Page 80 of Nocturnal Desires

Pearl

“Oh good. You’re here,” Alaric says as we walk into the office. Neither Breanne nor Matt is in here, but that’s not surprising since it’s still daytime and they’re most likely trying to get as much sleep as they can. “We were just going over the plan.”

Loukas and I walk over to the large table surrounded by my friends. “We were just giving the kids a tour of the grounds.”

“How’d they do?” Sebastyn asks.

“Really well, I think. Kayne and Aurora took to Amelia immediately and Zach made some friends too,” Loukas says with a proud grin on his face.

“That’s great. I’m Sebastyn by the way, Skarlyt’s brother,” he says reaching over and clasping Loukas’ hand. With that, the others who haven’t officially met Loukas yet do the same before we turn back to the map on the table.

“Matt was able to get some satellite images of the ship for us,” Darren says, tapping on a screen and pulling up at least a dozen images, all featuring the ship sitting on the beach over the last few days if the timestamps on the pictures can be trusted.

“We were thinking of having a dozen vampires go in first to take out any easy targets,” Drake says.

“And we’d have a dozen or so witches surrounding the boat ready with a barrier so that no one escapes,” Rayne adds.

“We also have recent graduates who joined the supernatural enforcement agency ready to join us. So, there are about thirty more, a mix of shifters, vampires, and witches,” Darren says.

“Supernatural Enforcement Agency?” Loukas asks.

“It's a new thing,” I whisper before Darren can begin.

“Five years ago, we started a supernatural 911 network to help supernaturals in need across the globe. It started with four teams of four, but we all have families now and decided that we would add an extra two-year program at the academy for graduates who would be interested in joining the agency. This is the first graduating class.”

“Seriously dude, you sound like an infomercial,” Sebastyn snarks, earning a glare from Darren.

“So, they’ve never been in the field so to speak?” Loukas asks apprehensively.

“The ones we’ve invited to come with us have. It’s part of their training. Each one has to attend at least fifty ‘calls for service’ with a full team before they are permitted to join a team of their own. That’s why there are only thirty. We had one hundred and six graduates in this class.”

“That’s a lot,” I say, not expecting that big of a number, though I should have. When they decided to offer it as a class, there was a buzz all over the island about it.

“We allowed mature adults to join the program as well. Some of the graduates are in their thirties, a couple are even in their fifties,” Darren says with a smirk.

“Empty-nesters who want to help out,” Alaric explains.

“That’s incredible,” Loukas says, his smile wide.

“Okay, so what do you want the sea nymphs to do while you’re all fighting?” I say, going back to the original discussion.

“Well…” Sebastyn begins, looking around.

“They didn’t think you guys would want to fight because it’s not in the water and you’re all healers by nature, so they were going to have you on the sidelines to heal anyone who gets hurt,” Rayne blurts out.

I clamp my mouth closed, taking a couple of deep breaths through my nose.

“It’s just that we…” Alaric begins, but I cut him off with a raised hand.

“I appreciate that you were looking out for my pod, but this is our fight more than it is any of yours,” I begin.

“Pearl…” Sebastyn tries to cut in.

“But,” I say, cutting him off. “It is a member of my pod—my kind—that is being held captive on that boat. You are correct. We do not normally enjoy violence, but this is something weneedto do.” I finish, looking around, catching a smirking Rayne.

If I had to guess, she knew what my reaction was going to be to their plan. The question is if she tried to explain it or didn’t say anything just to see it. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was recording it to show Breanne later too.

I almost glance around looking for the hidden camera but then remember we are standing in Matt and Breanne’s office, there are probably a dozen or more hidden around the room.

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