A man's voice came from the device, speaking in the standard language of the other dimension. He seemed to be filing a report of some kind. Tori motioned for Dante to get her something to write with, and as soon as he fetched a long, thin pad and pen from next to the phone in the kitchen, she began transcribing the message. The man spoke for a few moments, and then the speaker went silent again.
Dante twisted the dials and turned off the device. "Okay, what'd he say?" He pulled out his chair and sat down.
"He's reporting that they're at twenty-four percent of goal and hope to be at or above fifty percent within the next two months. They should achieve maximum capacity by the target date." She turned to look at him. "He suggests that we keep turning people into werewolves in order to further supplement our numbers."
"Further supplement your numbers?" His face grim, he stared at her. "So now we know it's not really a rogue, right? Whoever's behind these attacks is following orders."
"Looks like it." Tori glanced into the kitchen and caught sight of the clock on the stove. "Oh, crap!" She stood. Grabbing the schematics, she started folding them up. If she didn't leave now, she was going to be late for her council meet and greet.
"What?" Dante stood, too, alarm on his face. "What is it?"
"I've gotta go. I'm gonna be late."
"Oh. Right." He picked up the device. "Can I hold onto this? I can keep fiddling with it while you're at your meeting."
She hesitated. It wasn't that she didn't trust Dante-she did. She'd trust him with her life. But Tobias had entrusted the device to her, and she was loath to let it out of her sight. She stared at the schematics in her hand and then looked into Dante's face. "Here," she said, and handed him the paper. "Hang onto them. We still need to know exactly what that thing is capable of," she said, nodding toward the device he still held. She zipped her pack closed. "Thanks for dinner."
He grinned. "Such as it was. Listen, why don't you come over tomorrow night, and we'll do a real dinner. Lily will be here," he said almost apologetically.
"Sure. I'd love to meet her." Tori walked through the kitchen toward the front door. She stopped in the living room and asked, "Can I bring anything?"
"Just your gorgeous self." He opened the front door and followed her to her car. After she got in, he stood there, his arm along the top of her door. "Do me a favor, will you?"
"If I can."
"I got a call earlier from a buddy of mine in Vegas. He said the number of prets moving into the city has more th ky hm">an doubled from last year. And he said a couple of his friends pretty much told him that the same thing is happening in Denver and Albuquerque." His serious gaze held hers. "And that's just the number of prets who register with the regional council. You know as well as I do that the real number could be a hell of a lot higher."
"Yeah?" She wasn't sure where he was going with this.
"Have you heard any numbers for the greater Phoenix area?" At her nod, he gave a sigh. "It might not mean anything, but I think an increase like this in our region needs to be looked into. Can you ask around, find out at the council meeting tonight?"
"I'll see what I can turn up, but the councilors tend to keep things very close to the vest."
"Just see if they'll tell you anything."
"I will."
Dante bent down and gave her a kiss, his mouth lingering, promising at things to come. Then he straightened. "See you tomorrow," he husked.
"Bye," she said, her pulse fluttering in her throat. It took just one touch of his mouth on hers and she was rendered speechless. She kinda liked it.
As she drove away from him, her mind went back to what he'd said about the increase in pret numbers. She couldn't help but wonder if that growth had something to do with the rift device. What if someone was positioning preternaturals in key areas in order to … what? Take over the world?
She dismissed that idea as soon as she thought it. That couldn't happen. Prets were only ten percent of the overall population on the planet. Even if the number was double what was reported, humans still outnumbered preternaturals seven to one.
Of course, that would change with the next rift due to happen in just a few months. And in the meantime, there was a pret running around turning people into werewolves, adding to the fold.
Within twenty minutes, she pulled into the parking lot behind the council building. As she went through the back door and walked down the hallway she saw that one of the guards, dressed in his red-on-black security uniform, was posted in front of the main chamber and another was at the security desk near the front door. She knew at any given time there were at least two other guards patrolling the building or running errands for council members. Others were down in the basement, either protecting prisoners or taking it easy until they were called.
Wall sconces placed roughly four feet apart provided ample lighting, and a polished concrete floor that almost looked like wood inlay lent an aristocratic ambiance to the entry.
Most of the city's liaisons were already there, gathered in small groups throughout the hallway. The various scents of each pret assailed her. It was like a meeting of the United Nations, only this time instead of a gathering of representatives from various countries it was a gathering of a variety of species, werewolves and other shapeshifters, vampires, numerous types of fey, and humans.
The low murmur of voices made conversations difficult, but not impossible, to listen in on. The human liaisons in their midst wouldn't have been able to distinguish separate voices, but her werewolf hearing allowed her to do just that. After a few seconds, she decided no one was talking about anything interesting enough for her to intrude on the conversation. The vamps spoke of some new blood bar that their leader, Byron Maldonado, had just opened. A couple of the fey liaisons argued over who was funnier, the Three Stooges or Abbott and Costello. The group of werecat liaisons complained about the price of milk, which struck Tori as hilarious. She snickered as she walked by, earning her a glare from one of the cats.
She stopped at the group of werewolf liaisons and said her hellos. She glanced at Ash, standing sl k, sr proteightly to the side of the group, his back to the wall. He lifted his chin in greeting. Talk to you later, he mouthed.
Tori nodded. She saw Piper standing at the window at the end of the hallway. Excusing herself, she walked toward her and bumped shoulders with the other woman. "Hey," she said.
Piper smiled. "Hey yourself." She stared out the window again. "I really hate these meetings. Everyone's on display like they're a bunch of meat."
"That's not the way I see it at all." Tori crossed her arms and leaned against the wall, looking at Piper's profile. "This is our chance to get an early introduction to the newbies, and they get a chance to see who's going to come down on them if they screw up." She glanced back at the liaisons. "We all had to go through this when we first hit town."
"All of you except the human liaisons."
"Right. That's what I meant," she said dryly.
That drew a laugh from Piper, but then she sighed and shook her head. "I don't know. It just seems like they could send us a file with their pictures and particulars. What good does it do for us to come here in person? It's a gigantic waste of time."
Tori rolled her eyes. "That's the point I've been trying to make for years. So far I've only got Tobias on my side and maybe Caladh. I don't know about the rest of the council."
She understood the need to uphold traditions, but when tradition stood in the way of progress, when it impeded her ability to efficiently do her job, then something needed to give. However, until the council as a whole decided it wanted quicker results more than it wanted to lord its authority over its employees, nothing would change. And if the current council president had any say in the matter-and in reality, what he had to say carried a lot of weight-things would stay the same until the end of time.
Tori gestured toward all of the liaisons. "Doing it this way, I have to say, allows us to attach scents to the names and faces."
"Well, that only helps those of you who have an enhanced sense of smell. It doesn't matter though. You know Deoul will fight to keep things the way they are. Traditions and all," Piper said as if she'd read Tori's mind. "God forbid that his liaisons wouldn't have to kowtow to him in person." She paused, lips pursed, and sent Tori a sidelong glance. "Any idea how to kowtow through e-mail?" Piper's brows rose in hope.
"I haven't figured that out yet. When I do, you'll be the first to know," Tori said and grinned.
At that moment the doors to the main chamber opened and a guard stepped out. "The council is ready," he announced. "Please come in."
"Here we go," Piper said on a sigh as she turned around.
They joined the others and filed into the room. Tori stood next to Piper at the front of the room, about five feet or so from the mahogany table behind which all thirteen councilors sat. About a dozen preternaturals were lined up on one side of the cavernous room that was brightly lit with overhead lights and wall sconces.
Tori gazed at the group of newbies, searching for both her brother and her cousin. They were new enough to town that they should be here, but they weren't. Her heart skipped a beat. Oh, God. Please don't let Rand and Stefan be behind these attacks. She loved them both, but she couldn't turn a blind eye to the signs pointing toward their guilt. But what was she supposed to do? She couldn't betray the only family she had.