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  "Yup! Travis just called, let's go!"

  Sean gave a nod and led the way out to the helipad, where one of the Black Hawks was warming up.

  "You don't look happy, My Husband," Cali observed as they drew near.

  "I hate having to play politics," Sean said with a sigh. That was what this meeting was about really, politics. He needed to stay on the good side of the mayor and the rest of the civil servant bosses to ensure things got done.

  Which had been getting harder and harder for the last couple of weeks, now that things were starting to draw to a head.

  "Then don't," Cali said with a smile.

  "Easier said than done," he said with a shake of his head. Thankfully they were close enough to the loud helicopter now to make conversation difficult. Sean helped Peg in first, then Cali, following her in. Daelyn and Estrella were already on board. Sitting down, he put on a headset and buckled his seatbelt as one of the crew closed the door.

  "I see she finally got you to give up your seat, Trey," Peg said over the intercom.

  Looking up, Sean noticed that Daelyn was in the pilot's seat; Trey was now in the copilot's.

  "She's gotta learn sooner or later!" Trey laughed.

  "But we're all in here, too! And we're landing on a rooftop!" Estrella grumbled. Sean knew she still wasn't one hundred percent comfortable in helicopters.

  "If I don't give her the tough ones, she won't learn, now will she?" Trey replied with another laugh.

  Sean could see that Daelyn was totally focused on what she was doing; he'd only seen that look on her face when she was driving her 'Cuda at the limits, or trying to brain him one with Maxwell.

  "Let's go, Dae," Sean told her over the intercom, leaning back in his seat and getting out his phone to check messages.

  "You seem pretty calm," Estrella said, still looking nervous as Cali smirked.

  "It's just a helicopter ride, Stell. She goes faster than this thing in her car when she and Rox go out for pizza. Right, Dae?"

  "Oh, just you wait!" Daelyn said as she lifted off. Sean was rather impressed; she was almost as smooth as Trey, and she'd only been at this a couple of weeks. "Once I got this thing figured out, I'm gonna go so fast it'll make yer eyes bleed!"

  "And here you thought your Summit Racing bill was bad!" Peg said, laughing.

  "I'd ask whose idea it was to get her an even more expensive hobby, but I don't think I want to know," Sean said, not noticing Cali's sudden grin.

  It didn't take them long to get to city hall, where the mayor's office was. They didn't actually land on the roof; Sean wasn't sure it could handle the weight of a Black Hawk. They did land in the City Plaza next door, which had recently been repainted with two helipads. There were a fair number of guards there nowadays; ostensibly Colonel Tibbets had put them there to keep anyone from getting hurt by one of the helicopters, but the real reason was to secure an area with a lot of important people coming through.

  "You coming in with us Dae?" Sean asked.

  "Nah, Trey's gonna have me do a few practice landings around town."

  "Have fun," Sean said and patted her on the shoulder as one of Travis' team ran up and opened the door.

  Getting out, Sean and the girls noticed the amount of armed troops downtown had grown once again, and a lot of them were in their hybrid forms. That only made sense, as the fey armor was fit solely to that form, as it was the one they'd be fighting in.

  "Who thought we'd be seeing stuff like this a year ago?" Peg asked, looking around. "The very idea of lycans being out in the open would have given my dad a heart attack."

  "I don't think he'd have been very keen on the idea of a demon invasion, either," Sean said with a chuckle.

  "Is he the one…?" Estrella started.

  "Our husband beat to death with his own arm," Cali finished.

  "The whole ripping his arm off probably killed him first," Peg mused, "but still, it's the thought that counts!" she finished with a wink and a grin.

  Shaking his head, Sean led the way into the building. The guard on duty nodded and buzzed them through the side door; Sean, Cali, and Estrella were carrying way too much hardware to go through the metal detector. Peg most likely had a few things as well, Sean mused.

  The trip upstairs went without notice or much comment. Sean's face really wasn't that well known around here yet, he'd managed to keep a fairly low profile, in his human form at least. The mayor's secretary knew who he was, however, so he was waved right in without comment.

  Claudia and Bill were already there, of course, as well as Mayor Schiere; Sid, the chief of police; Ben, the chief of the fire department; Debbie, the mayor's stenographer; her aide Jerry; a few other department heads Sean couldn't remember the names of; and most of the city council.

  "Good morning, everyone," Sean said, nodding. Apparently the meeting had started without him, which was a little annoying, but he'd cope. Hopefully it meant he'd get out of here early for a change.

  "Sorry I'm late. Now, where are we?"

  "We were discussing some of the structures you want us to build," said one of the men, who Sean recalled was the head of the city's civil engineering department.

  "Ah, okay," Sean said with a nod.

  "Well, we have a few problems," the man started, then he immediately launched into all the reasons they couldn't do what Sean had wanted them to do. All of which had actually been drawn up by some of Roloff's dwarves, who had a fairly comprehensive idea of what the city had, and what it could do.

  Seeing as several of them worked for the city's engineering group as contractors.

  Sean just sat there and listened while the man lectured him for almost an hour, copping quite the attitude, some of the others occasionally feeling a bit emboldened by it to join in a little here and there. It was everything Sean could do at first to not just punch the guy in the face. But he had to keep telling himself that they weren't lycans, they weren't his people. They didn't work for him.

  By the time they were done, Sean had given up and really just didn't care anymore. He'd given them a nice list of things that needed to be done to help secure the city when the inevitable attack came, and these people, who could not possible ignore the sounds of the shelling and the bombing that happened twice a week, just didn't seem to get it.

  It's like they had no sense of survival at all.

  "Mayor Schiere, is there anything you can do about these manpower problems and other shortages that," Sean waved at the guy, "he's been going on about?"

  "The union has been making a lot of noise." The mayor sighed. "They're threatening to strike if we push them any harder."

  "Has it occurred to them," Sean turned back to the man at that point, "or you, whatever your name is, that these things are a matter of survival? That people are going to die?"

  "You don't know that!" he countered.

  "Actually, once martial law is declared, you'll simply be shot as a traitor," Sean said with an exasperated sigh, "so, yes, I think I do."

  That got quite the response from everyone at the meeting, and it definitely wasn't the one Sean had been hoping for after listening to the man prattle on for over an hour.

  "Sean! That was uncalled for!" the mayor said as the others also protested. Sean could see that both Bill and Claudia were looking less than pleased as well.

  "No, what was uncalled for was making me sit through this man's hour-long excuse for why he won't do his job. If you don't want me to defend Reno, then I won't. But because this is my home—I grew up here, after all—I'd thought I'd make the attempt.

  "Guess I should apologize for wasting your time."

  "You don't have any say in what happens here!" the man said.

  Shaking his head, Sean stood up, sighing. "And that's where you're wrong. Every single soldier outside in uniform answers to me.

  "Not to the mayor, not to the governor, not even to the president. Good luck, all of you."

  Turning, Sean walked out the door as Cali and Estrella quickly followed.
>
  "Well, that was smart," Peg said, looking over the rest of the group. "I think all of you need to remember that 'young man' you're all so dismissive of has killed more people with his own two hands than most armies in the world today.

  "I won't even get into the thousands of deaths he's had to order." Peg turned to look at the head of the civil engineering group who had been annoying Sean for the last hour.

  "And if I were you, Justin, I'd be leaving town like, right now."

  "What? You're saying he'll kill me?"

  Peg laughed. "Sean? No. Apparently he's already decided you're not worth the trouble. But you have to remember one of his wives is a renowned assassin, and another is well known for slaughtering anybody who pisses her off. Almost all of the rest are fighters, and you better believe tonight we're all going to be racing to see who claims your head first.

  "Pleasant dreams, asshole."

  Turning on her heel, Peg walked out, a smile that was all teeth on her face.

  "She…she wasn't kidding, was she?" Mayor Schiere asked, her face white.

  "Damn, I better try and stop this," Bill swore, and getting up, he ran out the door after them.

  "Really put your foot in it there, Justin," Claudia said, gathering up her notes and sweeping them into her briefcase. "Damn," she said with a shake of her head, "and we just got the casino opened, too."

  "You don't think he's really going to abandon Reno, do you?" Mayor Schiere asked, gaping.

  "Sounds to me like he just did. But honestly? I'm not so sure that's a bad idea. Better break out those evacuation plans, Your Honor. You're going to need them."

  "Sean, you can't be serious!" Bill said, running up to Sean as they left the building. Sean had seen the smile on Peg's face when she caught up with them at the elevator, but figured whatever it was she'd said, they'd all probably deserved it. He had been starting to think that maybe he finally was in over his head, and this meeting had all but confirmed it.

  Sean turned and looked at his father-in-law. "Right now, Dad, I don't want to talk about it."

  "They're not lycans or magic users, Son! You can't expect them to understand!"

  "They can hear the bombing and the shelling every night we're out there fighting, Dad. If they can't understand, maybe I'm just not the right person for the job."

  "If the mayor can't keep her people on a leash, maybe she's not the right person for the job," Estrella grumbled.

  "That man was very rude," Cali agreed, scowling.

  "Still," Bill said.

  Sean raised his hand, he could see their Black Hawk was coming in for a landing, Daelyn was still flying.

  "Our ride's here, we can talk about it later," Sean said, making a beeline for the helicopter as Travis' security team took up their positions and escorted them.

  Bill looked at Peg, who just smiled and winked at him. He knew Cali was an assassin, his daughter had told him, though she hadn't told him of anybody she'd killed. But Bill knew enough to know Cali wasn't an innocent. None of them were, not even his own little Roxy.

  Would someone kill Justin tonight? If they did, it would definitely send a shockwave through the entire city government, maybe even the state government. Peg had all but said he was going to be killed by somebody. She'd laid it out there for all the world to see, with not a single concern for the fact that the room was full of witnesses, one of whom was the chief of police of the city in which the murder would be taking place.

  But, and there was always a 'but', it might just wake the rest of them up and make them understand what was on the line here, and what the punishments were for putting the lives of others at risk because your sense of self-importance was so big that you had to get into a dick-waving contest with people who were in a whole other league.

  #

  Card watched those around him carefully as they moved down the street. Infiltrating the ALS hadn't been all that hard, really. He'd learned a lot working as a Prime for the Vestibulum, where he'd been expected to assassinate all sorts of troublemakers, ones who could wield magic and were as paranoid as they came. All that training had made this as easy as a walk in the park.

  All he'd had to do was show up at the events and throw a few cokes at some of the 'dirty lycan scum'. When things got a little out of hand, mostly at the prodding of the others, he'd held back and helped the rank and file. His 'restraint' had been noticed, and he'd made friends with a couple of the girls, who were obviously attracted to him.

  The guys in the group had then been forced to make friends with him in order to prevent their girlfriends from ending up with him instead of them.

  The whole thing had been rather funny. To be honest, he enjoyed the work; it was a lot more in line with what he'd spent his life learning to do. That lion gal, Tisha, she only scared him a little, not like that Sean guy did. After that one time Sean had helped him out, Card had carefully avoided him. While the others told him Sean didn't blame him, he'd still heard enough stories that he didn't want to put it to the test.

  But Steve? Card had met him once, face to face, when Steve had come out to Eruditio to meet with the team there and give them their orders. Card liked Steve, he was irreverent and sneaky as all shit, and as slippery as a used car salesman. All the things that made a good Prime. When this was over, he was going to see if he could be put on Steve's staff. Quick, Tank, and the others, they would have liked Steve.

  He shook his head and went back to watching the others. They had a big target today; Steve was being interviewed at one of the local TV stations for one of their news shows. Someone there had 'spilled' the information, and they were going to protest outside the building during the show.

  "I tell ya, these filthy animals think they can get away with anything!" Howard, one of the guys on the team, said to Card as they came in sight of the TV station's building.

  "I know, right?" Card grumbled back to them. "I tell ya', we really need to stop pussyfooting around and teach those curs a lesson!"

  "Down with the curs!" said Julie, who was actually another werewolf working with Card, and smiled at him.

  "Yeah! Down with the curs!" Howard agreed, with a glance at Julie. Card knew Howard had the hots for her. He'd told Julie to flirt with Howard, just a little, to show a little interest and string him along.

  "I really wish they'd let us do something more!" Howard continued. "Instead of just protesting! We need to be more like those folks at the National Mall last weekend!"

  "You're right," Julie said, egging him on. "We need to take action! Real action!"

  "You want action?" Card said. "I'll show you some action, then maybe you and me?"

  Card almost laughed at the look Howard shot him while Julie smiled.

  "I like a man of action," Julie said, dangling the hook. Now all Card had to do was make sure Howard took it, and after years of dealing with pack dynamics, Card was positive he could help that along.

  They spread out as they got there; they all had signs to wave as they marched around in front of the building, chanting their slogans.

  "That Julie is a little hottie, ain't she, Howard?" Card said, acting as if he had no idea at all about Howard's own lusts. "Man, I bet if I did something outrageous, I'd get in her pants tonight!"

  Card watched as Howard considered that, a fleeting look of jealously passing over his face. Card gave Julie the high sign.

  "I'm gonna get us some water, be right back!" Card said, and then moved away from Howard over to the cooler full of water bottles as Julie came by and chatted him up a little, after making sure the group's leaders where out of earshot.

  "So, you like a man of action?" Card heard Howard ask Julie.

  Julie gave him a look, then glanced over at Card, before looking back at Howard, letting him see her weighing the two of them.

  "You gonna do something? Something nasty?" Julie asked in a soft voice that Card only heard because of his enhanced lycan hearing.

  "Course I'm gonna do something!" Howard boasted. "You just watch!"

/>   "Ooooo," Julie said, laying it on thick. "You do that, and maybe later tonight?"

  Howard grinned and nodded.

  Card almost laughed; it was way too easy. Now it was time to move in for the kill. He watched as Julie gave Howard a pat on the arm, and then sashayed off with her sign, shaking her butt for Howard's benefit. He waited a minute and came back over to Howard, handing him a bottle of water.

  "We need to do something, something nasty," Howard said, giving Card a challenging look as he opened the bottle and took a drink of water.

  Card nodded in agreement, a serious look on his face. "I hear you, brother. I got an idea, man, but it's pretty nasty."

  "Oh? What?"

  "You know lycans can't handle silver, right?"

  "Seriously? I thought that was a myth?"

  Card snorted. "It ain't. That's how those mages were keeping them as slaves until the president freed 'em all. They've been keeping it a secret, but I looked it up online last night. It's on the ALS website!"

  "Really?"

  "Yeah, check it out on your phone, Bro, shit kills 'em dead."

  "So you got some on you?"

  "Yeah, I got a couple of silver bullets."

  "You got a gun?" Howard said, looking shocked.

  Card snorted. "I got two derringers. Best I could find around here. Drove up to West Virginia last night. I figure between the two of them, I ought to hit the bastard once."

  "Which bastard?"

  "The one in charge, of course! He was there when they cut our brothers down in that attack on the highway!"

  Howard nodded; everyone knew about the highway attack, though the ALS people had come to believe they were the innocents now in that fiasco.

  "How are you going to get past his bodyguards?" Howard asked after a moment. They'd all seen Steve at events before, and they knew he always had two bodyguards with him.

  "I was hoping if I charged in there real quick with my little guns blazing, I'd take him out before they stopped me."

  "What if I helped?" Howard said.

  "What?"

  "Give me one of your guns. I'll take out the bodyguard, and while he's going down, you'll get a clear shot at that bastard."