Page 7 of Beyond the Veil (Endangered Fae #4)

Chapter Three

Werewolf – Classification: Magically altered human

Another alteration often classified as a kelan structure disease, werewolves are among the most maligned of altered humans . While potentially destructive, a Were who understands his or her cycles is able to manage the violent stage of the change effectively and safely.

D iego had arrived in the dining-room-turned-conference-room early, wanting the advantage of terrain.

Travel mug of coffee on his right, Finn dozing on his left, he was able to greet every newcomer individually, shake hands and reestablish contact.

If he had waited until the room had filled, he would have had to rush through greetings, forced around the room from person to person without a chance to reconnect on a personal level.

Both Kevin and Marcus gave him bone-creaking hugs.

Carol had greeted him the day before but embraced him again anyway, lingering for a kiss on the cheek.

Stacy and Dan, newer office staff at the time of the incident, settled for handshakes, as did the rest of the security staff.

Theo, he was sad to see, kept his distance and offered only a nod in greeting.

“I thought you said he needed to feed?” Diego whispered in Zack’s ear.

“We put it off a few hours. He wanted to be here.”

Lugh arrived last, his presence making the room feel half its size, his smile a miniature sun.

He showed no discomfort greeting a room full of staff but then, he had no reason for lingering guilt and shame, no reason to doubt his welcome.

He wrapped his huge arms around Diego and pulled him close, holding him for longer than human social expectations would have allowed.

The sidhe prince, whom Diego had imprisoned in iron chains and had caused such terrible pain and anguish, forgave him and would forgive him as many times as he needed to hear it.

He only wished the rest of the world had such immense, loving hearts.

“Morning, Highness, so nice of you to join us.” Zack received a kiss instead of a hug or a clap on the shoulder, so his gentle sarcasm obviously wasn’t taken seriously. “I think we’re all here. Settle, people, please. I know we’re all excited. Someone want to wake Finn up, maybe?”

Finn snorted and jerked awake at the sound of his name. “I put it back! Blood and bone, I swear I did!” When Diego patted his arm, he blinked, looked around the room and offered a disarming grin. “Hello, everyone.”

“Are you all right?” Diego twined their hands together as he spoke to Finn mind to mind. The trembling in those long fingers worried him.

“I dreamt of something…I don’t recall now.” Outwardly, Finn still smiled, but Diego felt his unease as a cold trickle down his spine. “ I’m a mite tired.”

“All the flying. Of course, mi vida .”

He squeezed Finn’s hand in reassurance as an odd shiver in the flows of magic passed from his pooka lover to him.

Premonition, precognition, whatever the human world was calling it these days, Finn joked that they could feel disturbances in the Force when they were together.

Trouble was, the feelings were rarely specific enough to glean any useful warnings.

Zack paced by and patted Finn on the shoulder. “I know you’re probably wiped. Promise to keep this short as we can.”

“My undying gratitude,” Finn said.

“You want coffee, sir?” Dan asked, pushing his chair back from the table.

Several voices cried out, “ No!” before Diego waved at the young man to sit back down. “Thank you. That’s very thoughtful. But pookas and caffeine don’t play well together.”

Zack took his place at the head of the table in front of the presentation screen, new since Diego had last been in the room.

“Good morning, everyone. Now, we’re here to catch Mr. Sandoval up on where things stand, but I know some of you only get the immediate, need to know briefings, so if you have questions along the way, now’s the time. Carol?”

At the far end of the table, Carol tapped on her laptop and the screen behind Zack blinked into glowing life to show a political map of the world, the countries color-coded in green, blue, orange, yellow and red.

“Stacy’s been working on keeping this updated, but this is how magical legislation stands right now out there.

” Zack pointed to Sweden. “The green countries are where magical creatures are allowed the same protections as humans and where human citizens with magical abilities and syndromes are supported and offered equal rights.”

Diego frowned. The proportion of green was distressingly small—much, but not all, of Europe, Canada and a few scattered bits in Asia. He squinted to be sure, afraid he might be mistaking one shade for another, but the US was blue rather than green.

“I know. I wish we could’ve been farther along with some of this.” Zack’s ears had turned pink, his expression mirroring Diego’s distress.

“These things take time,” Diego offered softly then gestured to the map. “What’s the blue? There’s a good deal more of that.”

“Ah. That’s not a bad thing. Progress, at least. Blue is where nonhumans are granted certain diplomatic immunities and where efforts are being made to address the needs of magic users.”

“Not fast enough for senmajes to be safe,” Dan muttered.

Diego half-turned toward him. “Pardon? The what? Sen Madges?”

“Um, Dan?” Zack’s ears had deepened from pink to scarlet. “How about we stow the slang in the conference room. At least until Mr. S has a chance to catch up.”

“Which does not answer the question,” Finn said in his driest tone.

Zack cleared his throat again. “It’s what magic-sensitive humans have started to call themselves. Ourselves. One of those Internet things that stuck. People had long arguments over what to use. Witch. Mage. Magic user. No one agreed. They still don’t, but senmaj is what most prefer now.”

“Ah.” Diego nodded his thanks. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to derail you.”

“Happens a lot around here.” Zack grinned when he said it, though.

Diego understood that perfectly. Around fae, staying on topic could often be a challenge.

“So the yellow are those countries where there might be some education and support, but with certain restrictive laws in place, such as where fae are permitted and where magic-sensitive humans might live, what jobs they can have, that sort of thing.”

A few countries in South America stood out as bright yellow against the blue, with other patches scattered worldwide.

“The orange, you’ve probably figured out, are more restrictive countries and the red are those countries where magic has been outlawed. Which, to me, is sort of like outlawing air, but it scares some governments. Things they can’t control.”

“We do our best not to frighten them further.” Lugh’s deep voice carried hints of sorrow and long-suppressed anger. “Though sometimes we have intervened.”

That sounds alarming. “Intervened?”

“Diplomatic rescue missions,” Zack supplied, a muscle jumping in his jaw.

“If we hear about a detained fae in one of these places, though that’s rare.

The fae know better. Or if someone else’s citizen is wrongfully detained, or we hear about someone seeking asylum, we try to work the channels to get them out. ”

“Does that work?” Diego tried to imagine going into a country hostile to magic and being able to talk the government out of a prisoner.

“We don’t often have success directly,” Lugh explained. “We appeal to friendly nations’ consul authorities, ones with better relations in that country, to influence the outcome. The process is tedious, but we are often successful.”

“That’s really good to hear. I know you’re trying to do everything you can.” Diego stopped. He didn’t really want to ask, but if he was going to work with the consulate again, he had to know. “But when it’s not successful?”

Lugh’s sorrow rippled out across the room in heavy, lead-apron waves. The fae present, and Dan, Carol, Zack and Theo, all cringed. Zack strode to him and put a hand on the prince’s shoulder as Lugh leaned back against him.

“Sometimes we’re too late,” Zack said softly. “Some countries hold their executions within hours of arrest. A couple of times, we’ve had to use…non-diplomatic resolutions.”

Diego shivered at the possibility of implied violence in that statement, his fingers tightening involuntarily on Finn’s. He had no right, no room to find fault, since he hadn’t been there for them and had contributed to a large portion of the political mess.

“Has anyone…? Has there ever…?” He shook his head, finding he had neither the will nor the breath suddenly to ask.

“Rescue missions,” Zack said gently. “Quick extraction. The Silver Adepts made the doors we need, those couple of times. We’ve only done it when we had to and one of the fae was in trouble.”

Rather than reassure him, those statements taken together only made Diego dizzy with anxiety. The Silver Adepts were the young coven who had been the catalyst to the incident three years before. He didn’t like to think of them at risk. Besides that—

“I don’t understand.” Diego tried to control his wavering voice, steadying a little when Finn slid an arm around him. “The fae go into dangerous places? They leave Tearmann Island to go abroad to these countries where we know they’re at risk?”

Zack blinked at him in obvious confusion.

“Well, some of our staff certainly go abroad. His Highness, of course. Lots of invitations. And they love Sionnach in Japan where he’s been helping set up magic schools.

They call him kitsune , though they know he’s not.

” He bent down so Lugh could murmur in his ear.

“Oh! Sorry, Mr. S. Wasn’t tracking. We’ve found isolated individuals and small pockets of nonhumans around the globe.

Kind of like Finn was when he woke. Those who were stuck when the Veil closed.

Not fae like the ones closest to our door, the ones we know, but different sorts. ”