Page 48 of Forbidden Devotion
Joinus this evening at Oak City’s Assembly Hall for the unprecedented peace conference. Lectures begin promptly at 9:00 p.m., and events will continue throughout the weekend. The live stream will be available on the Supernatural Times’ web page for those who can’t make it. The temporary password is PEACE.
As a reminder, all supernaturals are invited to attend the presentations and the following banquet dinner provided by the Vampire Council. Special accommodations are available by request, so get those orders in, folks.
Join us on Sunday night as we dig deeper into our special topics table talks. Everyone is welcome to participate in the discussion, but space is limited. Register post haste.
Make peace a priority. Stand with us this weekend.
* * *
Mitchel
One hand on the wheel,the other slapping Nathan’s reaching fingers away from the radio knob,again, Mitchel drove along the winding highway. “If you can’t pick a station you can all agree on, we’re turning it off.”
Sinclair sat in the passenger seat, one leg crossed over the other, book in his hands, ignoring the ongoing squabble over the music. It was his turn to hide the evidence of bite marks. Around his bruised neck, he wore a soft pink shawl, probably cashmere. He’d assured Mitchel he wasn’t ashamed, but he didn’t want his parents to see marks and guess their origin.
Charlie, Nathan, and Eleanor sat crammed into the backseat, all of them on their way to Oak City for the conference.
“If you had an auxiliary input, we wouldn’t have to argue,” Charlie said.
Mitchel suppressed an uneasy wave of self-consciousness. After all, Sinclair had arrived at Borson in a shining new Mercedes, according to his pack, and a private driver to boot. What was it like for him to be riding around in Mitchel’s beat-up old SUV? The last thing he needed was Charlie pointing out another of its inadequacies.
But Sinclair didn’t seem to mind. Or if he did, he was too polite to say anything about it.
“Need I remind you, we’re headed to a peace conference? No arguing allowed.” Mitchel spun the volume down. “There are five of us. We could pass the time talking.”
Charlie moaned.
“Are you guys nervous about your speeches?” Nathan asked.
“Yes,” Mitchel said.
“A little,” Sinclair answered at the same time.
“Don’t be,” Eleanor said. “You’ll both do a great job. Try to enjoy it. Or if you can’t, pretend everyone in the crowd is in their underwear. That’s supposed to help.”
“Awesome.” Mitchel huffed. “Strangers in their underwear. My favorite.”
“Really, though, it’ll be fine. Mitchel, everyone likes you. You’re a natural leader. And, Sinclair, you have so much practice speaking in public. You couldn’t mess up if you tried.”
“Thanks, Eleanor.” Sinclair closed his book. “But I’m pretty sure I could.”
Mitchel pulled off the highway toward downtown. It’d been years since he’d been in a big city. He preferred his little campus and the wilderness next to it over coffee shops, pubs, and high-rises.
Traffic grew denser the closer they got. They were lucky they’d left early enough to arrive before sunset. The congestion would only worsen later into the night when the turned vampires began to arrive en masse.
Oak City’s assembly hall was a large complex made up of several modern buildings and one distinct historical building at its center. The hall itself was a state-of-the-art theater boasting world-class acoustics and seating for a thousand people. A series of conference rooms, gathering places, galleries, and ballrooms lined the lower floors. The center had its own attached hotel and several hotels in the vicinity to accommodate out-of-town guests.
Mitchel dropped off his passengers at the lobby of the main hotel of the convention complex. Sinclair would split off to find the block of rooms his family had booked, probably luxury suites, and his pack mates would head to the regular rooms booked by the Alpha Council. He’d meet up with them later, but he didn’t know when he’d see Sinclair next. Probably not until their presentations, and then they’d be surrounded by others.
By vampires.
A cool grip squeezed his spine. He’d gotten used to Sinclair. HelikedSinclair. More than he cared to admit. But that didn’t mean he’d be comfortable around other vampires.
Alone, he pulled into the massive parking deck to find a spot, glad to have a moment to himself. The deck was dark and damp, packed full of cars like sardines in a can with no empty spaces between them. He drove to the sixth level before he found a place to park.
A dull flickering light buzzed overhead as he grabbed his duffel from the back and threw it over his shoulder. He had a few hours to get the lay of the land, check into his room, and meet with the other alphas before his speech tonight. He was eager to have that last bit over with.
Erika was in the lobby when he arrived to check in. He waved in greeting, and she left the group she’d been speaking with to approach him.
