*** *** ***
The Mercenary Guild made its HQ in a converted Sheraton Hotel on the edge of Buckhead. In another life the hotel, built as a hollow tower, had a solid glass front, complete with a rotating glass door. Now massive steel gates marked the entrance. As our procession rolled up to the hotel, I could see a few mercs mulling about and smoking. Most of the Guild personnel were probably inside already. Perfect.
Next to me, Eduardo leaned forward in the Jeep's driver seat. A werebuffalo from Clan Heavy, he was over six feet tall and layered with thick muscle. His hair fell down his back in a black mane. His face with a square chin and deep set eyes said that he would rather die than back down. That impression was one hundred percent correct. I had a problem with a part of his plan and argued with him about it until I turned purple in the face, but he wouldn't budge, which was probably why Jim had assigned him to be my second for this venture.
"Wait a moment until we line up, before you go in, Consort," he murmured.
"Kate." We've been on first name basis for a while now.
"Not today, Consort."
The ten Jeeps turned in unison, parking next to each other in front of the building. The mercs at the entrance forgot to suck at their cigarettes and stared.
The car doors opened. The shapeshifters stepped out, forming two lines with a military precision, their faces solemn. I glanced at Eduardo.
"Not yet," he said.
The shapeshifters marched into the Sheraton, looking like they would chew through anybody dumb enough to stand in their way.
"I'm going to get out and go ahead. Derek will open your door. When you exit, keep walking, like you own the place," Eduardo said. "We've got your back."
"Watch it, bison," Jezebel growled from the back seat. She was one of the two bouda bodyguards Aunt B, the alpha of the werehyenas, attached to me. "You talk to her like she's a child."
I held up my hand. "It's okay. I got it."
"No worries," Eduardo said. "You will do fine."
There were few things I hated more than being the center of attention. Especially if the crowd was large.
Eduardo stepped outside. The passenger door behind me opened and Jezebel and Derek got out. Jezebel was six feet tall, moved like a predator, and had enough hard muscle on her to make me think twice about trying to take her on. Derek was leaner and younger, but his face and bearing made an instant impression.
Derek opened the door. "My lady."
The face of my aunt flashed before me. I would be Erra for today.
Eduardo stomped toward the Sheraton like a mountain with a "make-my-day" face.
I stepped out and marched on the Guild, imagining there was an army at my back.
Eduardo cleared the iron gates, sucked in a lungful of air, and roared. "Make way for the Consort!"
Oh boy.
Eduardo stood to the side. I strode through the gates and the lobby. Eduardo fell in behind me.
Before the Shift, the hotel was a many-star establishment, complete with an on-the-premises restaurant, a coffee shop, and a happy hour area raised on a three-foot platform. Mercs filled the main floor now. The twin lines of the shapeshifters had sliced through the crowd and stopped, forming an empty corridor leading toward the platform, standing like statues, hands behind their backs, feet together. A lone table waited for me. Mark sat on the left, his face pale. On the right Bob Carver and Ivera gawked at me with owl eyes.
I walked to the platform with my head held high, my cloak flaring. The entirety of the Guild focused on me. Super.
At the platform Eduardo sped up, drawing even with me. He took a knee, locked his left fist on his right wrist, and offered me the makeshift step.
Do not fall, do not fall, do not fall...
Without breaking my stride, I stepped onto his arms and then onto the platform.
We'd practiced it at least two dozen times before we had left for the Guild.
The three shapeshifters, Derek, Eduardo, and Jezebel, turned, their backs to the platform and glowered at the crowd. Derek carried a large wooden box. The two lines of shapeshifters stepped to the left as one, snapping into a wider stance.
Someone gasped.
Showtime.
"I speak for the Pack," I said, putting all my power into my voice.. "We hold twenty percent of the Guild. The admin group holds forty. The veterans hold another forty."
You could hear a pin drop.
"You've had months to choose a leader. You have failed and asked the Pack to break this deadlock. This is my proposal to the Guild. Listen well, because there won't be another."
They were listening. Thank you, Universe, for small favors.
"Solomon Red envisioned this Guild as a place for independent men and women to earn their living in the way they see fit. We must continue the course he plotted for us."
It was bullshit. Solomon Red didn't have that grand of a vision but Curran suggested it, so I plowed on ahead.
"Point One. The Guild will appoint a Chief Administrative Officer to oversee day to day operations and financial security of the Guild. I nominate Mark for this post. Point Two. The Guild will appoint a Chief Personnel Officer to protect interests of its members, oversee zoning of scores, and the assignment of gigs. I nominate Bob Carver for this post. Point Three, the Guild will create the post of the Pack Liaison Officer who will represent Pack's interests in the Guild as its third largest shareholder. I will be taking over this post. Together the Chief Administration Officer, Chief Personnel Officer, and Pack Liaison Officer will form the Guild Committee, which will meet on the fifteenth of every month. All matters of policy concerning the Guild will be resolved by vote of the committee members."
I looked down. The shapeshifter at the end of the left line stepped forward and unfolded a small table. The shapeshifter from the end of the right line placed a tall stack of index cards and three pens on the table. Derek stepped forward and put his wooden box in the center of the table.
"The Guild will now vote," I announced. "Each of you will write your merc ID on the card, add one word: YES or NO, and drop it into this box. I give you this last chance to save the Guild and your jobs. Don't blow it."
Two hours later, the two hundred and forty-six mercs voted yes, thirty-two voted no, and sixty one dropped blank cards with their ID's into the box, abstaining. I made a show of congratulating Bob and Mark and got the hell out of there.