Page 59 of The Vampire and the Tattooist (The Vampire and Series Book 4)

Gabriel sighed and rubbed his head. He was sat behind Quintus’s desk, searching through the paperwork, not that he expected to find anything.

“Are you okay, little witch?” Mathis asked, looking at him in concern.

“Yeah, it’s just a bit overwhelming, that’s all. Do you really think Quintus would be stupid enough to have incriminating paperwork here?”

Mathis looked at him. “This is the guy that had meeting agendas sent out, used his initials, and didn’t disguise his voice. Pretty sure there will be something here.”

General Goldbury burst out laughing. “Seriously?”

Mathis nodded. “Oh yeah.”

“You said that the wolves and vampires as well as the witches were involved. What about other paranormal’s?” the General asked.

“We’ve not discovered any others, but that’s not to say no one else was involved,” Gabriel told him. “But we have no authority over them. All we can do is shut down what we know and hopefully stop those streams.”

The general frowned. “That won’t stop the problem. A meeting should be called for all council personnel no matter the group, so everyone knows what is going on.”

“I’ll contact Stefan and Bert and see what they think,” Gabe said, pulling his phone out of his pocket when Kayden rushed into the room.

“What’s wrong?” Gabe asked, jumping up.

“I hit the jackpot. Oswald had files upon files of this underground network in his office. I thought Leonard’s secret room was full. Literally everything in his office is connected,” Kayden said, grinning.

“Seriously?” Mathis asked.

“Oh yeah. Come and see.”

Gabe lookedat some of the files on Oswald’s desk and shook his head. “Stefan and Bert need to see all this.”

“I’ll phone them,” Mathis said, pulling his phone out.

* * *

Stefan was lookingthrough Jessica”s files when Mathis phoned.

“What have you found?” Stefan asked.

“A lot, and I do mean a lot of files in Oswald’s office. We should find all the answers we’re looking for in these files. Gabe thought you should come down and see.”

“I’ll come now,” Stefan said, hanging up. He looked at the guard who was guarding the room. “Can you stay here? I’ll have David come in and carry on searching this office.”

“Of course, sire.”

“Thanks,” Stefan said, walking out of the room and into the one David was in. “It would seem that Quintus’s assistant kept files of everything regarding this underground network. I’m going down to see what’s been found.”

“Want me to come?” David asked him.

Stefan shook his head. “I would rather you carried on searching Jessica’s room for me. This one can wait.”

David stood up. “I can do that.”

“Have you heard how Seth and your men are getting on?”

“They’ve started searching Jessica’s properties as well as Oswald’s and Quintus’s. As soon as they find something, they’ll let me know and I’ll let you know. Also, Gio said that guards have started turning up, both his and yours.”

Stefan nodded his head. “Good. I’ll see you in a bit.”

He also sent a message to Cairo and Troy asking them to come to the witches’ floor since Troy and Cairo had gone off earlier to poke around the cat shifters’ department.

Stefan met all of them in the lift.

“How did your vampires react?” Bert asked him.

“We discovered another vampire involved. She’s currently in the cells here and her homes are being searched as we speak. You?”

“We’ve found no other wolves that were involved. But Pepe, our receptionist, has kept records of everything he hears. It makes for interesting reading.”

“Kitty?” Bert asked.

“Nothing concrete, but a couple of the office workers look scared,” Troy replied. “We should think about calling a meeting of the whole council.”

“Yes, that would be wise. Let’s discuss it with Gabe,” Stefan said.

Just then, the lift doors opened. The receptionist jumped to her feet. “King Stefan, Alpha King Bertrum. I’m not sure...”

“Lord Augusta asked us to come,” Stefan said.

“He did,” Mathis said, walking into the reception area. “Come on through. You’re gonna love this.”

* * *

Stefan,Bert, Cairo, and Troy stared around the office.

“Seriously? Everything in here relates to the underground group?” Cairo asked in astonishment.

Gabe nodded. “Everything we’ve looked at so far, yes. It literally details everything.”

“I want to say could they be any more stupid, but yes, they can,” Bert commented, picking up a folder and looking into it.

“How can an organisation that’s been going this long be so lackadaisy about keeping all this secure?” Sean asked.

“They got too complacent and thought they were untouchable,” Troy said.

“It’s gonna be a long day,” Cairo said.

“General Goldbury suggested we call a full council meeting,” Gabe told them.

“Troy had the same thought. But if we do that, how many more council members will go into hiding?” Stefan said.

“Pretty much all the council members are in today. I checked,” Troy said.

“I can station guards at all entrances and exits, completely locking this place down, and you can call a full council meeting now,” General Goldbury suggested.

Bert looked at Stefan and Gabe. “That sounds sensible.” He looked at the general. “How soon can you lock this place down, quietly, so no one has time to make a run for it?”

The general pulled his phone out of his pocket. “Give me five minutes.”

“You can lock a building this big down in five minutes?” Gabe asked, sounding shocked.

The general laughed. “I can lock this place down in under two minutes, but you want guards on all entrances and exits, which will take a few minutes.”

“So how do we call a full council meeting?” Kayden asked.

“We use the emergency call button,” Stefan said.

Gabe grinned. “Please tell me it’s a red button. Also, how do we make sure everyone attends?”

“If the emergency button is used, council policy is that everyone congregates in the main meeting hall. It will fit everyone in,” Stefan said.

“I can also have some guards do a sweep of each floor, making sure everyone is in attendance.”

“Just how many guards does the council have?” Sean asked.

“A lot. To be honest, I’m sure everyone is enjoying today. This is the most fun we’ve had in years,” the general said, grinning.

“Guards are so weird,” Kayden said, shaking his head.

“I can’t wait to see the look on everyone’s faces when we all walk in together,” Mathis said, grinning.

“So where is the emergency button?” Gabe asked.

“The closest will be in Quintius’ room,” Bert said. “All leaders have the magical red button of emergencies. Come on, Gabe, I’ll show you. If you”re good, I might even let you press it.”

Gabe grinned and followed Bert out of the room.