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I stepped out andthere was an arates, sucked in a lungful of air, and roared "Make way for the Consort!"

Oh boy

Eduardo stood to the side I strode through the gates and the lobby Eduardo fell in behind me

Before the Shift, the hotel was a many-star establishment, complete with an on-the-premises restaurant, a coffee shop, and a happy hour area raised on a three-foot platform Mercs filled the main floor now The twin lines of the shapeshifters had sliced through the crowd and stopped, for like statues, hands behind their backs, feet together A lone table waited for ht Bob Carver and Ivera gawked at me with owl eyes

I walked to the platfor The entirety of the Guild focused oneven with ht wrist, and offered me the makeshift step

Do not fall, do not fall, do not fall

Without breaking my stride, I stepped onto his arms and then onto the platform

We’d practiced it at least two dozen times before we had left for the Guild

The three shapeshifters, Derek, Eduardo, and Jezebel, turned, their backs to the platfore wooden box The two lines of shapeshifters stepped to the left as one, snapping into a wider stance

Soasped

Showti all my power into roup holds forty The veterans hold another forty"

You could hear a pin drop

"You’ve had months to choose a leader You have failed and asked the Pack to break this deadlock This is my proposal to the Guild Listen well, because there won’t be another"

They were listening Thank you, Universe, for small favors

"Solomon Red envisioned this Guild as a place for independentin the way they see fit We must continue the course he plotted for us"

It was bullshit Soloested it, so I plowed on ahead

"Point One The Guild will appoint a Chief Administrative Officer to oversee day to day operations and financial security of the Guild I nominate Mark for this post Point Two The Guild will appoint a Chief Personnel Officer to protect interests of its s I nominate Bob Carver for this post Point Three, the Guild will create the post of the Pack Liaison Officer ill represent Pack’s interests in the Guild as its third largest shareholder I will be taking over this post Together the Chief Administration Officer, Chief Personnel Officer, and Pack Liaison Officer will form the Guild Committee, which will meet on the fifteenth of everythe Guild will be resolved by vote of the committee members"

I looked down The shapeshifter at the end of the left line stepped forward and unfolded a sht line placed a tall stack of index cards and three pens on the table Derek stepped forward and put his wooden box in the center of the table

"The Guild will now vote," I announced "Each of you rite your merc ID on the card, add one word: YES or NO, and drop it into this box I give you this last chance to save the Guild and your jobs Don’t blow it"

Two hours later, the two hundred and forty-six mercs voted yes, thirty-two voted no, and sixty one dropped blank cards with their ID’s into the box, abstaining I ot the hell out of there

Chapter Nine

I went to see I the Guild She spent half an hourto convince r was a Bad Idea I kneas a Bad Idea I just didn’t see any way around it

I got to the office just after noon The Dude and a cart containing one very sedated deer waited forlot A female shapeshifter I didn’t know sat on the cart with a sour expression on her face It tookin the shade, crouched a vampire It was thin, wiry, and covered in purple sunblock frou up and down Instead I gave the vamp my flat stare

"There are more inside," the female shapeshifter informed me

I stepped into the office Curran sat at e In front of him, four vampires sat in a neat row in the ht outside, one was Grinch green, and the last one blazed with orange

"I get the sunblock," I said "But why do you have to paint theed its jaws "The bright color helps to make sure they’re completely covered," an unfamiliar female voice explained "It’s easy to , they have a lot of wrinkles"

Ugh "What the reen vamp spoke with Ghastek’s voice, "It has co to see a creature in the Viking territory with the purpose of finding a means to remove the necklace from the child An undead creature That explicitly violates the terreement to resolve this ed

"And how did you know this?" I asked