“I’ll connect you with Samaya. You can work through her to get the information and put you in touch with Asta, the Archivist. I’m not helping you break into Conclave records. But we’ll get you what you need,” Genevieve said.

  “Vihan is putting together a report. All fairly preliminary because we’re still gathering data and filtering to get more specific information. Then we can start making some educated guesses,” David told Rowan.

  “Appreciate the briefing. I’m sure David has already told you this, but don’t hesitate to reach out if you have questions, need help, have concerns, whatever. And when you get homesick. I missed London so much when I first moved here. David knows all the places to get good Indian food and fish and chips with mushy peas. Or you can come to dinner at my house since I’m the only non-English person living there.” Rowan smiled in a way she hoped was reassuring instead of slightly manic.

  “Ta. Everyone’s been very cordial so far.”

  At least a third of her staff at the new chapterhouse slash Motherhouse in the United States were relocating from London as they reorganized with an emphasis on fieldwork and support instead of the monstrously top-heavy executive system of the past. Many of them had worked with David or Rowan in the past or had come with the highest of recommendations from people Rowan trusted.

  Now she was responsible for them. Like some weird, slightly murderous den mother. Slightly probably wasn’t the right word, but whatever. She used to have three employees and within two weeks there’d be a dozen in Las Vegas. And since they’d gone and made her in charge of all of the United States and Canada, there would be smaller headquarters—chapterhouses—located in places Hunters could use as a home base for their territory, or to bunk out of while they were on a Hunt out of their normal area. Each of those generally already had a staff and some even had a space they just needed to update and staff properly.

  There were a lot of annoying details, but they were important, so she did her best to pay attention and make good choices.

  “I’ll keep you apprised and remind you there’s a dinner at ten tonight. Clive sent a note right before he went down for the day,” David said as he paused at the doorway.

  She’d sure want to know what the hell happened at the Scion meeting so why argue? “All right. Thanks. Can you please work with Elisabeth? Set up a welcome dinner for all the new staff for when we return from Prague? Everyone should be moved here and at least partially settled by then.”

  “Wait, David,” Genevieve said. “My call with Samaya. The Procellas called and very civilly asked to take a meeting with me. Samaya says it wasn’t Hugo, but a different Procella, Antonia, who’s Hugo’s older sister.” She shot a look to Rowan. “We’ll speak about that in a moment.”

  Rowan swallowed back her questions and indicated Genevieve continue.

  “They wanted to meet today but I’m not inclined to give them what they want. Tomorrow at six? Darius says he can have coverage.”

  “The sun will have set or just be setting right around then. There’s no way Clive will keep his nose out of it. Though he won’t ruin our operation. He’s meddlesome, but he opens a lot of doors too.” Rowan knew her husband. She would have to tell him up front. Then he’d insist on being there. Or showing up. They’d have to negotiate. But that would be fun for everyone so she couldn’t really complain.

  “I think Darius would prefer after sunset,” Genevieve murmured. Louder to David she said, “Will you please work with Samaya to get everything into place? She’ll handle the communication with the Procellas. They’re terrible so you aren’t missing anything.”

  David left to handle a dozen things.

  “I hope I’m not putting too much on his shoulders,” she told Genevieve.

  “He’s very good at this. And you trust him to be, which pleases him. And now he has his own David who appears to be as efficient and intelligent. You’re helping him fly. Letting him find out just how good he is at this.”

  Rowan sent a relieved look Genevieve’s way. “I understand they wanted permission to use some form of coercion magic in...stage acts? Magic acts? They’re in the cruise and casino entertainment business, I remember that much. But do they function as a talent agency? I’m just trying to understand a wider picture so we can figure out just what is going on.”

  “When they asked for the first meeting Samaya put together a little bit of background for me but by our phone call just a few minutes ago she had more. She’s fantastic about finding out things from other people. I’m grateful she’s spying for me instead of against me.” Genevieve sent a quick smile to Rowan before continuing. “Their business is entertainment based. They appear to provide performing acts to various venues, cruise ships, casinos, nightclubs, that sort of thing. Nearly entirely specific to the paranormal world, but some of the cruise ship stuff is weighted heavily toward humans. That’s where they’re seeking the permission for. Magic acts for these cruise ships. But that’s just one part. They also have private casinos and card rooms in locations across the country. Las Vegas, New Orleans, Atlantic City, Branson are the ones I can remember, but she’s sending the information to David. Most of it. I’m sure you understand why it’s not everything.”

  “I do. And I appreciate all you can share,” Rowan reassured. “I have questions, but I’ll save them until the end.”

  “All the arms of that main family business report to—and the business is helmed by—Sergio Procella. Patriarch. His second-in-command is his only child, Alfonso. Alfonso is Hugo and Antonia’s father. Antonia works directly for her father. She’s his second-in-command and reportedly knows the business at every level. Hugo is listed as working in development. Samaya’s gossip says Hugo is ambitious and not entirely lazy, but entitled and has difficulties listening or seeking out other perspectives.”

  “Antonia does a bang-up job and puts in the work but baby brother sucks up to Grandpa who’d rather a male grandchild who thinks like him take over anyway?”

  Genevieve raised an eyebrow a moment. “Astute. Antonia and her father, Alfonso, appear to back a certain type of governance and leadership, while Hugo, their grandfather Sergio, and some assorted relations are that charming traditional, which honestly means they think Genetic witches are not just different from humans, but better than them. Better than Vampires who need blood and are imprisoned by the sun. It’s all very boring and unimaginative as most bigotries are.”

  “You’d think basically immortal beings would have better imaginations. Or spend their time doing something useful or fun.”

  “I find myself similarly frustrated. Here we have an actual threat to witches. Not silly fantasies about genetic superiority. And they’d rather pretend away the threat to continue pursuit of this phantom other who will absorb their own guilt and responsibility and become the example. If not for them, we would be better off. It’s an old tale. But there’s a resurgence of purity nonsense going on now. The way you were treated, that disdain and derision for every being outside their narrow classification, is absolutely connected to that. At least in part.”

  They took a brief pause when Malin showed up with tea and some sort of citrus-based cookies dusted in powdered sugar.

  “Here.” Rowan handed over a large linen napkin and when Genevieve’s confusion must have shown, her friend draped hers across her chest and lap. “Those cookies are amazing but sugar and little crumbs will get everywhere.”

  That Genevieve could understand, and she followed suit before trying one of the delightful but messy treats.

  Rowan said, “So Antonia, oldest kid but they sent Hugo to us? If a Vampire had done that I’d say Grandpa was making a point. And since Perfect Suit Lotte is his assistant, again, that underlines a deliberate choice to use her as his outward face. His viewpoint is public at least in the magic world. But witches have subtle but super-important differences with the way they send messages sometimes so I could be wrong.”

  “You’re correct. Though there are elements of this that don’t fit so neatly within that explanation.”

  “Like why if they need your support and you’d agreed to come to the guy’s house instead of making him come to the Conclave building, they’d antagonize you? Because that’s what I want to know. Can they just go around you and get a majority of signatures? Get their exemption that way?”

  “There’s already a predisposition against coercive magics. Especially in the oldest and most powerful families. They’d excuse it without doubt if the coercion was self-defense. But for entertainment use when audiences paid to then be manipulated? Without knowing exactly how they’re being manipulated, but definitely for financial enrichment for the Procella family. That gets near the line many of us don’t cross,” Genevieve said.

  “What about divination though?” Rowan asked. “I know there’s an allowance for tarot and other types of readings. Even witches who have no talent for it but have intuition and give readings that are sometimes utter bullshit.”

  “I’d thought of the same. But as you say even that is regulated. There are laws against manipulating for personal enrichment above the basic cost of the reading. It’s complicated, but it’s fairly weighted to protect the other party. What the Procellas want is to be able to take a human who might say no if given the choice, to say yes, in a hypnotism or other type of audience participation scenario. And the wording is far too open-ended.”

  “Gramps and Hugo want this change so why are they not just sucking it up to get your signature instead of offending you?”

  “I don’t know the answer to that. I’ve never had personal dealings with the Procellas. They’re members of the Senate as are all Genetic witches, but they’re not in leadership. They have their businesses, and these private clubs are absolutely illegal from a human perspective but not ours. We don’t really care about breaking human law as long as no one is being harmed and they do nothing to expose our existence.”

  “Let’s see what we can see tomorrow night, then. We have far more questions than answers so hopefully we can flip that around after that. There’s got to be a reason they’re doing things this way. Even if the reason was they’re just being assholes.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Rowan looked up at David’s tap on her door.

  “Just received this from Nadir’s office,” he told her, laying the paper on her desk. As much as she liked to mock Vampires for being out of touch when it came to technology, Rowan found it much easier for her brain to retain things when they were on paper. So important communication was something David most often printed out for her rather than making her read it from a screen.

  Yes, she was spoiled and yes, she knew it.

  “The recent communication regarding Hunter Corp. employees was sent without the knowledge or permission of, nor does it reflect the views of, the Vampire Nation. These Vampires have violated the hospitality shown them by the First and his offices and will be disciplined for this breach. The Vampire Nation sincerely apologizes for any negative feelings created by this extraordinary breach of our rules,” Rowan read and then glanced up at David.

  He shrugged. “I’m rather impressed. Not a fauxpology of the I’m sorry you feel that way, but a genuine apology for what happened.”

  “I’m even more impressed because after the last interactions with Nadir I’m convinced she argued against allowing these shitlords into the process and was overruled. She had to then go to Theo to tell him about this mess all while knowing she advised against it for that very reason. And Theo will be mad about these Vampires going around Nadir. Partly because of how I might feel, but way more because he will be personally offended. He let these lords in because it was a fun way for him to take up my time. He didn’t think about how they would make Hunter Corp. feel. He wanted to use them to poke at me. But what happened was they used him. They might have gone around Nadir because she was in charge. But he will see it as them going around him.” Rowan blew out a breath. “At the very least these Vampires will be spending some time in Theo’s dungeon. At worst, they’ll spend a long time there and then he’ll execute them.”

  “Would you like me to set up a call with Nadir? It’s not sunrise there just yet,” David asked.

  She looked at the time and then shook her head. “Yes, but not for today. She’ll have enough to manage right now, so I’ll let her do that. Tomorrow morning when we get here, we’ll do a status update and I’ll know what the next step should be and then we’ll connect with her.”

  She had enough to do before leaving for Prague. She didn’t need to do Nadir’s job on top of her own.

  “Now that we’ve heard back from Nadir, would you like me to speak with Aron to let him know what’s going on?” David asked.

  “Oh, yes, please. Good idea.” She’d made a brief call to him when the threat had first been delivered. She wanted him to remain vigilant. She’d promised to let him know when they found out anything new.

  “I’m headed home at half past nine or so. Do you need a ride?” Rowan asked.

  “Vanessa and I are taking the others out for dinner and drinks, maybe a nightclub or two as a welcome to Las Vegas,” David said.

  They were all so young and vibrant. Like Carey had been. It was good that David had a social life with friends his age who also understood his weird life. A small part of her, the panic-stricken part, worried that he’d end up like Carey had. She repressed it, knowing it would hurt her and David both if she gave over to it. “Oh good. Have fun. Don’t argue when a guard shadows you all night. Just be sure they get bathroom breaks and stay hydrated. Our new employees and the guard,” she added quickly with a grin.

  * * *

  “I don’t understand it,” she told Clive when he arrived home later that night to have dinner with her. “What do these lords get by antagonizing Nadir other than a ticket to torture town?”

  “It’s absolute recklessness. I don’t like it one bit.”

  “It doesn’t comfort me that you’re similarly confused by this.” Rowan looked his way. “I was hoping you’d have some inside information that would give at least some context. What on earth are Takahiro and Tahar even thinking?”

  “I think, were I in their place, I’d be doing little more than panicked location of these Vampires who’d exposed me to the outrage of the First and the Voice.” Just the way Nadir had sounded on that phone conference earlier still sent a cold chill down his spine.

  “I thought they were told to present themselves to Theo at sunset?”

  “They were. From what I understand, most of them did not.”

  Rowan’s eyes widened so comically Clive nearly laughed. “Yes, I was as surprised by that fact as you seem to be. I can’t imagine why they think they can run. Or what they want out of it,” Clive told her.

  “And that’s the thing, Clive. What are these lords up to? They can’t really care if I hire a Vampire. Sure, sure, you all get riled up whenever we ask for something because you hate being told what to do. And I get that, I really do. It’s not...it’s not enough for me to believe whatever they say they’re up to. This whole thing leaves me certain there’s something I’m not seeing because there’s some sort of agenda at work here and it’s not some douchelords getting shirty because I didn’t heel like a dog.”

  “What does Hunter Corp. think of this?” he asked.

  “The same as I do. We’ve all been at this a minute or two so of course we can see right through this. I can’t very well demand Nadir tell me what’s happening behind the scenes, but I can’t believe she doesn’t see the same thing too.”

  He paused. Weighing responsibilities and loyalties. “She had to get in between the First and the Scions. He apparently wanted to pay Tahar and Takahiro personal visits over this situation.”

  She blew out a breath. “See, the thing is.” She licked her lips and after he shifted to sit next to her at the table, took her hand, and kissed her knuckles. He hated that she was ragged when it came to her father. Hated that she had so much on her shoulders, and it didn’t matter that he hated it. Clive hated that as well.

  So he did what he could, which was to be there and listen.

  “Part of me wants to give him credit. Like oh my dad is trying to protect me, wow, that’s amazing. But it’s not.” She pushed her plate aside and turned to face him directly. “He’s the reason for this mess. I said that to you yesterday and I won’t go over it again. So him threatening to run off and punch some kids who were mean to me? That’s not it. He’s pissed because his little game backfired and he looks bad. His wanting to go and interrogate a Scion isn’t about me at all. So I regret that Nadir had to do it. I’ve been there. But she’s done it for a hell of a lot longer. And I admit I know he’d ease back if I called him. Which would make things easier for everyone else.”

  “Not for you.”

  Her spine bent a little as she leaned into him for a moment, nuzzling her face into the crook of his neck.

  “Not for me, no. And right now, I’m okay with making this one thing about me and what I want. I don’t want to talk to him. I know it’s selfish and petty but I’m a petty bitch and we all know that.”

  Clive snorted a laugh. “Darling, you make the most beautiful and powerful petty bitch I’ve ever known.” He kissed her forehead before sitting back and pushing her plate to her once more. “But you’re not selfish. Please finish your meal. You’ve barely touched it.”