Chapter 20 - Percy

"You know," Maisie says, walking into the pack center meeting room, a sleep mask still pushed up onto her forehead. "Even a minor disruption to the eight-hour sleeping window can cause significant problems."

We all stare back at her from around the table—everyone has congregated for the meeting, according to Aris's summons. All the team members are here—me, Ado, Byron, Bigby, and Aris—as well as others in the Rosecreek pack. Olivia and Rosa sit together at the end of the table, chatting. Linnea is seated sleepily next to an empty chair that I assume is meant for Aris. Rafael sits uncomfortably next to Veronica, leaning all the way toward me, clearly still bothered by the guy.

The room around is uneasy for several reasons—first, because it's so late, most of the light that would typically come from the windows is gone, casting the room in darkness and fluorescent lighting. Second, Linnea has clearly been going hard with the Halloween decorations, having decked out the room in fake cobwebs, dancing skeletons, and even a poster of a werewolf, howling at the moon.

When we first walked in, Veronica had let out a loud laugh, leaning over to me and whispering, "Is that offensive to you?"

"Maisie," Byron says now, speaking for the entire group, "what the hell are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the fact that it's always this group constantly interrupting my sleep! How am I supposed to operate during the day if you're constantly calling meetings in the middle of the night?"

"My apologies," Aris says, slipping into the room behind her, his massive form dwarfing her smaller one. "I will be sure to consider your sleeping schedule before I call another meeting."

"Oh, Gods," Maisie says, closing her eyes, "I'm sorry, Aris, I didn't realize—"

"It's fine," he laughs, not stopping his progress toward the front of the room, "go ahead and take a seat, then."

Maisie quietly sits at the table, her face flaming red. When Rosa gestures to her forehead, Maisie reaches up. When her fingers graze the pink, silk sleeping mask on her head, she goes even red, tearing off her head so fast it musses up her hair.

"Alright," Aris says, when he rounds to the front of the room. "This is an emergency, so we've called this meeting. Everything, this is Agent Rafael Diaz, and he's come to us with some important information about the current vampire threat."

"Ah, yes, sure, I can speak," Rafael says, glancing around nervously as Aris sits down. It seems like speaking to everyone is the last thing he wants to do, but he slowly rises to his feet, clearing his throat and bracing his hands on the table, speaking to nobody in particular as he starts, his eyes focused on the center of the table. "I am a special agent at the Carpio Agency, which was brought together as a replacement for the agency that we all once worked at together."

"Who was your commander?" Aris asks, raising an eyebrow, and Rafael lets out a sigh. I can almost feel him remembering my line of questioning earlier, but it's a fair question. It's easy to say you worked somewhere, hard to pull a commander's name out of your ass unless you've really prepared to lie.

"Putsky," I say, eyes meeting Aris's. His flash with approval, which makes me sit up a little straighter. I may have been gone for years, but that doesn't mean I don't still like getting approval from the alpha.

"Alright," Aris says, nodding at Rafael to continue.

"Like at the old agency," he says, "I'm on the vampire task force. I am not part vampire, if such a thing did exist, but I do have remnants of the vampire venom in my cells, and am immune to the venom. If bitten by a vampire, I wouldn't die."

"Like Veronica," Rosa says, touching her chin.

"Exactly," he says, "because we went through the same experience."

He goes on to explain everything he said to us to the whole group. I notice his hands shaking now, and wonder if it's from the pot of coffee he drank, or if he has some social anxiety.

"I believe the vampires targeted the Rosecreek pack, helping to place Varun in power, because the pack was in a very particular state of weakness at that time, having just lost both the alpha and the rising alpha."

Aris winces across the room, ever so slightly. He's moved on from everything, I'm sure, but wouldn't be surprised if he'll always carry a certain level of guilt with him over what happened to the people of Rosecreek in his absence.

I can relate to feeling guilty for something you've done for the rest of your life, no matter how many times people tell you it isn't your fault.

"So far," Rafael continues, oblivious to the look on Aris's face. "I haven't been able to figure out the reason for the current attacks. It could be an effort to take our Veronica, who poses a unique threat, or could be a way to regain control of the serum, or power. Rosecreek has quickly become one of the country's most powerful and influential packs, especially with your strong tie to the large California pack."

"That pack will be breaking back into smaller packs soon," Aris says, "as a way to dilute that power."

"Still," Rafael says, "as you know, it's rare for alphas to even form alliances in the first place. Too much pride, or so I'm told. That makes Rosecreek special, which may also be making it a target."

We all sit quietly after that last sentence lands.

"A target?" Linnea says, her voice small, and Aris reaches out, putting his hand in hers.

"So, what do we do about it?" Bigby asks, shifting in his seat. He glances at Rosa, who looks fiercely back at him. They look like two people stopping at nothing to defend their home.

When I look at Veronica, she already has her head turned in my direction, and she turns up her eyes, searching mine as soon as they catch.

"I can add to that," Olivia says, standing and moving toward the smart display on the other end of the room, behind where Aris is sitting.

"Go ahead," he says, and we watch as she connects her tablet to the screen, starting something up.

"I've been monitoring #vampire on social media very closely," she says, "despite some people claiming it's a waste of time."

I fight not to look over at Byron, but Veronica does, not understanding the dynamics at play here. Then, she glances back at me, and I smile down at her, trying to show her with my face what I mean.

I'll tell you later .

Okay .

She stares up at me, her eyes wide and round. She brings her hand to her mouth, and I sit, stunned, staring back at her. I haven't been able to project to anyone in so long, I just assumed it was an ability I had lost. I assumed it was yet another thing that the serum had taken from me. But I just sent that to her.

And she sent something back.

What the fuck , she sends, and I grin. She brings her other hand to her mouth now, her eyes so wide they're practically in her hairline.

I want to bend you over the bed later, I send, and I see her cheeks turn red, watch her cross her legs, clear her throat, and turn her attention to the front of the room.

When I reach out under the table, groping for her hand, she finds mine, and I have to breathe through the feeling it gives me. Even this woman's most mundane affections make me feel like I could do a backflip.

"…uptick in vampire activity, especially in the Minneapolis area, but also in every major city. These trends are encouraging young people to go out, who are vulnerable to vampires. I believe this is a particular campaign run by the vamps to encourage more reckless behavior among college students and teenagers."

Murmurs move around the table as Olivia finishes her little impromptu presentation, sitting back down at the table.

"We should round up the new trainees," Bigby says, and Byron says, "This would be a good time to increase surveillance."

"Both of you are right," Aris agrees. "Byron, you see to the equipment, and Bigby, double the training sessions. That goes for the women, too."

"What?" Linnea cries, turning her head to Aris. "No way! Do you understand how busy I am?"

They stare at each other for a moment, then Linnea shakes her head, mumbling something like, "Why do I always give in?"

I imagine Aris was saying something about the fact that she can't shift, about how it's more important for her than the other woman at this table to be able to defend herself the best she can.

Especially due to their blood-bond. Aris can't always be around to protect her, and Linnea must know that because she doesn't argue further.

"Let's up it to three times a week," Rosa says, "I look forward to kicking Bigby's ass three times as much."

"When you slam me on the mat," Olivia says, "it always pops this one spot in my back that I can't get to on my own, so I'm down."

Byron's eyes flick to her, flaring, before returning to his laptop. A moment later, she glances over at him, sees he's not looking, and looks back to Rosa, who rolls her eyes.

"You guys have training sessions?" Veronica asks, and they all turn to look at her.

"Yeah," Rosa says, softly, "but they're pretty intense."

"I can take it," Veronica says, her eyes sliding to me. "Trust me."

Fire licks through me when I understand what she's implying. She survived our sex; she can survive their training session.

"You can join," Bigby says, flicking his eyes to me and raising an eyebrow, as though he's making sure it's okay with me, too. Veronica would kill me if she noticed this little exchange, first, because to her, we're just scratching an itch , and second because she'd be pissed at the idea that I had any say in something that should be solely up to her.

But this little sign of respect from Bigby is about more than just acknowledging that Veronica is with me—it's another little thing that's helped me feel closer to the group.

"Good," Veronica says, her eyes glinting, "because I want to hold my own if a fight comes our way."

"I'm still trying to set up a meeting with the leader of the vampires," Aris says, making Linnea, who's started to fall asleep next to him, jolt awake. "So let's hope that can happen, and we can avoid any fights coming to Rosecreek soon."