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“Can I offer you a drink?” Cam whispered in my ear.
“No, thank you.” I wanted my head as clear as possible for this meeting. Just because I had the support of Kane, and a few others didn’t mean my presence was welcome. I could tell from a few of the stern looks directed at me that I was being tolerated against their better judgment.
Fair enough.
“Don’t you think that, as a resident, you have a duty of care to Fairhaven?” Vaughn asked.
“Of course I do. And what about the guild’s duty to the town?” I shot back. “You’re the assassins. One or more of you leave Fairhaven soil nearly every week to execute someone. Don’t you think there’s a risk of bringing your work home with you?”
“There are rules in place…” Kane began.
“For your members, sure,” I interrupted. “What about the vampire or the wizard from outside your carefully curated borders who decides to seek revenge?”
“That hasn’t happened,” Gun said. “There’s a code.”
“Doesn’t mean it won’t.”
“Should that day ever come,” Kane said, “then the guild will protect the town and its residents.”
“I just think it’s interesting that Kane and I have to register as threats when it seems to me the guild is every bit as dangerous.”
Murmurs broke out among the members.
Vaughn aimed his chiseled jaw in my direction. “I feel confident that whatever you and your enemies can do, it’s far more devastating than what I’m capable of. I can take down one, maybe two supernaturals at once—and I’m talking vampires, not kulshedras.”
I raised my hand. “I’d like the record to reflect that I wasn’t responsible for killing the kulshedra.”
“Whatever,” Vaughn replied. “My point stands.”
“He’s right,” Kane admitted. “You and I have more power than the rest of them can dream of.”
“And my point still stands,” I argued. “I’m not talking about what the guild members are capable of. I’m talking about their enemies. Who’s to say one of you won’t piss off a wizard who then summons a monster to torment your home turf?”
Vaughn opened and closed his hand into a fist. “What about The Corporation’s lackey you have stowed away in the Castle? You think that act of stupidity won’t bring trouble to town?”
I glanced at Camryn, wondering whether she was the one who shared the information with the mage. Although I hadn’t explicitly asked them not to tell anyone, I expected more discretion. My mistake.
Kane unfastened his cufflinks and rolled up his shirt sleeves to reveal a pair of sinewy forearms. “If you ever dare to refer to Miss Clay as stupid again, you’ll find yourself on the wrong end of a flaming sword. Is that clear, Vaughn?”
The mage tightened his square jaw. “I believe I referred to the act as stupid, not the actor.”
“Same thing in my book,” Kane replied.
Vaughn tried to match the intensity of the demon’s stare and failed miserably. He sank deeper into the chair and brought his glass of bourbon to his lips, no doubt to settle the nerves he refused to show.
“Addison is hiding from her former employers,” I explained. “Considering she tried to offer me up as a sacrificial lamb, Fairhaven is the last place they’d think to search for her.”
“What have you learned from her?” Josie asked.
“About what?”
“About her lord and masters. The Corporation has tighter security than Fort Knox and you’ve got a golden opportunity to mine someone for insider intel. You should take advantage of that.”
I’d asked Addison questions out of curiosity, but not to gain any kind of advantage.
“If for no other reason, you should pump her for intel to protect yourself,” Josie continued. “When they come—and, trust me, they will come—you’ll be in a better position to defend yourself. Know thy enemy.”
Heads bobbed in agreement, including Gun’s. “It’s the least she can offer you for putting you at risk,” he said. “Addison tried to throw you to the wolves, and when the wolves didn’t bite, she came running to you for shelter from them. She’s not your friend, Lorelei. She’ll betray you at the first opportunity if it means saving her own skin.”
