Page 139 of The World Undone

“So,” the man clapped his hands together, as his lackeys filed around him in some super-agent formation I was certain they’d practiced for hours. “Arnell told us you were finally ready to negotiate—to give up the girl.”

A low growl emanated from Atlas, one I felt mirrored in my own chest.

The man’s thin lips stretched into a slimy, greedy smile, and I had the sudden urge to make sure Nika didn’t drain him dry when the time came for it. Sometimes you could just tell when a dude had rotten blood.

His focus was reserved completely for Atlas, Eli, and Wade—his entourage busy with throwing tentative, fearful looks at the rest of us.

I flashed fang, just for the fuck of it, grinning when two of them flinched.

“Then you misunderstood. We’re not giving her up.” Wade took a step forward. “We want to discuss the Council’s future goals—or, rather, what they should be.”

Of all of us, Wade was the most level-headed, the best at keeping his emotions in check. We’d decided early on that he’d handle most of the conversation. Incubi were always useful to keep around for social and political manipulations.

I heard the gentle suggestion of power in his words. The kid was getting good at controlling his new magic tricks.

The man’s smile twitched before re-fixing itself to his face. “It’s good to see you boys again. I haven’t set eyes on you myself since you were,” he gestured to waist-height, “about this tall.”

“I’m assuming,” Wade pressed, ignoring the man’s awkward attempt to relate, “that you agreed to meet with us because, like us,” Wade’s focus shifted, his gaze cutting to a few of the other protectors in the assembly, like he could sense which ones truly held the power here, “you know that the council doesn’t have The Guild’s true interests at heart.”

“And tell me, Mr. Andrews,” a tall, muscular woman took a few steps forward until she stood shoulder-to-shoulder next to Sir Slimeball. “Whose interests are you committed to these days?”

‘You may not have noticed, but the world is quite literally hanging on the precipice of collapse.” Wade grinned, a reserved, political sort of grin, though I knew him well enough now to see the hatred packed behind it, to feel the pulse of his power fighting for restraint. It was rare for lust demons to have much power in the waking world, especially when they weren’t in hell. Since we’d strengthened the bonds to Max, all of our strengths had been slowly enhancing. “We are invested in keeping as many people alive as possible. As are you, I’m sure.”

“Of course, of course,” Slimeball cooed. The woman next to him merely nodded, expression tight.

“Good,” Wade’s eyes narrowed, just a fraction, “I’m glad we are agreed on that at least. Especially given that the current council seems to only be focused on power. Not for The Guild, not for humanity. For themselves.”

Several of the protectors bristled and tensed, a few of them darting glances at each other.

“We don’t agree with everything The Guild stands for,” Wade continued, “especially not with how things have been handled lately. But our own values and beliefs aren’t important right now. We’re willing to work with you, for the sake of survival, but we are not willing to work with those who put their own thirst for power ahead of the safety of others.”

“Are you suggesting a coup, Mr. Andrews?” The woman’s brow arched, and she exchanged a look with another weasel in their ranks, her lips betraying the small start of a smile. She was interested. Very. “That you’d work with a different council—one more aligned with your values, perhaps?”

“We’ve noticed that you only have two council members left,” Eli said, his voice deep and devoid of its usual snark and arrogance. So he could turn it off when he wanted to. “That no others have been appointed to the vacant slots. It seems they are invested in keeping the power they’ve—found,” he stalled on the word. Stolen. The power they’ve stolen. “For themselves. And so long as they keep that power, you aren’t strong enough to take them out. Not alone, anyway.”

“And you are?” Some faceless dickhole in the crowd yelled out.

I ignored the urge to march over and disembowel him immediately. Instead, I played out the fantasy over and over on a loop in my mind.

Max would be proud of my restraint.

“We are,” Wade said, somehow maintaining his smoothness, despite how fucking obnoxious these raging dildos were.

“What do you suggest, exactly?” Another one of their minions asked, finding the courage to speak. “What’s in it for us?”

I bit back a groan. This was going to take forever to get them slowly to our side of things. My brain was going to rot with how slow and vapid they were.

“We’ll take out your council problem,” I took a step forward, delighted when a few of the protectors closest to me flinched back, hands instinctively flexing over their weapons. Try me. Please. I’d love an excuse to feed one of them to my dear friend Nika. “If you tell us where to find them, and where to find the stone they are keeping. Then, you’re all free to fight over however many council spots you want. Hell,” I shrugged, “make yourselves kings and queens for all we care. Divvy up your internal power however suits your fancy. We give—and I truly cannot stress this enough—precisely zero fucks.”

“Darius,” Eli mumbled, “what the fuck are you doing?”

“Speeding things along,” I whispered back. “We only have so long to make this happen, and they're being offensively obtuse. I’m simply stating things in a way they’ll understand. You know, keeping things under three syllables, removing all metaphors.”

“I do admire your directness.” The creepy dude coughed out a laugh that was so fake it made my stomach turn. “And while we might be able to point you to the council members, the stone must remain with us. It’s a sacred relic of our people. We were charged with protecting it and must remain so.”

I snorted. Protecting my ass.

“That’s not going to work for us.” Atlas’s voice was soft, but it carried through the field, even and cold, and laced with a growl that ushered no question whether the man was a werewolf. “The stone is necessary to stabilize the realms.”

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