Hard Bitten - Chloe Neill [100]
“How are things otherwise?”
“Well, we aren’t being used as scientific experiments,” Gabriel said dryly. “That’s a small victory.” One of his concerns about announcing shifters’ existence to the world was the fear they’d become fodder for military or medical research—the kinds of things you saw in monster movies and horror flicks. It wasn’t exactly a pleasant thought, and I was glad to hear it hadn’t come to pass.
“It’s not that I think humans don’t believe we’re threats,” he added. “They just aren’t entirely sure what to do with us.”
Shifters were generally considered the most powerful supernatural beings, at least of the groups I knew about so far. I considered humans’ ignorance on that point a benefit.
“And the shifters who attacked the House?”
His expression darkened. “They’re working their way through the penal system just like any average human criminal.”
While I grimaced, Scott clapped his hands together. “Welcome, all, to Grey House. I appreciate your attendance here, and hope this can be a step toward friendship among us. Shall we dine?”
Before we could answer, men and women in chef’s whites began pouring into the room bearing silver dome-topped trays. I took a seat beside Ethan as the trays were deposited before us. Two vampires traveled around the table with carafes of lemon water and bottles of a deep red wine, pouring as the vampires requested. Only Ethan, Jonah, and I opted for the wine; I guess we needed a drink worse than the others.
Other vampires lifted the domes, revealing a meal that might have been described as “Predator’s Delight.” Loins, roasts, cutlets. Sausages, steaks, filets. All laid out with artistic perfection. Oh, to be sure, there were sides, as well. Small fingerling potatoes, corn, and a grain salad of some kind. But in a room of vamps and shifters—predators among humans—the carnivorous urge was undeniable.
My stomach chose that moment to growl in a rumble that nearly echoed across the room.
As my cheeks heated, all eyes turned to me. I smiled lightly.
Gabriel smiled back, then lifted his water glass when the chefs disappeared from the room again. “Thank you, Mr. Grey, for the opportunity to share grain and beast with you. This is a meaningful gesture to us, and we hope our families can continue to commune in peace in the years to come.”
“Hear, hear,” Darius said, raising his glass, as well. “We are now neighbors in this fine city, and we hope that our days of strife are behind us, and that we can work together in peace and allegiance for millennia to come.”
Gabriel offered a polite nod and gestured with his glass again, but didn’t exactly commit to the “allegiance” bit. Vamps collected formal allegiances like baseball cards; shifters weren’t exactly crazy about that kind of thing.
“And since I’d truly rather Merit focus on her meal than on me,” Gabriel said with a wink, “let’s stop talking and start eating.”
But, of course, that would have been much too simple.
I don’t know why it surprised me that Scott offered up a mean feast. The man loved the Cubs, he had an amazing warehouse turned House, and Benson’s was his House bar. Those facts screamed “Quality Master.”
The food was no exception. The meats were choice cuts that even my particular father might have served to dinner guests. They were tender enough to make a knife irrelevant, and seared to perfection on the outside. He couldn’t have done better, especially for a group of predators.
Honestly, if I’d been a guy, I would have finished my plate, relaxed in my chair, and unfastened the top button of my pants. Food that good deserved undisturbed digestion.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be.
I’d just taken another sip of wine—grimacing at how dry it was—when the door at one end of the room burst open. Five vampires rushed in, some in black street clothes, but a couple wearing blue and yellow hockey-style jerseys with GREY HOUSE in capital letters across the front. They all had