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“Consider it done, Madam.” Morris bowed and walked away.
Beatrice turned to see her reflection in the mirror. The campaign trail had kept her busier than usual, and there hadn’t been time to stop by a salon. Everyone gushed about her beauty despite her age. If everyone knew her actual age, they wouldn’t. She needed her roots touched up and a facial for sure. It was a mundane task that could quickly be handled with magic, but she enjoyed being pampered. She would ensure someone came over the next day to care for everything.
In this life, Beatrice chose the form of a middle-aged woman with a black pixie cut and green eyes. After a thousand years, she still appeared flawlessly beautiful. Her never-ending beauty was a gift from the Goddesses for complete servitude to the sacred duty she pledged when she joined The Tribe.
The Tribe of Hecate was a secret society formed by the Goddesses Selene and Hecate. Their original purpose was to protect humans from the evil inside all supernaturals. Beatrice spent years fighting for what she believed to be a good cause. At some point, she realized supernaturals, especially shifters, served a purpose, and it was better to control rather than destroy them. If she could only figure out a way to control all of them, she’d create an army that no one could stop.
She opened a drawer in the hall table and checked the mirror on the wall. After quickly applying the lipstick she found, running her fingers through her hair, and putting her boots back on, she walked to the den.
Sulfur burned her nose before she walked into the room. Demon. This idiot was a demon. Really? Did he think he could strongarm her because he thought he knew who she was? She contemplated letting Rex and his men take care of him for a heartbeat. However, some entertainment might be the best way to turn this dreadful evening into something better.
A thin man sat on her couch. Beatrice couldn’t sense any real power. He was probably more bark than bite, but the black box beside him pulsed with energy. Now, that was interesting and might make this visit worth it.
The man stood when he noticed her and extended his hand. “Beatrice Van Houten, thank you for meeting with me.”
His handshake was weak, and Beatrice wanted to wash her hands after he dropped his hand. “Well, you didn’t give me another option.”
The man cleared his throat. “Um, yes. I’ve tried to contact you many times, and you have been unavailable.”
“I’m a busy woman.”
He sat on the couch, crossed his legs, resting one foot on the other knee, and rested his arm on the back of the sofa. “Which keeps you busier, your political career or your thriving business here?”
Beatrice sat in a wing-back chair across from him, crossing one leg over the other. “What do you know of my business?”
“I know what everyone else knows. You’ve set up a retreat where the rich and powerful can relax, rejuvenate, and create strategic alliances through profitable deals.”
Beatrice didn’t respond, and the man must have taken it as permission to keep going.
“I also know about the other side of the business here.”
She wasn’t sure how much he knew but decided to appease him. She didn’t like him and never would. He wouldn’t leave her house alive.
“Well, who knew people would pay a lot of money to hunt big game here on this continent?”
“Big game? Is that what you consider shifters?”
She was tired, and this was getting dull. This fool didn’t deserve any attention. “You mentioned trying to contact me. Why would you want to do that?”
He reached for the box next to him. The man’s animated reaction humored her, but she was intrigued when he pushed a button, and the box opened. A small black bug-like thing crawled out and sat on the edge. She couldn’t sense any life, but it moved like a scorpion would. The man pushed it back into the box and closed the lid.
“I’m sure you heard of Xerxes’ death?” the man said.
Beatrice flared her nostrils in disgust. “Yes, he deserved to die.”
The man patted the box. “This device was his lifeblood, and he wanted to infuse the masses with his power to control everyone.”
She nodded to the box and almost laughed. “With that?”
“Well, not this one. This is a bigger model that we use in development.”
“What is that?”
“Nanotechnology.”
Her eyes widened. “We had heard he was working on something, but we assumed it would be useless, like him.”
The man arched an eyebrow. “By we, you mean The Tribe.”
