Chapter 28

It was late afternoon by the time Remi made it downstairs. Cait, Nadine and Darien had done everything possible to stall her; from bringing her lunch in bed to almost carrying her to the tub to relax and soak. She wasn’t comfortable with everyone’s new mission to pamper her.

When she walked out of the backroom, Darien met her at the door. “You could take a whole day off.”

Stopping, she looked up at him. “Are you trying to hide me from the council?”

“No.” He grinned. “More like trying to save them from you.”

Snorting, she shook her head. “I’m sure I won’t pose any threat.” She didn’t know much about the council, but she knew they were the most powerful in the para community.

“Are you sure about that?”

Searching his dark eyes, all she could find was a soft, caring look. Sighing, she gave him a weak smile.

Tucking his hands in his pockets, he exhaled slowly. “I just talked to Betany, Deane, and Ranae, they’d like to take some time off until the threat is gone.”

Remi knew it was bound to happen, it pissed her off that it was happening at all. “Yeah, I was going to talk to everyone and let them know that I understand if they want to bow out for a while. It will be tough being shorthanded, but we’ll get by.” She swallowed down the lump in her throat. “What did you tell them?”

Tucking the hair behind her ear, he shrugged. “That you wouldn’t have a problem with it, and for them to be really careful where they go and what they do.”

Nodding, she leaned her forehead against his chest. “I just want all of this to go away.”

His warm hand rubbed the back of her head. “I know.” Heaving a big sigh, he dropped his hand. “Hopefully the council will resolve it quickly.”

Moving around him, she headed to the kitchen. “I’m not sure what I’m feeling about meeting them.”

Darien snorted. “I know what I’m feeling, and none of it’s good.”

That really wasn’t what she wanted to hear.

They were almost ready to open Serenity After Dark when she learned exactly how she’d feel about meeting the most powerful paras she’d ever encountered.

If her life were a movie, this would have been one of those slow-motion moments. The door opened, without assistance and the six glided in. All were tall and beautiful, with an aura of lethal power.

“I think they’re here,” Emery said in a voice filled with awe.

The first two were vampires and Remi didn’t need to ask how old they were. The power radiated from them. That kind of power only came from centuries of living, or, in this case not living. The man was tall with glossy black hair that hung past his shoulders. His eyes were closer to maroon, making her wonder if they’d been brown when he was human. He studied her blatantly then smiled slowly, revealing the biggest fangs she’d ever seen. Okay, if he’d ever been human. Aside from that, he was probably the most gorgeous male she’d ever seen. Almost feminine, if that were possible.

Attis moved out from behind the counter and went toward him. His frame was rigid, but his head slightly lowered to acknowledge the power of the elder. Remi was shocked, and Attis bowed to no one.

The female vampire was tall and slender with all too-perfect long blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. Remi was certain she could see into her soul. The vampire slowly looked over each of them standing there.

When a chill went down her spine, Remi looked away from her to the massive male on her right. He was, without a doubt, the largest man she’d ever seen; considering the size of all the men at Serenity, that was saying a lot. For a moment, she thought she was sensing a wolf shifter, but then she could see his darker side and realized he was a werewolf. Another shock for her, a werewolf on the council. He looked familiar, which was ridiculous; she could never forget a man that large.

His soft brown eyes moved slowly over her, and then he smiled like he’d known her for years. Stepping closer to Darien, she needed to feel him near so she didn’t run away screaming. Something she’d never done in her life, but there was always a first time. The way her heart was thrumming, this could be that time.

Remi watched the tall redheaded female wander across the bar. She was a witch; there was no mistaking the waves of magic coming from her.

“This is quite the place, don’t you think?” The witch turned and looked at the tall, light-haired man behind her. He just nodded without speaking.

It took Remi a few seconds of studying to know that he was a mage. A blood mage, if she wasn’t mistaken. She didn’t know all that much about someone with that skill set or what they could do, but the knot in her stomach told her that was probably a good thing.

“We’ve heard good things about this place.” The last male looked right at her as he spoke. He reminded her of a Greek god, which could only mean something that perfect had to be a powerful faerie. There was something mesmerizing about him.

Emery nudged her from behind, reminding her that a response would be good. “I’m glad.” She tried for a smile, but with the way she was shaking, it probably didn’t come across as relaxed as she wanted.

“You’re the human sensor,” the faerie murmured, a note of surprise in his voice.

Before she could answer, the male vampire turned toward her. “Oh, I wouldn’t go as far as calling her human, Alaric. I think if you look deeply, you’ll find much more.”

“True,” he added, his pale eyes moving over her once more.

Remi looked up at Darien, not sure what to do. He placed his arm behind her, letting her know he was close. “My name is Remi,” she offered another weak smile, “and this is…”

“We know who everyone is, Miss Foster,” the witch informed her.

“Indeed, we do,” the huge were said, with a grin and nodded at Darien. “Nephew, how are you?”

Giving Darien a wide-eyed look, he glanced down at her, signaling a ‘later’ look with his eyes.

“Uncle Garrett. I’m doing well.”

Nodding, Uncle Garrett looked down at her, a warm smile on his face. Remi wanted to pull her shirt up to cover her throat as he gave it a long leisurely look.

“She’s lovely,” he told Darien with a surprising Irish burr tickling his words.

Darien’s arm pulled her closer without making the move obvious. “Yes.”

Feeling like she needed to do something to change the vibe passing between the two werewolves, Remi glanced at Pascal. In seven years, she’d never seen the expression on his face she was seeing now. Fear.

“Donnan, it’s been a long time.” The female vampire purred.

Turning, Remi realized she was coming towards Pascal. Donnan? She gave him a curious look. He lowered his lashes and gave a slight shake of his head before taking a deep breath that he really didn’t require and pasting a frozen smile on his face.

“Elaine.”

Looking away from him, she watched the woman’s eyes roam over Pascal. Even though she was absolutely gorgeous, there was something inside her that was so dark it sent a shiver down Remi’s spine.

“Let’s cut through this tension, shall we?”

Remi saw the mage move in their direction and head straight for her. When he stopped directly in front of her and Darien and extended his hand, she had to fight to not step back.

“Ah.” He offered her an apologetic look and lowered his hand. “I understand. You have to be careful who you touch.” Inclining his head toward her gracefully, he straightened again. “I am Brome.”

Relieved she hadn’t offended this powerful man by not shaking his hand, she smiled. He motioned with his hand to the witch as she still wandered around looking at everything.

“That is Hope.” He turned to nod at the male vampire. “And Leontes.”

Before Remi could say anything, the female predator that was moving closer and closer to Pascal paused and looked over her shoulder at Emery.

“And who is this?” She sounded like an excited child, only with an eerie edge to her voice.

Clearing her throat, Remi turned without moving away from Darien’s comforting closeness. “This is Emery,” she smiled at the woman, “my son.” She didn’t know why she had to make her claim clear; there was just something about the ancient vampire that set her on edge.

An amused look crossed her face. “I had heard that you acquire strays.”

The way she said it made it sound dirty and wrong. Remi straightened her spine and studied the woman for a moment. “I don’t see it that way.” She moved away from Darien and looked into the woman’s pale eyes. “My daughter, Cait, is from a troll clan. I adopted her when her entire family was killed.” She smiled at her, “And when one of your kind turned Emery, they abandoned him to figure it out on his own…”

Leontes moved between the two of them so fast that Remi didn’t even see him until he was looking down at her. “We weren’t informed.” He gave her a look of concern and then glanced at Emery.

Attis glided down and stood beside Remi. “Ah, I see our beautiful leader is stepping right into it.” His look told her that he had her back, like always.

Leontes turned and looked at him. “Attis, you were aware of this?”

Attis inclined his head. “I was, Leontes.” Looking around for a moment, he continued, “You weren’t informed because both Pascal and I were here. I believe we’re elder enough to oversee things.”

Remi ignored the strange look Elaine gave Pascal and turned to look back at the vampire watching Attis. “If introductions are finished, we really need to get ready to open for the night.”

Leontes brought his focus back to her. “Yes, don’t let us delay you. We’re anxious to see if the creature that is responsible for the slayings comes here tonight.”

Raising her eyebrows, she glanced around at the council members. “Do you think they will?”

Hope stopped her wandering and gave her a big smile. “We should be so lucky.”

“Okay.” Stepping away, Remi let out a slow breath and nodded at Emery. “Go make sure Finn is up. Elise and Vienna will be here shortly.”

Emery looked only too happy to leave the presence of the intimidating beings. He blurred past her and into the kitchen.

Turning, Remi watched Elaine follow Pascal down the bar. “Pascal, check the inventory out here, and Em will get what you need when he comes back.”

Pascal looked at her gratefully. Elaine continued to follow him as he moved over to open the liquor doors and fold them back. Twice he had to move to avoid running into her.

“Um, Elaine, is it?” The woman stopped and looked over her shoulder at Remi. “Perhaps it would be easier for him if you moved to the other side of the bar.”

All movement in the place stopped, and everyone turned to look at the woman as she smiled, her eyes almost glowing. “Are you warning me off? Asking me not to interfere with your hired help?”

Remi shook her head. “No. I’m telling you not to bother my friend while he’s working. Pascal is as every bit important and necessary to the operation of Serenity as I am.”

“Really?” She began a slow, graceful glide in Remi’s direction.

Locking her knees, Remi nodded. “With his help, we’re able to offer a safe and discreet place for every para. I may be the beacon that draws them here and keeps their secrets from regular humans, but without him, or any one member of my team, my family, we’d be quite ineffective.”

“Elaine.” Leontes moved over so he was across the bar from her. “We are in Miss Foster’s domain. Here her laws supersede our own.”

Elaine gave him a hard look.

He continued, “As long as she’s not breaking a council or clan laws, we must listen to her.”

Garrett stood beside Leontes and nodded his approval. “The fates brought her here, and it’s not our place to interfere.”

Huffing out a breath in a dramatic way, Elaine looked from one to the other. “Very well.” Sighing, she looked back at Pascal. “Can I at least get some O negative?”

Pascal inclined his head and turned to the blood fridge. “Of course,” he added stiffly, glancing at Remi out of the corner of his eye; she noticed the amused look on his face.