Page 20 of In the Line of Fire

10

Damien

The members of the councils would only agree to meet in a neutral location, which hadn’t left us with many options. The best place I had been able to come up with was a hotel run by a powerful demon, Adan Deville. He’d been around since before anyone could remember, and nobody was sure exactly how old he was. But everyone acknowledged that he wasn’t the kind of creature you wanted to cross. He followed through on what he said, and no matter who he went up against, he always came out on top.

There were two hard and fast rules at The Abyss—no killing and no magic. I’d never heard of anyone breaking them, a testament to the fact that Adan Deville had enough power to enforce order on his property. When I suggested we use the hotel as our meeting place, the council members agreed it was acceptable.

Adan was an astute businessman, and he hadn’t hesitated to quote me a ridiculous sum to use one of his conference rooms today. He knew I was at his mercy and took full advantage of the fact that I didn’t have a better alternative. Adan’s network of contacts spread throughout all of the supernatural communities. He probably knew I was going to call him to book the space before I did. But as I handed him my black card—because of course the bastard decided to handle the transaction himself when we arrived—I had no regrets.

“I would’ve paid twice as much,” I growled, tucking my wallet back into the inner pocket of my suit coat.

“I thought about charging you three times as much”—his gaze slid to my left, masculine appreciation shining from his black eyes—“but I didn’t think it was fair to penalize this beautiful creature. It’s not as though she had a choice when fate paired her with such an arrogant beast.”

“My mate.” My dragon pushed to the surface, urging me to challenge the powerful male who dared to look at Soleil. The answering flames that swirled in his eyes originated from hell instead of dragon magic. My human side was rational enough to recognize the danger, but I refused to back down after he had implied that she would’ve been better off with someone else. I took a step forward but didn’t get any farther before Soleil tugged on my arm.

“And this is the other reason it was such a good idea for me to join this little party,” my sister muttered from behind me.

“Denica, don’t,” Trey growled.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got this.” My sister darted around Soleil to stand between the demon and me. After shaking her head and heaving a deep sigh, she chided, “Adan, you know better than to taunt a newly mated shifter. Factor in that Damien spent the past three years searching for Soleil while she was running for her life, and you’d have to be suicidal to tweak that particular dragon’s tail. No matter how powerful you are, trust me when I say that youreallydon’t want to pick a fight with my brother right now.”

“So the rumors were true.” The dangerous energy surrounding us dissipated, and he included his head in a gesture of concession before meeting my gaze. “I’d heard rumblings about your search but discounted them as idle gossip because I was well aware of your hunting prowess. Please accept my apologies for my attempt at provoking you. It was not well done of me.”

Denica stepped to the side and jerked her chin in his direction. Taking the hint, I grunted, “Apology accepted.”

Adan stroked his chin as a considering gleam entered his eyes. “And now I understand why the witch and shifter councils agreed to their first combined meeting. Your adversary must be quite formidable to have been successful in keeping you from your mate for so long. If you decide you’d like some additional assistance, please let me know.”

My head jerked back, and I blinked a few times. There was another unspoken rule at The Abyss—its owner never involved himself in his guests’ business. “Are you offering to help?”

“Only if you ask,” he replied.

“Is the world as we know it about to end?” Denica joked as she returned to Trey’s side now that the confrontation between Adan and me had been avoided. “Or maybe hell is just going to freeze over.”

“It’s possible things have gotten icy down there without me.” Adan chuckled, sweeping his hand down the length of his tall form. “They’re bound to be missing all of this by now.”

“I—Did—What in the literal fuck is happening right now?” Denica sputtered.

“I think that was the demon’s attempt at a joke,” Trey explained in a strangled tone.

“I thought it was quite clever,” Adan protested.

“Seriously, though. Are you really willing to come to our aid if we need it?” I asked, bringing the conversation back to where it needed to be.

“I wouldn’t have said anything if I didn’t mean it.” Adan shrugged as though his offer wasn’t a big deal. “It’s been too long since I’ve been a part of a truly good battle. If I’m going to break that pacifist streak, it might as well be for a fight that’s important enough to warrant a historic meeting between the shifter and witch leaders.”

“Pacifist, my ass,” I echoed on a snort, shaking my head. “There isn’t a single non-violent bone in your body.”

Adan flashed me a predatory smile. “Which is why you’ll call if you need help.”

“I will.” As much as it pained me to admit, the demonic bastard was right. I’d reach out to the very devil if that was what it took to keep Soleil safe.

“Now that that’s settled, how about you point us in the right direction?” Denica asked. “The sooner we can get this meeting started, the sooner we’ll all get the chance to kick some dark practitioner ass.”

“Excellent point.” Adan gestured toward the hallway to his left. “I believe you’re the last of your party to arrive. You’ll find the other council members, as well as your parents, waiting for you in the executive conference room. It’s the last door on the right.”

“And nobody will be able to hear what’s said during the meeting?”

“The room is soundproof, and I swept it from top to bottom for listening devices myself an hour ago,” he assured me. “After you enter, I will engage a signal blocker so no electronic emissions can get in or out. Once that’s done, I will drop a cloaking spell around the space as a fail-safe. Anyone who attempts to spy on your meeting will be in for a particularly nasty surprise.”

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