asked. “Will you abide by the wisdom of the Authority?”
Okay, I was starting to dislike her imperious, overly formal, condescending tone. Oh, who was I kidding? I hated the way she high-handed people. I’d watched it over the last couple months. When this woman said jump, everyone asked her when they should come back down.
Yes, she was the head of the Authority. But there was something unrelenting about the woman. As if she had to work hard to cover her hatred for everything and everyone around her. And I knew Zayvion Jones, the gate-guardian-do-my-duty-until-death, would bow to her just like everyone else.
“I’ll do everything in my power to keep the city safe,” Zayvion said.
Well, well. Not exactly a “yes, ma’am.” I wondered whether she would let it pass.
“So let me get this right,” Hayden said. The burly giant was standing by the door, arms crossed over his wide chest. If Zayvion’s voice had been loud, Hayden’s was thunder. “No pre-spells, no triggers, no traps, filters, no backup conduits or overload lines? How exactly are we supposed to keep these places, hospitals, prisons, nursing homes, warded from the effects of the storm?”
Victor nodded. “We’ve decided to approach this with as little magic use as possible because of how powerful the storm appears to be. Too many spells and too many members supporting those spells, managing the pain—even with Proxies—will limit how quickly we can react when the storm hits.”
“The big plan here is to wait and see how bad we’re beat before we start fighting?” Hayden chuckled. “There’s a winning strategy.”
Victor glared at Hayden, but the big man just put his hand out, as if to say it wasn’t his bright idea.
“All considerations have been addressed, Mr. Kellerman,” Victor said. “We work together, as we have worked together in bygone times. If we fight each other, there will be consequences that will benefit none of us.”
“Well, then.” Hayden clapped his hands together and so effectively broke the tension building in the room, I wondered if he’d cast a spell. “Sounds like all that’s left is to gut and clean. What part of town am I covering?”
He strode across the room toward Victor. As he passed, people sort of shook off the intensity of the meeting. Smaller conversations cropped up again, and people stood, stretched. Shame was on his feet, and heading to the lunch counter and bar at the back of the room. I turned to watch him. I wasn’t the only one.
Terric shifted in his chair, and stared at Shame’s back. His expression seemed calm, but the tightness at the edges of his eyes, in the angle of his jaw, spoke of restraint. And desire.
Interesting.
Shame slipped behind the lunch counter and dug around for something. I heard the thick clink of beer bottles; then Shame reappeared, three beers caught in the fingers of one hand, the fourth already pressed to his lips.
He lowered the beer, grinned at me, and then strode over, changing his gaze to meet Terric’s straight on.
Boy didn’t run from trouble. That was sure.
Terric stood and walked over to our table. Looked like he didn’t run from trouble either.
Zay turned to face Shame too. Shame was still grinning. Since I was not about to be the only person sitting if this was going to turn into a brawl, I stood as well.
“Allie.” Shame offered me a beer. “You still owe me.”
I took it even though I didn’t like beer.
“Zay.” Zayvion, behind me, reached over my shoulder and took the beer Shame offered.
“Terric.” Shame extended the last beer to him.
Terric took the beer. “Think you owe me more than a beer, Shamus.”
Shame’s heartbeat rose, but I didn’t think the other men noticed. They weren’t Hounds. They didn’t have to live off instinct and the subtle shifts in the people around them to survive.
“Well, today you’re getting a beer,” Shamus said. He tipped his and gave us all a half nod. “To the hunt. To the kill. Till the world stands still.”
“To the hunt,” Zay and Terric said.
I just raised my beer and took a tiny sip. Nope. Still didn’t like the stuff.
“I heard about Greyson,” Terric said.
Shame nodded. “Have you seen him?”
“I just got in a couple hours ago.”
Shame glanced around the room. “It’s not like they’ll let us out of this, but we’ve got a few minutes. Want to see?”
Zay took another drink of his beer. He wrapped his hand around my hip and hooked his thumb in my front pocket, the heel of his hand pressed