Page 52 of Bold Mercy

Chapter Twenty-Seven

“There’s coffee inside,” Lucy whispered, as we waited for the mayor to situate himself behind the small lectern. “Do you want me to grab you a cup?”

I started to reply when the mayor put his mouth to the microphone and called my name. There was a feeling of déjà vu as I remembered my agreement to work for the council, and I wondered if my agreement to give myself publicly to the city would cause me more trouble than it was worth.

I’d kill vampire rogues whether the council or the mayor told me to or not. Apparently, they just liked to make things official. On the plus side, they could throw cash and other resources at me whenever I needed them.

As I joined the mayor, Jared, Rick, Joe, Zach, and Remy spread out around me, Max, and Lucy, walking us to the tiny, impromptu “stage.” Six of Jared’s wolves—including Wyatt and Avery—stood back by their alpha’s car, ready to attack should the vampires arrive. I hoped none of them would get overly excited and shift but with adrenaline pumping and chaos surrounding them, it would be hard not to.

I stood at the mayor’s side, my people surrounding me, and I knew how they’d look on TV. Larger than life, scary, and as mean as any of the vampires. Wearing countless weapons and dark frowns, they’d be sure to give the humans some confidence.

Only one of the people I’d asked to join us hadn’t. Bastien Martel, current master of our county.

“Let me present Ms. Kaitlyn Silver,” the mayor said. “Some of you have heard of her. I would bet that some of you have availed yourselves of her unique services.”

“What does she do, Mayor?” one of the reporters asked.

“She’s a human who has been fighting the evil of this city long before any of us even knew such evil existed.” Louis’s regard for me was obvious, but he would never tell them the real reason for it. “She protects us from not only invading demons and lost spirits, but the vampires who are even now attacking our city.”

I was about as uncomfortable as I could get. Then I glanced at Remy, and he mockingly saluted me just as the mayor called me “human.” And then I was about as uncomfortable as I could get.

Bastard.

I’d dressed a little over the top, as we all had, wearing black leather and tall—but low heeled—boots, a long, thin duster coat, beneath which I’d donned very nearly every belt I owned. I crisscrossed them across my chest and buckled them low on my hips, then filled them with silver blades, bottles of holy water, spirit traps, sharp stakes, and my demon blade. I’d considered leaving the blade at home, but in the end, I found I really didn’t want to part with it.

It wasn’t like I’d be shifting with all those human eyes on me.

“Before I step aside, allow me to introduce Kait’s team,” Louis said. And one by one he pointed out each person who stood with me, surprising me. He probably knew a hell of a lot more about all of us than I’d realized.

“I’ll step back and let Kait speak,” he said when he’d finished, and some of his security team escorted him, Max, and Lucy away. I watched approvingly as Louis murmured something and then Max took Lucy’s arm and the two of them went inside the house. Louis stayed just outside the doors. Finally, I put my attention on the cameras and began speaking to the people of Jakeston.

“There are things you can do to keep yourselves safe,” I started, not wasting any time. “As you know, vampires can’t come out into the sun…” No way was I explaining to them about Avis Vine’s particular magic or the fact that she and her rogues could do a hell of a lot more than any vampire should be able to do. “When it begins to get dark, go into your homes, lock your doors and windows, and don’t open them for any reason until morning.”

And then, despite the fact that it went against my hunter instincts, I told them that not all vampires were bad vampires. “Some of you already know this,” I said calmly, interrupting half a dozen reporters all asking questions at once. “Some of you go to their clubs. You understand that they won’t hurt you, because you’ve gotten to know them. The vampires attacking our city and our world are rogues. Their council sends people like me to kill them, and in the end, we will win. We will kill them.”

“How do we know if they’re the rogues or not?” a young woman asked.

“You don’t,” I told her. “Not yet. Once we’ve handled the rogues, then…” I shrugged. “You can go back to living with the vampires the same way you’ve been living with them for decades. You didn’t know they were here, but they’ve been here all along. And you’re still alive.”

“They’re murdering humans,” another female reporter said. “Why haven’t you killed them yet, if you’re so…powerful?” She was condescending and skeptical, and she didn’t care if I knew it.

I curled my lip. “Because I can’t snap my fingers and make all the rogues line up for a nice juicy stake and a beheading. Hunting takes time.”

“We don’t have time,” she snapped. “So you might want to stop posing in front of cameras and get to work. If you—”

“Look,” I said, interrupting her and turning to the cameras. “These rogues are no different from human killers. The police are right now trying to hunt down a human serial killer. There are bad vampires, just like there are bad humans. But not all vampires are bad. Over the next few weeks, I’d like to introduce you to some of my friends who happen to be vampires.” Yes, I stumbled over the word “friends,” but not too badly. “I will introduce you to the vampire master of this county. He is the one who keeps his vampires in line. And when he gets the rogues, he will make them wish they’d never fucked with the humans.”

I told them about the council, as well. I talked until my voice was hoarse and my throat was raw. I answered questions, dealt with anger and snark without punching anybody, and finally, I gestured for Remy to take my place. He could ease tensions and charm the reporters a hell of a lot easier than I could. I walked away from the little knot of people to stand further in the shadows, and the detective broke away to follow me.

He handed me a bottle of water. “I don’t think they’re coming,” he murmured. “Maybe it’s too well-lit back here.”

It was terribly bright, but still, those lights weren’t the sun. “It’s not the lights.” I gulped the water down and then crushed the empty container. “She’s not stupid. She knows why we held this meeting after dark. And Avis Vine does not want to give us anything we want.”

“We’d have been better off spending this time hunting,” Zach said, coming to join us.

“No,” the detective told him. “The people needed to see you. They needed to know they have people like you fighting for them.”

Zach corrected him, surprising me. “People like us,” he said.