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So, most feedings happened below ground, and most of their sensitive conversations. The flock likely talked about all kinds of things Dev would prefer the government not know about, andthere were plenty of safeguards in their area of the house, but it was hard to lock things down without looking guilty in the first place.

Drake security had sent him some papers on the latest-and-greatest in the security world. Brooke’s homes already had the windows that cut down on the vibrations normal glass gave, so it was harder to listen to their conversations from outside the property, but this was an additive you could put in any paint.

Also, ceiling fan blades specifically designed to hum at a frequency that made human speech hard to catch on electronic devices. Aaron had added a note the sound would annoy anyone with sensitive hearing, which meant they could use it in the rooms only the humans frequented, but it wouldn’t work in the common areas the flock used, because most of the flock consisted of supernaturals.

Brooke was the only vampire Dev knew who had a flock of mostly shapeshifters who were so diverse in every way. It was because she provided a welcoming place for those who didn’t fit into society, but it meant it wasn’t just the US Government they had to be careful of, but other supernaturals as well.

Not only was Brooke a power, she’d attracted people to her who would fight to the death to protect her, and it hadn’t been so long ago that they’d had to do exactly that. Clive, their giant honey badger, had risked the thin hold he kept on his sanity and his control to fight for Master Brooke and everyone she holds dear, and he’d somehow came out of it whole. Intact. His control was still shaky, at best, but he’d proven something to himself and to Dev on that day.

He finished his research an hour before Genie was due to get off work, and by the time he’d finished his written report and the proposal spreadsheet, and sent them off to Brooke and Remy, she was coming in the door.

“What happened around twelve-forty this morning?” he asked her.

“A patient decided to get out of bed without help. Ended up with a fucking brain bleed and now he’s in the motherfucking critical care unit.” She shook her head. “He wasn’t a candidate for restraints. I knew he was a stubborn old fucker, and that’s fine because it’s probably why he was still alive. His grandkids, all in their late teens and early twenties, adore him. They came after school yesterday and snuck extra food in for him, which I pretended not to see.”

She took a breath and blew it out. “But I’m off shift now, and I have to leave that at the hospital. If you still want to check out and get breakfast, I’d like to get a shower first.”

“That’s the plan. I’m going to take you to one of those frou-frou brunch places that serves champagne with breakfast. We’re going to get steak and eggs and potatoes and French toast — all prepared in unusual ways with unexpected sauces, with this odd orange-champagne mixture that shouldn’t work, but it does.” He shrugged. “Or that’s what some of the members of the flock have told me.”

Genie went into the bathroom without responding. She didn’t completely close the door, but he couldn’t see into it from his spot on the sofa. He had a business suite, which came with a desk and a good-sized sitting area.

He’d also learned that when she worked, she wore her regular bra covered by an exercise bra he thought was possibly two sizes too small. Even with that, she looked overly endowed, but he had to admit it toned things down a great deal. It couldn’t have been comfortable, but she said she was used to it.

She exited the bathroom five minutes later in jeans and a sweater, with her boobs back on display despite the fact the sweater completely covered them.

He gathered his rolling bag, her duffel, and he opened the door and motioned her out. She made a circuit of the room and the bathroom, likely to be certain they had everything, and then went into the hallway. He’d already checked out through an app on his phone, so they merely had to go to the garage and then drive out.

“I’d like to sleep in my own bed today,” she told him. “You’re welcome to sleep with me, I’m not saying I need time alone, just that I need time in my own space.”

“That’s fine,” Dev told her. “I’d love to spend time with you in your apartment. We can eat together when we awaken, and I’ll return to my place when you go back to work tonight. Will you come to us when you get off work tomorrow morning?”

“Yeah. I know I’m only supposed to be in Birmingham until late January, and it’s probably too early to start talking about why that might need to change, but it feels as if I should spend my off days with the three of you as much as possible while we’re figuring out whatever…” She sighed. “I don’t know what’s happening, but I don’t know if moving back to Chattanooga is a possibility. If the weird bond-thing dissipates, I can, but what if it doesn’t?”

“These things are usually pretty permanent, if left alone,” Dev told her, speaking slowly while he figured out a strategy for how to have this conversation without freaking her out. “There are ways to undo them, but it isn’t easy.”

“Distance, right?”

“That’s one possibility, but it usually means a different continent, rather than a different city. I think something like twelve hundred miles? I can’t remember, but it’s a lot. It’s possible to over-write some bonds with a different one, and that can be relatively painless, but you need to have a stronger connection with someone else, and sometimes it just pulls everyone from the original one into the new one as well, ratherthan replacing it. A strong vampire can break this kind of bond, but it isn’t painless. Brooke can probably do it, and if not, she can help us negotiate for another to do it.”

“I wouldn’t have chosen it, but now that we have it, my instincts are to explore it and see if all of us want to live with it. If even one of us does not, then I think we have to try to break it. I wouldn’t want to hold someone to it who didn’t want to be part of us.”

“The twins, for now, are being encouraged to share their wants and desires during scheduled meeting times, but not outside of those times. Nothing is guaranteed, but it’s an opportunity for them to view the pros and cons of wants and wishes they have. Toddlers begin learning consequences for poor decisions early on, but our cats were never given that kind of autonomy.”

“Brooke has a lot of cats on her security team,” Genie noted. “The security detail the other night, at the mall, didn’t stay close to us, but I knew they were there, and they were all either mountain lions or leopards, I think.”

“Some of that comes from an agreement with His Majesty the Amakhosi. Cats he might otherwise have to kill or allow to fall into Concilio hands, he can offer to Brooke as a last chance for them. The cat has towantto be good in most cases before we’ll take him or her on, so it’s an issue of control, rather than of a wicked character. It gives His Majesty options, and has provided Brooke with cats who are bound to her tightly enough she can make certain they aren’t a danger to humans or the secret.”

“I have this idea, or feeling maybe, that our cats got into a lot of trouble when they were owned by the Concilio.”

“Yes, but more as a result of being mischievous rather than evil. Also, hardheaded, as cats are wont to be.”

“I have questions about your snake. Is it okay if I ask them?”

“I’ll answer what I’m allowed to.”

“What kind of snake are you?”

“An extinct one. I’ve looked through all the snakes that’ve been classified, and I’m probably closest to some descendent of the Titanoboa. My head can be close to the size of a seventy’s era Volkswagen bug, though I can choose to be smaller, thankfully. However, there’s another twist. Usually, snakes are either a constrictor or they are venomous. I am both. There’s a snake in Australia, the pseudonaja, commonly known as the Australian brown snake, or sometimes the eastern brown snake, that is both. However, it has neurotoxins and anticoagulants in its venom, and I primarily have a nasty soup of neurotoxins and cardiotoxins.”