She was right, I thought. And that would be a disaster. “We’re heading in. Where should we meet you?”
“We’re out front. I think you’ll be better off elbowing your way in from the back—but hurry up. There are more coming and I have a feeling they’ll be trying to surround the Hall. Chase has cops headed around the side, but they’re having trouble getting through the crowds, too. We may have to call out the riot teams.” She hung up.
I quickly filled the others in on what we were facing. “I suggest we head in there pronto.”
“Menolly, I think you should fly in. Turn into a bat. You are well known in this town, and it’s pretty easy to hide a stake under a coat.” Vanzir glanced at the others. “They don’t like the Weres and Fae, but this crowd? They have a special hatred for vampires.”
“He’s right. Do it.” Camille motioned for Smoky to go in front. “Delilah, you and I will take the center line. Shade, can you bring up the back? Vanzir, on our left. Roz on our right. You guys are all less vulnerable than Delilah and I are.”
I stepped back and closed my eyes. Think bat . . . think bat . . . The next moment, my stomach shifted and boom . . . I was in the air. Thanks to Roman re-siring me and then teaching me, my bat shifting was no longer a thing to be ashamed of. I could manage to fly and hold form for quite a while, compared to a year ago. I silently swept up and headed toward the building, at the last minute realizing the windows were going to be closed. But I also knew that the Hall had a fireplace, and this time of year? No fire. I caught an updraft on the breeze and cautiously headed down the chimney, which I realized needed a good cleaning as soot started to fall on me.
By the time I swept out of the fireplace and shimmered back into my natural form, I was covered with grease spots. I managed to startle several Weres nearby, including Frank Willows, a werewolf who was current leader of the Supe Militia. But he smiled broadly when he saw me appear.
“Sorry, but we thought it best I come in the easy way. The others are trying to get through the crowd to the back doors.”
“I’ll send a group to help in case trouble breaks out. Your wife and Chase are over there.” He pointed toward the front doors of the grand hall. The Community Council Hall was a thing of beauty, and had been built after the old one was burned down in another attack.
I glanced around. There must be more than one hundred fifty members of the Supe Community here tonight, and that didn’t seem to include any vampires. And then I realized that if Roman caught word of this, he would send reinforcements and that would exacerbate the issue even worse than it already was. I pulled out my phone as I headed over to where Chase and Nerissa were conferring with three humans who looked familiar but I couldn’t quite place. One was a pale blond woman—very tall—in a pair of jeans and a white button-down shirt. The second woman was shorter, with dark skin and curly hair. And the man was sturdy and built, and looked like he might be Hispanic. He wore a three-piece suit.
At that moment, I heard Delilah’s voice echoing through the milling Supes. “Neely!”
The short, dark woman turned and smiled. “Delilah!”
And right then, my memory clicked and their names flooded back. The three were from the United Worlds Church. They were the founders of the All Worlds United in Peace organization, and they had been attempting to forge inroads on creating a peaceful dialogue between . . . well . . . everybody. The blond was Amanda, the president of the organization, the black woman was Neely Reed who created strategy and policy for the group, and the man was Carlos Rodrigues, the PR frontman.
As Delilah and the others shuffled through the crowd, I tapped Nerissa on the shoulder. She turned around. She was carrying a tablet, her hair was up in a bun, and she was wearing a navy pantsuit and a pale blue blouse. My wife looked so official that I didn’t even think of kissing her. I wasn’t about to diminish her authority in any way by a show of her personal life, but I still reached out quickly to stroke her arm. She winked at me, then cleared her throat.