A Fang in the Sass

4

The old woman sat them on the sofa. “There now. Much better.” She snuggled into the cushion. Aria worried that she was so small, she’d disappear down a crack. When she looked up, her old eyes shined. “When I heard Damon say you’re comin’ to town, that just dilled my pickle.”

Aria looked around for help deciphering. Someone mouthed made her happy. “I’m thrilled to be here, too, Maree. I’ve missed your zest for life.”

“Oh, pshaw, child. Your problem is you’re holding out on your mate.” Aria startled, sitting up straight.

“How did you know that?” she whispered to the old woman.

“This ain’t my first rodeo, girl. I know that smell. And that’s why you’re not happy.” She pointed a gnarly finger at her. “Just screw him and get on with your lives.” Responses ranged from gasps to belly laughter. “I mean, really. If you don’t like each other after that, then go your separate ways.” Maree rolled her eyes. “You’re treating this as if it’s life or death. It’s not. I assure you.” The woman’s fingers patted her hand.

“I can always count on you giving it straight up, Maree.”

The elder rose from the couch. “You got that right. I don’t crap talk well.” Maree waved her arm through the air. “Come on, everyone. We gotta leave them alone to bullshit before the meeting in thirty minutes.” Bullshit was right. She doubted Damon had anything useful to share with her.

Everyone slowly left the house, leaving her two guards, the South clan’s second-in-charge, and her. Damon shook her hand now that there weren’t a hundred people between them.

“Hello, Aria. Nice to see you again.”

“Good to see you, Damon.”

Yup, bullshit all right.

He gestured toward a room with shelves packed with books. White French doors separated the living area from the working. “Can I get you something to drink?”

“Thank you, no. I had a couple glasses on the flight down.” He nodded and followed her into the room. Behind them, Marxius and Wynther stood outside, one at each door.

She took a seat on a plush leather chair in front of his desk. She sank into the soft cushions. Filip would like this arrangement. It made him taller behind the desk. She held off her look of disgust for Damon’s sake.

“To what do we owe this pleasure, my Queen?”

On second thought, she would let the look of disgust along with irritation shine through. “Damon, there is no need for such formalities. Call me Aria like everyone else. If you must call me queen, then etiquette says I should call you by your title, also. I don’t think you want to be called Number Two.” She laughed to herself. “Filip, although Number One, was more like Number Two. He was always s**t on a stick.” She was starting to feel better. A smile spread on her face.

Damon didn’t look too happy, though.

“Okay,” she said, “I’m just joking.” Her smile widened to show she was telling the truth, even though she wasn’t. She tried to sit up higher, but the damn cushion had sucked her ass to the ground. Holding her upper body as still as she could, she wiggled her ass, hoping to break the suction the leather had on her hips. Not working. Well, f**k it.

“Aria,” Damon started.

She looked up from her wriggling. “Yes?”

“Is there anything you wish to discuss before you meet with the clan? The meeting is in twenty minutes.”

“Ah, okay. It’s time to bring the clan into the twenty-first century. I’ve spent a lot of time with a wolf pack lately, and realize we can continue our secrecy and live in the modern world.”

Damon’s brows bowed down. “What changes would you like to make?”

He wasn’t going to like this, but it was what it was. “Instead of a single leader, there will a council of five members to make decisions for the clan.” Damon didn’t blink or even move. He must’ve been pissed. “I think that’s the most democratic and fair thing to do. Don’t you?”

He licked his lips and folded his hands on the desk. “The thought had not crossed my mind. I’m happy with how things have always been. I’m sure many others will agree with me.”

“Of course you like the old way. That puts you at the top. But I don’t care if you are the President of the United States. One man should not hold ultimate power over the people. What if that one leader goes insane and lets everyone drink human blood from the source?” She watched his reaction carefully. “Or worse yet, kidnaps and keeps blood slaves? We couldn’t have that, could we?”

The stink of sweat came from the man. f*****g A. She knew he was onboard with Filip. There was no way he could not have known about the human trafficking Filip had going on. Question was how long had it been happening?

Number Two sat back in his executive chair. “Are you accusing us of breaking the No Human Blood rule, Aria?”

Hmm. How far did she want to go with this? She could be totally wrong and Filip was doing his own thing at Embraced. Or she could be right and risk an uprising of an entire clan against her. That option wasn’t appealing, either. She’d keep it neutral.

“Damon, has anyone broken the rule?” she asked.

He leaned forward, bringing his chair down with a solid thud. Hands flat on the desk, he looked her in the eye and said, “No. Not anyone I know of.”

Her smile came back. “Great!” She pried her ass from the cushion and stood. “Let’s go to the meeting and talk to everyone. You have a great group of people here.”

Damon joined her on the way out of the study and clan house. He didn’t say one word. That worried her. The man was plotting. What? She didn’t know. But he was plotting and that was enough to remind her she needed to be on guard at all times.