Redemption: Alchemy Series Book #4 (6 page)

As I settled f
arther into my shadowed corner, I waited as the few people watching me slowly forgot my presence and went back to their idle chatting and dining.

I scanned the entire room, taking in as much detail as I could. The very first thing that struck me was
that we lived together and struggled as one, but were more divided than ever.

Fae sat with Fae, humans with humans
, and Keepers with Keepers.
Changed
, whose numbers were growing almost daily now, sat in their own spot. The wolves...well, nothing new there. No one ever really mingled with them. They were the big smelly bullies on the playground who the other kids avoided.

I waited, hoping the divide wasn't as bad as it appeared. I watched, looking for any interaction, but nothing. What kind of life would we build if we couldn't even speak with each other? Would we have anything left to rebuild if we couldn't get along, or would we be picked off by the senator, one weak link at a time? Or maybe we'd start picking each other off. I couldn't place blame when I was no better, guilty myself of wanting to shed some blood.

Once again, I wondered at the person I'd become. I was as bloodthirsty as the wolves these days, with maybe even more suppressed rage. Keeping our numbers healthy was the only thing that kept me from exacting my own revenge. That and the fact I didn't have the names of my mother's murderers.

Losing my appetite, I stepped out of the shadows and handed my plate to a
changed
passing by, who willingly took it and thanked me. You didn't leave uneaten food on your plate, and offering a share of your meal was actually considered a gift. I waved off the thanks and left. 

I took the stairs two at a time as I headed up to the conference room where we were having our meeting. I paused at Dodd's floor
; I desperately wanted to see Sabrina but I wouldn't push. She hadn't left Dodd's rooms since the night we'd gotten back and word had it that even Colleen and Dark, who were in the same suite, didn't see her.

I'd feel out Dodd tomorrow on whether Sabrina was up to visitors yet. I got it, she
’d been through an ordeal; but at some point, regardless of what happened, she'd have to join the living again.

I walked out onto the stone floor where the conference room was located. Like almost everything else in this place, it had morphed into some sort of medieval strong hold. I pushed the solid wood of the door open and the full volume of the room hit me as everyone
bickered amongst themselves.

Kaz was already there. I guess he decided not to push me any further by coming late, or worse, pulling a no show. Vitor leaned against a wall and was looking better than he had in months, probably due to his sister being here, one of the many refugees who had survived. Burrom was half sitting on the side table and looking,
God forgive me for saying this, pretty damn hot. The idea made my skin crawl a bit. I never thought I'd ever view Burrom as attractive. It just felt wrong. Adam was there as the humans’ main spokesperson. And Colleen. A little tingle of pride made me smile that Colleen was there as the
changed
representative.

And then there was me, currently in charge of this chaotic and quite often disobedient group. I stepped over to the head of the table and leaned a hip on it. When I'd first stepped into Cormac's shoes, everyone assumed I'd try to copycat him
- cold, aloof, all business and badass. I'd kept the badass part, but that was all.

Where Cormac had been cold, aloof and all business, I was casual, and nonchalant...until you crossed me. That's where my temper took over and kicked into the badass. Occasionally, that same temper blocked out the logical thought process and I went from badass straight to dumbass. So far, I'd been able to keep those occurrences to a limited amount and the dumbass part of my persona was still, for the most part, flying under the radar.

"As everyone here knows, with the new additions and the continuous stream of refugees, we’re running tight on room. I'd like everyone to go to their people and see if anyone is willing to double up. Also, I'm having a group go through the old casino shops and see which ones would be suitable for conversion into living quarters." The Lacard had once had a grand shopping mall inside its walls. Most of the store contents had been distributed to those in need and the surplus stored in the basements - now dungeons - for future use.

"What about food?" Adam asked, stepping forward. "This cold weather isn't going to help with the current shortages. All the leftover crops out there will be dead before we even get to them."

He stood there, arms crossed, and like everyone else, expecting me to solve all the issues like everyone else.

"The food isn't going to be an issue, at least for a while." And
, not for the first time, I started to wonder when it had become my sole responsibility to clothe, shelter and feed these people. How much of the burden was I supposed to take? I didn't have any previous head honcho job experience, but was this really how this leadership thing was supposed to play out? Who would want this job? If I hadn't cracked up the world like a drunken teenager on a joyride gone bad, I'd have been out of there. But this was my equivalent to the crappy job you take until the damage is paid for and I'd stick at it until my debt was paid.

"How?" Adam asked.

"I won't say, but I'm working on something." I wasn't going to tell them that I'd sat down with Chip and zeroed in on the location of several canned food warehouses. If I did, there'd be nothing left by the time we got there.

Another issue we had was trust. While I was eating canned tuna and spam, a lot of people seemed to have some weird paranoia that I was dining on filet mignon every night, after I snuck up to the penthouse alone. I often wondered if it was because that is what they would do. Another reason I'd continue to drive the wrecked up car of a world. 

"You need to be more open with us." Adam slammed a fist on the table.

"And you need to chill out." I waved my hand toward where he hit the table. "And save the dramatics, will you? I'm not sharing anything because I don't like when my plans are ruined and that's the end of it." I'd learned quickly to keep the important things to myself
, after a food warehouse had been raided before we got there.

"After you stole from us, you owe us," Kaz said, the new top dog in charge.

I looked at him where he was sitting pretty close to me. Another issue with him gaining power was that stupid book. I knew he was riling up the wolves with tales - okay, maybe truths - about how Cormac and I had stolen from the wolves, working up the pack against me for purely political reasons.

"Yeah, a lousy boring book that was near to worthless."

"You don't steal from the wolves." He growled at the end of the sentence and I heard and answering growl from Dark, who I hadn't even realized had joined us.

I hopped off the table and grabbed the dictionary from underneath the shelves. I dumped it in front of him. "Here, we're even. Actually, you owe
me
, now, because this is probably better reading and a hell of a lot more useful." I walked away to his deep growl, and laughter from everyone else, as I stretched my legs in the front of the room. "Oh, and the person who wrote it could actually spell, too."

I saw the tell tale sign of Kaz's skin pimpling, a known indication of a werewolf close to the changing. But
, for some reason, I didn't think he was really as mad as he was putting on. His face was too relaxed for someone who was supposedly in a rage.

If he wanted to continue this charade, I'd oblige him.

"Do you have a problem?" I walked back to the table again and rested a hip, leaned my head back and puffed out a set of four smoke rings. Except it wasn't smoke, it was pure magic, a new trick I'd been working on as I paced the halls alone at night.

Everyone watched the rings dissolve into the air with a bit of awe. Good, it was better if they were a little scared of me.

"No." His voice was low and I thought I saw a tic by the corner of his mouth.

"That's good. As the new leader of the wolves, I'll expect a list of names you'll be supplying for your portion of the work duty."

He nodded, his eyes still lingering in the air where the rings had disappeared.

"Now, does anyone else have something they need to discuss?" I searched the faces in the room. No one else spoke.

"Okay then, see you guys next week." Once I'd taken over, I'd instituted weekly meetings to try and stay on top of everything. It might not have been one of my brightest ideas.

"I'd like a moment alone," Kaz said, drawing my attention back to him. 

I nodded toward the door, silently signaling for him to wait as everyone exited.

As soon we were alone, I leaned against the wall, not overly concerned. "What?"

He closed the six or so feet between us and leaned close, resting a hand by my head. "I heard you're rolling solo these days." Then the smile I'd seen him fighting lit up his face. He wasn't a bad looking guy, wolf man, or whatever. He definitely had the swagger that I unfortunately found so appealing, but my life couldn't handle another complication and I'd had one alpha too many crush my heart.

I didn't mean to insult him but I couldn't help but laugh. A death threat I would've expected. He joined in and laughed as well.

"Are you a schizophrenic, or is all that other stuff an act?"

"The wolves follow strength. In your face, ball breaking strength." He shrugged as if that was all the explanation necessary.

"Do you enjoy acting like that?"

"I don't really mind. Comes pretty natural to me. I'm sure as hell not letting anyone else make the choices I'll have to live by. So how
'bout it? You and me." He leaned slightly closer but didn't actually touch me, just hovered. "It's not even how hot you are. I've got hot chicks falling all over me on a daily basis. But girl, you've got bigger balls than my second in command. I bet you're a firecracker in bed, too." When he ran his knuckles over my cheek, I knew it was time to stop this little game.

"Thanks for the offer, but I don't think it's a good idea." I moved out from between him and the wall before he tried to touch more than my cheek.

  I had to give him credit; he never lost his smile. He pushed back off the wall.

"Door
's always open." He mimicked his words with his actions as he opened the conference room door for me.

I nodded and then scrambled to put some space between us
, not wanting any further display of amorous attention.

When I spotted Burrom at the end of the hall, I yelled down to him to hold up a minute as I walked briskly to catch up.

"Burrom, where are you heading?" Sneaky bastard always had something going on.

He paused for me and winked. "On my way to make the most of this fine body you helped me get."

"I need a minute."

"You willing to stand in if I get stood up?" he asked, smirking down at me.

Burrom flirting; I didn't know if I'd ever get used to it.

"Please don't do that with me. It's just..." I shuddered a little.

"Fine," he said, the gruff tones of the old Burrom sneaking back into the newly refined body. "What do you want?"

"I need to know something."

He looked at me and squinted his eyes, reading my expression.

"Not here," I added.

We entered the stairwell and made our way to his suite. A few other Fae had tried to take over Burrom's suite in his absence but had been swiftly given the boot. Unlike the wolves, none of the Fae, not even the new ones, messed with Burrom. Maybe it was the whole Ground Fae deal, or maybe it was something just unique to Burrom.

"What's up?" he asked as he sat and reclined against
the sofa in his room. "And be quick about it."

I paced for a moment while he made faces and sighed loudly, hinting at his impatience to hear what was so important.

I stopped a few feet in front of him and finally just blurted it out. "I've been avoiding this conversation for a while, but it's time to clear up an issue. Would you have killed me out there, with the senator?" I'd been plagued by the memory of him threatening my life since we'd returned. I didn't know why, but, today of all days, I felt like I needed to know. Maybe it was just something in the air but truce with the senator or not, I felt like I was teetering on the edge of some sort of precipice. And the feeling was growing stronger.

He pursed his lips and looked at the ceiling for a moment.

"It shouldn't be that hard. Yes or no?" My hands rested on my hips.

"I'm thinking it through." He finally shrugged. "No. I wouldn't have."

"The length of time it took you to answer is a bit frightening and inspires little to no confidence." I stared down at him, giving my
I'm highly disappointed
look. Since I'd taken charge, I'd realized it was crucial to have one of those looks in your repertoire.

"Hey, I had to make sure I was being honest." His palms were in the air as if he couldn't understand my issue with it.