Lissa snorted delicately and shook her head. «Well, last night was more like a nightmare.»
Kelly's face clouded. «Marc told me. I was so worried about you guys. And Marc's concerned for my safety now too. It's part of the reason I'm here tonight.» She looked around at all the men in the room, most of whom were quite lethal with or without weapons. «With so many of us and the were here, Marc figured we'd be safe enough. Plus, I put my foot down. I wanted to see you guys and I'm sick of being under virtual house arrest. Marc is too overprotective!»
They all laughed when the man in question looked up and blew a comical kiss across the room at his wife. His wink was pure deviltry and Christy began to understand a little of the Master Vampire's charm.
On the other side of the big room, another large video display flickered to life. The colored bars were soon replaced with a new signal and a rather startling image of two identical men staring back at them. These, then, were the Lords of the Were. Christy pulled the information from Sebastian's mind as he faced the small camera pickup that would send his image to the twin men on the other end of the connection. Seems the supernaturals were down with technology. This was an honest to goodness videoconference.
Marc moved to the front of the group.
«Thank you for taking the call.»
The twin on the right nodded. «Hastings said you had a situation we might be able to help with.»
«Did he send you the information he's gathered so far?» Marc looked over at the private eye, who nodded.
«We got it. Sounds like you've got a serious problem.»
«You could say that.» Marc smiled for the first time and the men on the other end of the line seemed to relax marginally.
The twin on the left sighed and shook his head. «Hell, if you've got Venifucus on the loose, we know how you feel. We've been there. Done that. Got the scars to prove it.» He sat back in his chair, relaxing even more. «I'm Rafe. That's Tim.» He pointed with his pen at his twin.
«Pleased to finally meet you. I'm Marc, this is Sebastian, Atticus, Ian and Cameron.» He gestured to the men ranged around him in turn. «Do you know Matt Redstone? He's one of yours.»
«We know his brother Grif. How is he? Still up in the mountains?»
Matt nodded. «Yes, Alpha. He's got some soul searching to do, but he's in touch. If he's needed, he'll come home.»
The twins nodded. «No need for that quite yet. He needs this time and you've proven yourself well able to handle things so far.»
A commotion on that end of the call momentarily halted discussion until two females came into view on the camera. One was older, and incredibly feminine. She walked right up to the camera and stared hard, her beautiful eyes squinting.
«Is that you, Cam? Darnit! I knew you were into mischief.»
Cameron stepped forward with an easy smile on his face. «Guilty as charged, Bette. How've you been? Long time, no see.»
«Well you can remedy that anytime, Cam. You know where I am.» The petite woman moved back from the camera and took a seat. The other woman who'd come into the room with her was seated between the men. Christy wasn't surprised when the information came to her from Sebastian that the younger woman was married to both men. «Now, I'm sorry to burst in on all this male bonding, but there are important matters to discuss. Where is your mate, milord?»
Christy jumped as she realized the woman was talking to Sebastian. He looked a little nonplussed as well, but recovered nicely, motioning for Christy to join him by the video setup. When she walked into the picture, the older woman's face softened.
«It's good to see you, child. Your image has haunted my dreams for many weeks now. I'm Betina. What's your name?»
«Christy. It's nice to meet you.» She didn't know quite what to make of the woman, but then she moved and her sleeve fell away to reveal a glowing, swirling pattern. Christy gasped.
Betina's smile was cunning. «Ah, so it's true. You see what cannot be seen?»
Cameron stepped forward. «That she does. Tested her myself.»
«Listen well.» The older woman's demeanor changed and Christy perked up. «This skill and others will be key in the confrontation to come. It will take all of you, working together, to defeat this evil.»
«You always did have strong sight, Bette,» Cameron commented, breaking the somber mood.
«And you always were a loudmouth, Cam.» Betina smiled and her entire face lit up. She winked, softening her words and Cameron obliged by bowing his head as he smiled.
«Guilty as charged, milady.»
«So how are you all getting along down there?» Tim, the more serious of the twins asked. «Any cross-species problems we can help clear up?»
«Because,» the other twin spoke up, «we're all going to have to learn to work together to get this job done. It's not were or vamp anymore, it's good versus evil. Plain and simple. We're either working together or we're all sunk.»
«I couldn't have said it better myself, Alpha.» Marc endorsed the werewolf's words. «As for my region, I've sent out the word to those under my dominion. As far as I'm concerned, we have an alliance against the Venifucus. As long as you're in agreement?»
Both men nodded. Rafe spoke first. «We've sent out the word to all our Alphas. Our governing structure is a little different than yours, but few will contradict us in this, I think, and those who do will be given a chance to reconsider before more serious action is taken. This fight is too important.»
«The cougar clan is the largest in your area and you've got the Redstones on board, so you shouldn't have too much trouble with any of the other tribes, packs or clans.» Tim spoke with calm certainty. «Hastings, I assume the raptors are in line with this?»
«Yes, Alpha.» Raised eyebrows met Hastings' reply since none of the vampires had known the man was that high up the were food chain to be able to speak for the entire group of birds of prey.
«Let us know if you run into any problems. We'll do what we can,» Tim said.
«Thank you, Alpha,» Marc said, «we appreciate the endorsement and I want to assure you, for my part, my brotherhood is fully aware of our understanding. If any of mine cause problems, they will be dealt with. They have been warned.»
The men talked a bit more about logistics and passed along some rather innocuous-sounding information about Mario's habits and phone records while Christy listened. She was fascinated by the women on the other end of the videoconference. Both shone with a slight glow of energy, but it was more pronounced around the older one. They were alike, yet different somehow.
«When this is all over,» the younger one spoke as the men began to draw the meeting to a close, «I'd like to meet you in person, Christy. Maybe you and your mate could come visit us?»
«Yes.» The older woman nodded. «You two are sisters under the skin. More alike than you know-a vampire with were blood and a priestess with were genetics. Both of you have your feet in two worlds. You have much in common.»
Christy nodded politely. «I'd like that. Thank you for the invitation.»
«Some time in the country might be just the ticket, Christy, after what you're embarking on.» The younger woman's smile was friendly, almost teasing, as if she knew more than she was saying. And perhaps she did. These women were strange…and powerful. Christy could see that, even over a video screen.
They ended the call after a few more minutes and the men settled around a large table to go over reports and data. Hiro came into the room sometime later and offered to take the ladies to the dojo for a little self-defense class.
Christy hadn't had so much fun in ages. She'd almost forgotten what it was like to laugh, hang out and have fun with her old college friends. Hiro was good natured about all their fumbles and even joined in some of the jokes himself. Christy hadn't known about his mischievous side, but she was charmed by his wit and earthy humor.