“Flambé and I will work it out,” Sevastyan insisted, trying not to smirk at the way his sister-in-law got away with everything.
Flambé regarded Mitya steadily and then turned green-gold eyes on Sevastyan. “I think it would be best if you just told me what you’re worried about.” She pressed the cold water bottle to her head.
“Do you have a headache, baby?” Sevastyan asked.
She nodded. “Big-time. Whatever you’re going to tell me is bound to make it worse, so get on with it before Flamme decides to make another appearance.”
“Tell us how the protocol worked when you were going to the country to meet with the individual yourself and bring them out,” Sevastyan said.
Flambé shrugged. “We contact a lair that’s unstable, in trouble, and ask the elders if any of their members are interested in relocating to the United States. If they are, our investigation team takes a look at them to make certain they don’t have anything in their background that would in any way detract from them entering the United States, working here and eventually becoming a citizen. While they’re doing that, another group works with the attorneys, ensuring all the paperwork is filed properly, and I fly over to meet them. The extraction team is with me and we escort them out.”
“How much trouble is there?” Mitya asked.
Flambé made a little face. “In the last couple of years, more often than not, we ran into all kinds of problems, so much so that the extraction team preferred that I didn’t accompany them. There was no hiding traveling anymore with the internet. We didn’t used to have to hide. It wasn’t a big deal when my father was bringing shifters over. No one knew or thought anything about it. All of a sudden in the last two years, no matter if it was a male or female, we ran into people with guns.”
“And there is a price on your head,” Sevastyan added. “From two different factions.”
Flambé nodded. “Yes. My team thought it would be smarter for me to stay out of the mix and meet the shifter here in the US rather than on their home turf. I agreed with them, although I seem to be able to tell when one is not who they say they are even if they slip past the investigation team.”
Mitya frowned and stroked his jaw. “Wait, I have to get this straight, Flambé. You don’t just go to greet the shifter coming into the country to be welcoming, you are there to serve another purpose.”
She nodded. “As a rule, when I talk to them and ask a series of questions, I can usually ascertain whether or not they are legitimately looking to fit into the program we’re offering or if they want a handout. We don’t give handouts. We expect everyone to pull their own weight. There are too many others waiting in line. That may sound harsh, but it’s true. If I can give someone an education and set them up in business and the contract reads they bring someone over to pay it forward, that helps someone else.”
“How can you tell if your investigation and your extraction team can’t tell?” Sevastyan asked. “Leopards hear lies, it can’t be that.”
“It has nothing to do with hearing lies,” Flambé admitted. “Even as a child, when I went on trips with my father, I could tell. There was something in the way their eyes shifted back and forth. I would tell my father and he would pass on that particular shifter. Not at first, but later, when I had a proven track record.”
“What you’re saying,” Ania mused, “is the shifter really did want to come to the US and was even willing to work for you or your father, but he wasn’t going to follow through and hire other shifters. You could tell that even as a child.”
She nodded. “They weren’t bad people. They just didn’t have the same vision as my father—or me. There were other ways for them to leave their lair.”
“These last couple of years, when things have changed . . .” Sevastyan continued, pushing his luck, seeing how uncomfortable she was. Flambé didn’t squirm or move restlessly. She sat very calmly, but he could tell this was the last conversation she wanted to have. She’d agreed to it, but was still unsure of all of them—him included. She wanted to take that chance with him, but everything about them was so new. This was her business, her