There are all sorts of crimes out there, but human trafficking is one of the few that makes me physically sick. The mere thought of it twists my bowels into knots and knocks the air out of my lungs. It's something so inhuman, so utterly abhorrent, that I can't comprehend how people can engage in it.
"For now," Jordan speaks up as he finishes cleaning up the wound on my palm, "you should contact Anthony, Jonathan, and warn him about what seems to be going on behind the scenes. And I'd recommend insisting on being careful this time, lest he wants all hell to break loose again. There might not be as many powerful hunters as there were back in the day, but there are more than enough to cause significant damage. The government is also not to be taken lightly; it has powerful mutts on its side now, and the Association isn't corrupted enough to turn a blind eye if Katherine's machination comes to light."
"The thing is," I scoff, "they talked about a certain 'they' who gives them orders and whatnot. They're not alone in this shit."
"Well," Jonathan rubs his eyes, "I have a few aides who can investigate Katherine's whereabouts and see with whom she's been in touch. If they're going all out with their insane scheme, I doubt vampires are the only otherworldly beings they've roped in. Katherine is mad, but not dumb. She won't repeat the mistakes of the past."
I click my tongue. "Couldn't you have gotten rid of her back then? It'd have saved us trouble now."
"I'd have loved to." Jonathan starts to wobble, ultimately leaning against James's shoulder. The poor guy jolts, still not used to his patriarch using him as a pillow. "But the price I had to pay to ensure not all of our youngsters died took its toll on my body, and I was not in the right shape to confront every elder involved in the kingdom's scheme."
And it doesn't look like he's healed all that much since then, too. Jonathan sleeps most of the time, after all.
"There were too many vampires implicated, and some were old bastards. I had to pick my battles and let the more popular and powerful elders unscathed, or the main clan would have had to face internal riots. Too many of my people had died or were in no shape to fight to risk such an outcome."
What a farce.
That's why I don't like big clans. You always have to be careful, try to see the whole picture, and pick the lesser evil. You can't act however the fuck you want. At the time, that was probably the best Jonathan could do, just making sure there was no more collateral damage and the madness stalled.
Silence fills the room until James sighs. He rubs his neck and gestures toward the stairs, "I think it's better to call it a night for the time being. Investigating what Katherine and Miria are up to is going to take time, and it's not by racking our brains in the middle of the night that we'll get a stroke of genius. We know too little, and all we can come up with are conjectures. Also…"
James smirks, and I feel a shiver run down my spine.
"You should join the kids soon. It took me forever to convince them to get into their beds and sleep, and it worked with the promise that tomorrow morning, their dad would be there with them."
Fine, I get it. I also don't want to handle a tantrum if one of the kids wakes up to use the bathroom, so I wave James and Jonathan away. The thing, though, is that when Jonathan tries to get up, his knees buckle under him. He sits on the floor with a deadpan face, then lifts his eyes to meet James's. The silent request is clear to all.
I've got to fight a chortle as I watch James awkwardly pick up his patriarch to move him upstairs to his bedroom. Jonathan's body isn't responding well to his commands since he's been forcing himself to stay awake, and someone, aka James, has to help him get tucked into bed.
"Shall we go to bed, too?"
"Sure."
Although I doubt I'll get any sleep tonight. Well, I can at least try to get some. At any rate, resting my eyes won't do me any harm.
***
The kids' beds are too cramped, and Jordan and I tacitly decide to bring them to my bedroom instead. They're so dead asleep they don't wake up when we put them into the middle of the bed, between us.
I lie on my side, propping myself up on an elbow.
Elois is snoring, and Ellena is drooling. Still, they look peaceful. I feel a smile slip onto my lips as I stretch an arm to brush a rebellious strand of hair behind Ellena's ear. My thumb lingers, caressing her cheek. I'd like it if her dreams, like her brother's, remain peaceful, always.
The bed creaks, and I shift my attention to Jordan.
This time, he hasn't brought a pile of files with him. Instead, it's his laptop. I don't even need to ask what he plans to do with it; he probably wants to start investigating Katherine, Miria, and that mysterious they. He's not the kind to delay when he has something in mind, and it's not like he needs sleep.
"You should get ready to sleep," he tells me.
"I don't want to hear that coming from you," I cock an eyebrow, and he cocks one, too, in response. He stares at me intently until I grunt, "I don't really feel like sleeping yet." I grimace and, for once, offer an honest answer. "My mind is a bit too tumultuous for that right now."
There are so many thoughts twirling in my head that I don't know where to start. Things have been, let's say, eventful since I've been married off to the demon clan.
My wedding in itself was quite the shitshow.
Jordan's stare feels warm. Not hot, but warm. He hasn't opened his laptop yet, too busy looking at me instead. I know he's waiting for me to fall asleep before starting to work. He always does that. He's like a watchdog who needs his master to be sound asleep to have peace of mind or something.
"You know," I start, although unsure how to continue. Jordan doesn't press me and silently waits until I can find the right words. "Miria has a lot of people on her side in the clan. She has created her own little faction."
It has never sat well with me, and it sits even less well now. I fear she's gathering people of the same mind and getting rid of those who don't share her opinion or don't follow her blindly. It's easy to do in the hunter world. One wrong step, and people die in a hunt. No one is going to investigate it more than necessary.
I've been wondering about Melissa's death, too.
She was a good hunter, careful and with incredible instincts. So… would she really have fallen prey to an ambush and gotten herself killed? Without even dragging one of these lizards with her in the afterlife? Yeah, I doubt it. Kobolds are weak little shit after all, and that's why they hunt in groups.
If I think about it, many of my peers' deaths seem strange, too, strange enough for my father to start questioning if Melissa's demise is within the norms or if something else is at play. That's what Katherine's words hinted at when she spoke with Miria.
"Say Jordan." I hear myself speak. "If I want to wreck my clan, turn it upside down to uproot the rotten apples and cleanse the filth, would you help me?"
A second passes, then a smile blooms on his lips, so kind and indulgent that my mind blanks out for an instant. That is, until he opens his mouth, and his calm voice echoes in the quiet room.
"With pleasure."
That's all I needed to hear.
Finally, maybe I can fall asleep tonight.