Page 12 of Phoenix Falling
Turning on my heel, I made my way out of the garden and back through the dim corridors of the lair to the chamber that held the Warrior’s Council. A long rectangular table held court in the center, around which my best warriors had gathered. When I entered, they stood, each bringing their fist to their chest in acknowledgment. I strode to the head of the table and turned to look each one in the eyes: Basile, to my right, my second in command; James, our eldest warrior, and Cale, our youngest; Lyris and Demetri; Jacob, a normal with no shifting form; Vanessa, Lyris’s assistant; Doran with his red-tinged eyes; and Sebastian, who had taken Thomas’s place as our head of technology. Only one warrior was missing, but he would be along soon.
Ten warriors. So few when we faced so much.
“Our king will not join us,” I said. “We proceed on our own.”
The disappointment and resignation that filled the room reflected what was in my own gut. But it was fear that rose inside me as every eye turned my way in expectation. I’d trained my whole life to eventually become king. To take over the semblance of rule while my father still lived? There was no training for this, but I would earn their trust no matter the cost.
Time to get on with it. “Let the war council begin.”
I sat, and the others followed suit.
“Basile.”
My second grunted.
“You’ve met with Drake about supplies?”
“I have. We’ve been pulling in extras since this started, as we discussed, but Drake is under orders to triple-time it now.”
“And what about tech supplies, weapons?”
Basile looked to Sebastian, who nodded. The male was from the same age range as Cale, as many of our more tech-savvy shifters were. A rare oni shifter, Sebastian’s eyes glowed blue against his dark olive skin, which turned the same color as his gaze when in his alternate form, and his fangs were particularly long, even now peeking from the corners of his mouth. He’d been Thomas’s best friend.
“I’ve given him a list of ongoing supplies,” Sebastian informed me. “I ran through it with Basile to be certain we had all the bases covered.”
“What about the surveillance equipment?” We had relied on Risk far too much for things we needed to learn to do ourselves.
“The equipment is either coming or already installed. But”—he cleared his throat—“we don’t have enough shifters trained to run it. I believe we have many clan members who can excel at tech, particularly the youngest generations, and we need all the backup we can get. I’d like to begin an official training class.”
Tech had not been a focus of our education up to now; clan members pursued it if they had an interest, but on their own time. It wasn’t until Thomas joined the Warrior’s Council that the need to bring ourselves up to speed on modern-day technology had become clear.
“Good idea. I will leave that up to you to implement as you see fit, Sebastian. Get with Vanessa; she will facilitate communication with the education council and see that what you need is done.”
Sebastian nodded his head respectfully while jotting notes on his tablet. “Yes, sir.”
“And Sebastian?”
He met my eyes once more.
“We need some hackers.”
His smile was the tiniest bit smug. “Already on it, sir.”
My nod of approval made the young male’s eyes light up.
“Speaking of training…” Lyris said from her position down the table.
I gestured for her to continue.
“Our males are already trained in combat, sir, but not our females.”
“Females receive basic training, and those who wish to be trained in combat are added to those classes,” I clarified.
“But it is not mandatory.” Her mouth tightened. “It needs to be. And our new females in particular need basic training ASAP.”
A general protest rose around the room.
“Oh, stop with the protective bullshit,” Lyris snarled. “Females are to be kept safe, blah blah blah. Fuck that.”
