Page 51 of Shiny Things

“Thank God. I don’t even care whose place we stay at tonight.”

“Really?”

She nodded.

“Okay, after your party, come back here then.”

Her eyes widened, and I was expecting her to chicken out. Her car would be parked here overnight and other residents of the complex would notice. But for me, that wasn’t a bad thing because I wanted the entire world to know she was mine.

Let the gossip begin.

She took a deep breath and let it out. “Okay.”

I kissed her, knowing I was going to look like a lovesick loon for the rest of the day. It was very uncharacteristic of me, but I didn’t see how I could help it. She made me the happiest man alive, which meant it was impossible for me to hold the gruff façade of my usual demeanor.

Leaving her in my apartment was hard, but it was satisfying knowing she was there. Before I left, I ran to my room and grabbed the small box tied up with a shiny red ribbon and handed it to her.

I kissed her again and told her I loved her.

“Love you too,” she said as she eyed the box.

I turned and left before she opened it, hoping she would love the thin gold bracelet that matched the necklace I’d given her, but knowing I didn’t have time to wait and find out.

*****

Ryan had made it seem like this meeting was an emergency, but I arrived before some of the others. The smile on my face was long gone, replaced by a scowl of frustration. I felt cheated out of a few more minutes alone with Kim.

“Thought you’d be a lot happier,” Ryan said as he nudged me with his elbow.

“I would have been if someone hadn’t interrupted me. I thought you said this was an emergency.”

“I was just the messenger. Don’t get mad at me.”

“Tech is just finishing up the livestream connection. We’ll only be a few minutes longer,” Castor informed us.

“A livestream? What’s this all about Ry?”

“Hell if I know. Seriously. I’d tell you if I did. They’ve kept me in the dark too.”

Once the computer tech had everything sorted and left the room, Malachai rose to address us. It was more than just the Council present, but still a very select group. I was happy to see Kim’s dad and Diddy Pierce had been included in whatever this is.

“Thanks for assembling so quickly. I have a feeling this may take a while. So settle in. Westin Force has reached out about a possible threat to Ravenden. I think it’s prudent that we take this serious. We’ve heard rumors of other Congresses being attacked by the Collectors at a more alarming frequency. They are getting bold and seem to be on to us. We’ve been lucky so far, but if there is any possible viability of threat, we will all need to be diligent without scaring our Flocks.”

“Let’s hear what they have to say and then I’ll determine what level of public warning is necessary,” Ryan said with full authority.

Nobody argued with him. That made me proud.

I gave my brother a lot of shit, but in truth, he was an important man in Ravenden and carried the weight of that with grace. He was one of the good guys. I joked that I hadn’t voted for him, but I hoped he knew that was a lie. I’d proudly checked the box next to his name in the last two elections for mayor.

The room was quiet as Castor fumbled around with some buttons and got the meeting on the large television screen.

I knew of Westin Force more than actually knowing them. Though when the screen came to life, I immediately recognized Patrick O’Connell. I knew he was in charge of the program overseen by the wolf Alpha Kyle Westin. My dad always spoke fondly of the man.

Feeling a bit out of place, I leaned back in my chair and just listened to what they had to say.

“Hello,” the redhead said with a deep Irish accent. “I wish this meeting were under better circumstances. As you all know, we’ve been heavily monitoring Collector activities. There’s been a noticeable increase in disappearances lately, especially amongst the ravens. That’s really not all that surprising given you all are highly sought after witches.”

“How many this week?” my dad asked.

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