Page 36 of Pleasantly Undead in Dark River

Ghost frowned, giving me a disapproving look but shaking his head. “Don’t worry. Nico is a vault. But still, quit pussy-footing around already. You need to grab your chance by the balls, on the off chance she’ll grab your balls back.”

Ghost snorted, but he didn’t reply because we’d reached the steps of the Meeting House. All the lights blazed as usual, and Brody stood on the steps, the Matriarch with him. She smiled at me and Nico, beckoning us closer.

“Nico! It is good to see you,” she said, her eyes twinkling.

Nico leaned forward and kissed the old woman's hands. “It is nice to see you, Matriarch. You look as ravishing as ever.”

She slapped his shoulder. “Damn sly vampires. Keep your eye on this one, Raine. All smooth words and a pretty face.”

I grinned. “Might be too late for that one, I think.”

Brody’s grandmother, Nell, wiggled her eyebrows and I resisted the urge to giggle like a schoolgirl. I nodded respectfully to all the elders, and Nico seemed to be in his element. Nell grabbed my arm and walked me down the middle aisle. “So, my grandson tells me your consorts have adopted a litter of wolf pups.”

I swallowed hard. “Uh, it was a bit of an accident, but keeping them and protecting them is the right thing to do.”

The Matriarch was nodding, but her eyebrows were drawn together and fire blazed in her eyes. “He gave me the condensed version. If I ever lay eyes on the children’s parents, I will personally wring their very last gasp of air from their poisoned body.” The words ended on a growl, and honestly, she was terrifying. You couldn’t let the wrinkled exterior fool you. She was fierce.

The group waiting for us were an odd assortment, and my senses struggled to define what they were. To my vampire senses, they felt like shifters, but they were something more. Two men and one woman stood at the front, the woman’s face pleasant as she took in our group walking toward her. She was a pretty little blonde thing, almost dainty in comparison to the men next to her. One was polished, his thick rimmed glasses and navy suit jacket making him look like a doctor, his sharp eyes assessing us as we approached only adding to the impression. The other one was bigger, sandy brown hair and slavic cheekbones. His expression was cool, but neutral. A fighter for sure, you could see it in his eyes.

The woman stretched out her hand and I took it. She was warm and alive, and definitely supernatural. But I couldn’t decide what. She shook hands with Brody and Nico as well, though the big one watched Nico with sharp eyes.

The supernatural with the thick glasses shook everyone's hands too. “Thank you for meeting with us on such short notice.”

Brody held his gaze, and neither looked away. Hmm, so not Pack animals anyway. Brody inclined his head, but didn’t drop eye contact until the other man looked away. “I am Brody, Alpha of the North Western Pack and Nîso. This is the Matriarch,” he said, indicating his grandmother. “This is my Alpha Mate, Raine. And this is the Founder of Dark River, Nico.”

“Your Alpha Mate is a vampire?” the girl squeaked out, and the man shot her a look. “Uh, sorry. Hi, I’m Layla, and high pressure situations make me lose track of my tongue. This is Alistair and Micah. My, uh, boyfriends?”

“Mates,” the burly one, Micah, corrected.

Alistair just rested his hand on the base of his spine. “We thank you for meeting with us on such short notice. But when word came back of your location, we thought it would be perfect for what we want to create. You see, we run a sanctuary down in Boston, called Eden. But it’s no longer as secure as we’d like, especially for the young ones, so we wish to start an academy for Preternatural beings. More than that, we want to create a refuge for them. And sandwiched between a powerful shapeshifter pack and the only non-predatory vampire colony in North America seemed almost too good to be true. It was like fate placed you in our lap as a solution to an issue that was very quickly spiraling out of control. We thought we found a place, but anywhere in the US is too close to the… threat.”

I raised my hand like this was high school, but seriously he just gave off sexy professor vibes. It was hard to resist. “Uh, excuse us newly undead types, but what's the difference between supernatural and preternatural?”

Layla raised her hand back. “Oh, oh, I know this one. It’s basically just an umbrella term, you know, meaning beyond ordinary? It would include people who are physiologically different, either born that way or changed, like you supernaturals, but it also includes humans with a few extras. The extraordinary, if you will.” She grinned as she said it and her smile was a little infectious.

“So your school would take everyone who isn’t a run of the mill Joe?”

Alister nodded. “We just wanted to create a safe place for everyone.”

I could almost scent his desperation. Nico tilted his head. “What are you running from?”

I knew Nico well enough now that I could sense when he was using his vampire gifts, and even though the question was innocent sounding, I could feel the underlying thread of power.

“Bounty hunters. They hunt down supernaturals, selling most on the black market, but more unique beings,” he slides a quick look at Layla, “they keep for themselves.”

So they would be delivering significant trouble to our front door. I looked between Brody and Nico, trying to judge their response. They both seemed hesitant, probably following the same thought processes as me. But I knew both Nico and Brody. Despite the risks, they wouldn’t let kids be persecuted when they could offer help.

“What would you need from us?” I asked softly, and Layla’s shoulders visibility relaxed.

I could have told her that wasn’t even close to agreement yet, but it was a good step toward it. “Just land between your two townships, but probably just outside of Nîso. We have a lot of shifters in our group.”

The bigger one, Micah, looked down at me with eerie gold eyes. “And your offer of support, if we are ever raided by the Hounds.”

The Matriarch slumped in a chair. “I speak for us all when I say we aren’t likely to let children be persecuted if we can offer them a haven. So it is best you tell us everything.”

We all sat, and as they spoke more and more, I wondered if the universe didn’t actually provide.

Chapter Nineteen

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