer’s progeny is upon us.”

Gasps and frantic chatter erupted all around the meeting hall as I turned and met Morgan’s nervous gaze. She was probably wondering the same thing I was: Was William going to call out Nikki by