“I take it back,” Orchid said. “He’s a troll turd with maggots in it. No, he’s the maggot eating the troll turd.”
Cormel halfway hid a smile. “I don’t care who started the plague,” he said. “Actually, I would shake his or her hand if they were in this room. It’s lowered the numbers of humans such that Weres, witches, and even vampires can come out of the closet and not be targeted unduly. Especially if we work together to help our weaker kin.” He smiled impishly. “It’s my idea, you see. But it will take Piscary to sell it.”
Daniel nodded slowly, but Trisk thought it was because coming out would save his life more than anything else.
Kal inched forward to the edge of the couch, clearly wanting to stand and stretch his legs. “You think we should come out?” he said, settling back into the couch when Cormel all but growled at him. “After we decimated their numbers?”
“No, I think you should hide,” Cormel said lightly. “Hide as the rest of us come out and fix what you broke. The elves should take the brunt of humanity’s hatred for their mistake. It will enable the rest of us to come out of the shadows and flourish. The enemy of my enemy, yes?”
Kal’s eyebrows rose, his doubt obvious. Satisfied, Cormel remained standing before Kal when a set of double doors at the other end of the room opened and the sound of casual conversation slipped in. “Dr. Plank, it might be better if you didn’t say anything unless asked a direct question,” Cormel said, and the usually outspoken man nodded in agreement.
Trisk couldn’t see into the hall, but she slid from her stool when Piscary came in. Kal remained seated until Sa’han Ulbrine followed, tight on his heels, the shorter man darting his gaze about until he found them at the bar, and then Kal on the couch. Kal’s shoulders rose in an embarrassed shrug when Ulbrine grimaced at him.
A tall man in an outdated suit from the forties came in after them, looking like an older, drastically more frumpy version of Daniel. He walked with Leo, Piscary’s scion, who pushed a bandage-swathed man in a wheelchair. The scholarly man touched Leo’s shoulder familiarly in passing as Leo took the injured man to a distant corner and settled him at the outskirts.
Behind them was Colonel Wolfe, with a haughty-looking older woman in a trendy business dress on his arm. The military officer nodded to Daniel, then dismissed him, making Daniel turn red and fume. Trisk knew they’d met only once, and briefly at that, before the government had taken control of his virus and shut him out.
The petite woman beside Colonel Wolfe looked nothing like him, and yet somehow . . . they were a matched pair. Both were in their late forties, both clearly accustomed to giving orders that were taken without question. He had little ribbons and chevrons, and she had high heels and a diamond-covered watch.
“Thank you, Rynn,” Piscary said, moving with an eerie, unusual quickness until Cormel cleared his throat and Piscary jerked into a slower pace. “Allow me to make the introductions. This is Professor Thole from Cincy’s university.”
The tall man who’d come in with Leo adjusted his glasses and lifted a hand as he headed for the bar. “Good morning, everyone,” he said, his resonant voice loud, as if addressing an auditorium of restless students.
“He teaches advanced physics of two varieties,” Piscary said, sidling between the couches and chairs to give Kal a visual once-over. “Thole does my spell fittings for me, but its his connections to the witches’ coven of moral and ethical standards that bring him here today.”
Trisk’s eye twitched as Daniel slid down to make room for the taller man behind the bar. The rising scent of redwood said he was a practicing witch of note. Unable to resist, Trisk unfocused her second sight to check his aura, not surprised to find it streaked with black. He played with the dark stuff, and she looked away when he noticed her interest. Relief rose that her aura was clean—her smut for the forget curse now on Kal. Guilt was quick behind it.
Kal took a step toward the bar, only to be shoved back onto the couch by Rynn Cormel.
“And I think everyone knows Colonel Wolfe,” Piscary said as Cormel moved to stand right behind Kal to make sure he didn’t get up again. “As I understand it, he’s been catching holy hell about his new tactical virus that Dr. Kalamack signed off on as being safe.”
Kal opened his mouth, shutting it when Cormel cleared his throat.
“That’s one way to put it,” Wolfe said, going to the bar to take the glass Professor Thole was filling.