She frowned but accepted a hand up to stand behind the lectern. As the singing started to die down, she tapped the microphone and cleared her throat. “As you may know—or not know—I am Camille D’Artigo and I’m from Otherworld. I’m half-Fae, as are my sisters—Delilah and Menolly.” She paused as scattered cheers went up. We did have a fan base around town.
“We want to thank you all, on behalf of the Supe Community Council, for your support.” Then she turned to the protesters, who were effectively roped off by a human shield. “I’m here to tell those who wish us harm that you have no power here. The people of Seattle tell you, you have no power here. Seattle is a diverse and beautiful city, where hatred has no place. Members of this organization have been directly responsible for attacks on Seattle’s Supe Community for years, and most recently, they have destroyed a vampire apartment complex and killed over twenty-five vampires in doing so. I know that Vamp Rights has not yet passed legislation, but we consider it murder just as much as if they had killed a werewolf, or a human.”
The crowd began to murmur, and unfriendly faces began to turn toward the hate group.
Camille continued. “Every race, every gender, has good and bad members. No group is immune. That is what unites us—we are all individuals, and most of us are looking to coexist as peacefully as we can. Just because my neighbor prays to a different god than I do, just because my neighbor has different color skin, or because they love in a different manner, or because they turn into a wolf under the full moon . . . we can no longer allow these differences to divide us. Division brings hatred. Division brings death. I urge you now to peacefully resist allowing this sort of hate to continue in our city. And I do claim it as my city—I may be from Otherworld, but I have a business, I pay taxes, and I love this town!”
A cheer went up, running through the crowd like a rippling wave.
“Now, we cannot stop people from hating us, but we can make certain it doesn’t eat into our hearts. And we can bring into law protection for everyone, regardless of their origin. Protection from hate, protection from assault. Thank you.”
As she stepped away from the microphone, the crowd began to clap. Chase took the lectern next. “I am asking the Earthborn Brethren and their followers to leave in peace. And to think twice before staging any more protests. We are watching your organization, and we will find those responsible for the attacks over the past few weeks.” He motioned for his men to spread into the crowd.
Apparently, the opposition knew when they were outnumbered, because, with many a glare, they began to push their way out of the throng. The officers made sure that nobody started any scuffles, and by the time the Earthborn Brethren were gone, the meeting had turned into a makeshift meet-and-greet as the crowd dwindled to a few hundred.
“I think we’re going to have to shelve our meeting. For now, it would do the members of the Supe Community well to make nice-nice with their supporters and forge some common bonds.” I was surprised Roman hadn’t sent a contingent over, but right now, I figured it was for the best and I could find out why he hadn’t later.
We joined the others, greeting those who had come out to support us, and an hour later, we headed back to our cars to go home. Nerissa was able to slip away. She would meet us at home. Chase had to stay and clear up some work, but he had already called Iris and told her he would be coming home very late.
“Do you think any good came out of it?” I asked as a couple of officers drove us back to our cars.
Delilah frowned. “I think so. For one thing, there’s nothing like a common enemy to unite strangers, and while the world as a whole has accepted the presence of Supes, we have reached that odd time when we’re trying to integrate into society instead of being the novelty act, you know?”
I nodded. “Yeah, and it’s one thing to admire and enjoy the circus, but when the freaks want to set up camp in your town for good, well . . . that can be a whole different ball of wax.”
We had reached the parking lot where we had left our cars and were about to split up and drive home when Camille’s phone rang. She frowned at the Caller ID. “Trytian?”
Oh, wonderful, I thought as she answered it. Just what we needed. Trytian was a daemon. Unlike demons, daemons were a bit more organized and got along better with everybody else, in general. They still weren’t trustworthy and they were dangerous and tended toward the evil side of life, but they could work with others a lot more easily. They were less chaotic, if I was forced to pinpoint the difference. Demons tended to act first, think later. Daemons were smarter. And Trytian’s father was leading a covert army, aimed at taking down Shadow Wing.