Secret of the Wolf (13 page)

Wall sconces placed roughly four feet apart provided ample lighting, and a polished concrete floor that almost looked like wood inlay lent an aristocratic ambiance to the entry.

Most of the city’s liaisons were already there, gathered in small groups throughout the hallway. The various scents of each pret assailed her. It was like a meeting of the United Nations, only this time instead of a gathering of representatives from various countries it was a gathering of a variety of species, werewolves and other shapeshifters, vampires, numerous types of fey, and humans.

The low murmur of voices made conversations difficult, but not impossible, to listen in on. The human liaisons in their midst wouldn’t have been able to distinguish separate voices, but her werewolf hearing allowed her to do just that. After a few seconds, she decided no one was talking about anything interesting enough for her to intrude on the conversation. The vamps spoke of some new blood bar that their leader, Byron Maldonado, had just opened. A couple of the fey liaisons argued over who was funnier, the Three Stooges or Abbott and Costello. The group of werecat liaisons complained about the price of milk, which struck Tori as hilarious. She snickered as she walked by, earning her a glare from one of the cats.

She stopped at the group of werewolf liaisons and said her hellos. She glanced at Ash, standing slightly to the side of the group, his back to the wall. He lifted his chin in greeting.
Talk to you later
, he mouthed.

Tori nodded. She saw Piper standing at the window at the end of the hallway. Excusing herself, she walked toward her and bumped shoulders with the other woman. “Hey,” she said.

Piper smiled. “Hey yourself.” She stared out the window again. “I really hate these meetings. Everyone’s on display like they’re a bunch of meat.”

“That’s not the way I see it at all.” Tori crossed her arms and leaned against the wall, looking at Piper’s profile. “This is our chance to get an early introduction to the newbies, and they get a chance to see who’s going to come down on them if they screw up.” She glanced back at the liaisons. “We all had to go through this when we first hit town.”

“All of you except the human liaisons.”

“Right. That’s what I meant,” she said dryly.

That drew a laugh from Piper, but then she sighed and shook her head. “I don’t know. It just seems like they could send us a file with their pictures and particulars. What good does it do for us to come here in person? It’s a gigantic waste of time.”

Tori rolled her eyes. “That’s the point I’ve been trying to make for years. So far I’ve only got Tobias on my side and maybe Caladh. I don’t know about the rest of the council.”

She understood the need to uphold traditions, but when tradition stood in the way of progress, when it impeded her ability to efficiently do her job, then something needed to give. However, until the council as a whole decided it wanted quicker results more than it wanted to lord its authority over its employees, nothing would change. And if the current council president had any say in the matter—and in reality, what he had to say carried a lot of weight—things would stay the same until the end of time.

Tori gestured toward all of the liaisons. “Doing it this way, I have to say, allows us to attach scents to the names and faces.”

“Well, that only helps those of you who have an enhanced sense of smell. It doesn’t matter though. You know Deoul will fight to keep things the way they are. Traditions and all,” Piper said as if she’d read Tori’s mind. “God forbid that his liaisons wouldn’t have to kowtow to him in person.” She paused, lips pursed, and sent Tori a sidelong glance. “Any idea how to kowtow through e-mail?” Piper’s brows rose in hope.

“I haven’t figured that out yet. When I do, you’ll be the first to know,” Tori said and grinned.

At that moment the doors to the main chamber opened and a guard stepped out. “The council is ready,” he announced. “Please come in.”

“Here we go,” Piper said on a sigh as she turned around.

They joined the others and filed into the room. Tori stood next to Piper at the front of the room, about five feet or so from the mahogany table behind which all thirteen councilors sat. About a dozen preternaturals were lined up on one side of the cavernous room that was brightly lit with overhead lights and wall sconces.

Tori gazed at the group of newbies, searching for both her brother and her cousin. They were new enough to town that they should be here, but they weren’t. Her heart skipped a beat.
Oh, God. Please don’t let Rand and Stefan be behind these attacks
. She loved them both, but she couldn’t turn a blind eye to the signs pointing toward their guilt. But what was she supposed to do? She couldn’t betray the only family she had.

Looking back at the council, she lifted a hand in greeting to Tobias, who smiled in return. “I’d like to talk to you later,” he said. “Can you stay after the meeting?”

Remembering that Ash wanted to talk to her, she glanced at him and he nodded a couple of times. She looked back at Tobias. “Sure, I can stay.”

“Good.”

As the guard closed the doors behind the last person to enter the room, the council president stood. “We’ll begin the proceeding by introducing the council members, then the liaisons.” Deoul looked at the sideliners, who all seemed as enthusiastic at being there as they would if they were facing a firing squad. “Finally, each of you will tell us your name, where you lived prior to coming to Scottsdale, why you came to our city, and what you plan on doing to become a contributing member of society. Hopefully, none of you will ever have to deal with the liaisons in anything other than a social situation.” He gave a smile, apparently trying to be humorous.

Tori didn’t think it was funny, and it looked like none of the newbies did, either, because no one’s mouth so much as twitched as far as she could tell. Some of the liaisons put on their game faces and gave a few forced chortles. She caught Tobias’s eye and had to press her lips together against a grin. He was doing his best to look noncommittal, but she knew him well enough to know that at least in his head he was rolling his eyes in disbelief at Deoul’s attempt at humor.

The council president cleared his throat and sat down as they began their introductions, starting with Deoul, of course. With his chest out and his voice booming like that of a radio announcer, he told the gathered throng that he was a high elf who came through the rift in 3463
BC
, blah blah blah. The three vampire councilors introduced themselves next, then the witches and the lone specter member of the council. Next came the shapeshifters—a wereleopard, a werewolf, and the selkie member of the council, Caladh.

Tori kept her eye on the last three to introduce themselves, wondering the entire time which of the thirteen councilors besides Tobias were aware of the rift device. And of those who did know, just how involved were they? Did the members support the activity or were they trying to stop it?

 The other fey shapeshifter on the council, Lorcan O’Shea, stood up. With his fingertips on the table, he stated his name and then added, “I’m of the pooka clan of feys and came through the rift in 251
BC
.” He started to sit but paused and said, “If anyone wants to go for a ride, let me know.” Mischief sparkled in his hazel eyes.

Tori grinned. Lorcan was always willing to shift into his horse form and take on riders, the prettier the better.

The only djinn on the council rose from his chair. “I am Kaleb ibn Kalil. I entered this dimension in the year 908
BC
.” He glanced around the group. “I do not reside in a bottle nor do I grant wishes, so do not ask.” He gave a slight bow and retook his seat.

Tori bit the inside of her cheek to hold back a smile. Kaleb was sensitive about the legends surrounding his people, and dismissive of magic carpets and jeweled bottles.

The final council member, Galen Kholkikos, got to his feet. “Welcome to Scottsdale. I’m a dragon and, yes, I can breathe fire. You may or may not be familiar with a little incident that occurred in the skies above Phoenix about fifteen years ago. Some of my friends and I were flying around and were mistaken for a UFO.” He ran a hand over his dark hair. “We didn’t do it on purpose. Honest.” He sat back down amid light laughter.

The liaison introductions began. Tori was first since she was at the front of the room. She was happy to get hers over with, though there were still about twenty people who had to give their names, group affiliation, and quadrant. Thankfully, only half of the liaisons were in attendance that night.

Finally, they got to move on to the newcomers to the city. A troll named Trudie from Tazewell, Tennessee, stuttered through her intro, and a werewolf named Wanda from Walla Walla, Washington, was next. They both claimed to have moved to the area because of the drier climate.

Piper leaned over and whispered, “Seriously? Did they stand next to each other on purpose? You can’t make this stuff up.”

Tori grinned. “Like you have a lot of room to talk, Ms. Piper Peterson from Peoria.” She snorted back a laugh at Piper’s low growl. Coming from a human, it didn’t carry much of a threat, but Tori got the point. “Sorry,” she whispered.

“No, you’re not,” Piper muttered. A small smile tilted her mouth. “But that’s okay.”

Tori couldn’t help but think that Dante would be fascinated by all this. He was like a kid when it came to prets—he was so curious. It really was too bad that the council kept these meetings closed to humans, except for their own human liaisons, of course. Tori held the opinion that the human cops assigned to the various Special Case squads would benefit from this just as much, if not more than, the liaisons did.

Several more introductions were made, with council members asking questions as they went along, sometimes delving deep into the newcomer’s past.

Finally, they’d reached the auburn-haired elf whom Tori had met at the club. The slender woman took a step forward. “My name is Keira O’Brien. I’m originally from County Donegal, Ireland, and came through the rift in the Influx of 1419 BC.”

Murmurs of disbelief went through the room. Tori was just as surprised. Coming through the rift when she did made Keira over thirty-four hundred years old. Except for Deoul and one of the vampire councilors, Keira was the oldest preternatural in the room. And that was saying something.

“What brings you to Scottsdale?” Deoul leaned forward and formed a steeple with his fingers. Tori couldn’t determine if the note in his voice was his attempt at flirting or if he was just plain irritated. It was hard to tell with him most of the time, he was so bad at showing emotion other than anger or aggravation.

“I’ve wanted to visit the desert southwest for many years now,” Keira replied, seemingly unfazed by his attitude, whatever it was. “There are many natural wonders that make your city beautiful.”

“But it’s very different from Ireland,” he said. He leaned back in his chair and crossed one leg over the other.

“Yes.” Her green eyes remained steady on him.

When she didn’t continue, he frowned. “How long have you been in the States?” he finally asked.

Tori felt like she was at a tennis match, her gaze going back and forth between the two players.

“Since 1850,” Keira answered. “From New York I went to Virginia, and in the early 1900s I made my way to Ohio.” She gave a dainty shrug. “After living for such a long time through cold and snowy winters, I decided to follow through on my desire to live in a warmer climate.” Her lilting tones were oddly soothing, almost mesmerizing. Tori could understand how the fey folk had gotten a reputation for enticement.

“Do you have family here?” Deoul asked.

Keira shook her head. “I have no family anywhere.” Her voice was matter-of-fact.

Tori wasn’t sure which was sadder, not having family or having family who wanted nothing to do with you. Actually, she knew quite well who was worse off. Her heart sank at the thought. Keira was the lucky one.

“What exactly did you do to get sent through the rift?” This came from Lorcan, the pooka.

Keira’s slender throat moved with her swallow. For the first time, Tori saw the other woman’s composure falter. Others had been asked this question and had also been reluctant to speak their misdeeds aloud in public, but when the council asked, they expected an answer. For a brief moment, Keira met Tori’s gaze, and then she looked back to the front of the room and said, “My husband and I were grifters. We conned several prominent people out of a lot of money.”

“And where is your husband?” Lorcan asked.

Keira’s lips pressed together a moment before she responded. “He was murdered before…” She paused and cleared her throat. “We were released, under strict monitoring, to say our good-byes and get rid of any material items we had. He was killed before sentencing could be carried out.”

“And now?” Caladh’s voice was low and steely. “Have you come to us to defraud the citizens of Scottsdale?”

“No.” She shook her head. “I have lived an honest and quiet life for many years now. I plan to continue doing so.”

“For many years, eh?” The selkie councilor stared at her. “Upon your arrival to this dimension, you kept up your con-artist ways, did you not?”

Her generous mouth tightened. Her irritation wafted Tori’s way on a wave of burnt cinnamon. When she spoke again, though, her voice was as serene as ever. “When I first came through the rift I was able to be an innocent. My human host was a wife. A mother. But when I outlived my family, when I was forced out on my own…” She drew in a slow breath. “There are things one must do to survive. I could grift or I could whore. I chose the former.”

Tori wasn’t sure, but she figured it would have been a very difficult thing to be a con artist back in Ireland before the Industrial Revolution. She gave Keira kudos for that.

“I see. I for one do not fault you for that decision.” Caladh leaned forward and looked down the table at the other council members. “Does anyone else have any questions?”

No one did, and so the rest of the introductions were completed. Once the meeting was dismissed, Tori walked over to Keira and said, “You know, if you plan on living a quiet life here, hooking up with Evnissyen isn’t likely to help.”