Dark Passions at Death's Door

37 - Meeting The Crew

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The Vertas had been in the increasingly-cramped space for over twenty minutes since Koli had made the call. The already tense atmosphere had taken a turn towards impatience.

The voice on the other end of the line was distant, but clear enough. When they'd exchanged looks, everyone shook their heads in unison.

No one except Koli had met this male.

Mariketa broke the growing silence first. "I thought you said it would only be a few minutes, Koli?"

"Sorry I'm late, everyone."

The voice seemed to echo from all four corners of the room. The males bulked, their bodies ramped for a fight.

Koli called, "Byron?"

Byron's voice answered from overhead. "Koli, you've been a bad girl. Lying ain't nice. What's going on?"

"Show yourself!" Melanthe shouted.

Thank Grim for the cloak's properties. The Queens of Illusion and Persuasion were hard customers to beat without his aura and his cloak active. "Uhhh. No," he chuckled. "I prefer not to succumb to persuasion at the moment, Queen Melanthe."

The Sorceri queen twisted around in confusion. "How did you-?!"

"Don't ask, I'm not telling, yet. What's the big deal? This is a whole lot of firepower in a very confined space."

"Who are you?" Lachlain shouted.

"Just a guy, King of Lykae. And you didn't answer my question."

Koli spoke up, "Byron, I'm sorry, but they heard from some of the others you were trailing Valkyries and nymphs. They wanted to talk to you."

"Talk? I've got a couple divisions' worth of muscle sitting in those males. Fellas, relax. I ain't a threat to your wives or mates. Okay?"

"Then why are you trailing them?" Lachlain asked.

"I wasn't. Not them specifically."

"Then who were you specifically trailing, 'just a guy'?" Mariketa asked. Her eyes had turned to mirrors while she touched her pocket mirror, going over the area. "And how come I can't find you?"

"There's only one here that'll see me. And she isn't looking. Neomi. Up on the balcony."

They all saw the ethereal phantom wife of Conrad swivel. Then she shot to her feet and backed up two steps when she caught sight of his outline. "Mon Dieu."

"Lord bless you too, Neomi," he raised up a hand and waved to her.

She put a hand over her heart by reflex. Conrad snarled, ember eyes flaring. "You dare speak to my Bride like that?"

"Wroth, you've been doing great on the sanity thing. Please," Byron implored. "No threat to your Bride intended. I'm trying to be civil. Just gave her a wave, that's all."

"Enough!" Malkom Slaine roared up to the balcony. "Show yourself!"

"Show myself?" He scoffed. "Now why would I do that, Slaine? So you folks can try tracing and snatching at me? No, thank you."

Lucia the Huntress shouted up, "Are you a Pravus spy?"

Even shrouded, he felt his eye twitch. He let the sneer show in his voice, "Tch. Nope."

Like Hell I'll ever help those fugly bastards and bitches.

"Then what?" the mahogany-haired Valkyrie followed up.