My Guardian

Magnus sat down. "What do we actually know?"

Adriel stood and looked down at his clipboard. "Two refugees, John and Emily Wolfrun, went missing this afternoon. When they did not return to the crèche to pick up their son, Stefan, the wolves' Alpha, launched a search. Their bodies were found in the unused portion in the back of the Grand Hall. Both John and Emily had been completely drained of blood and had two puncture wounds on their necks consistent with vampire bites. Neither one had any previous interactions with any vampires from the city." He flipped a page and took a deep breath. "What some of you may not know is that just before the meeting, Dimitri called in a missing persons report. Augustus Pettier, a wine vendor under the Géroux family, has not been seen since last night. His sister says he never showed up to open their wine stand this morning."

Magnus had a pained look on his face. "Do you think he went feral?"

Adriel sat down and set his clipboard in front of him. "Unfortunately, it looks that way. A lot of vampires were affected yesterday with the smell of so much blood permeating the levels from the wounded refugees. It is very possible it was too much for him to handle."

Magnus looked at him. "I want Eta to move to the Grand Hall for patrols while housing is being arranged."

Etain leaned forward. "Sire, what about the mates? Eva, Beth and Meryn will be down on Level One."

"And they will have Sebastian, Ryuu, Aiden, Gavriel, Tarak, Kuruk, and me down there with them. The people need to see unit warriors patrolling to give them a sense of safety." Magnus turned to Adriel. "Any other issues?"

"No sire." Adriel shook his head.

To his right, Declan snorted. Adriel looked at his second in command. "What?"

"Sir, I mean no disrespect, but shifters were nervous before we had a double homicide to investigate. Your own mate and tiny Meryn were verbally accosted. Prejudices are rising to the surface, but they've always been there. With so many shifters here now, I'm afraid we'll see more incidents."

Aiden met Adriel's eyes before he turned to Declan. "Have they always given shifter unit warriors problems?"

Declan nodded, looking guilty. "Not just shifters. Just to give recent examples, Meryn and Eva were blocked at the transport tunnel despite being with Micah. And from what you were telling me before the meeting, Meryn was assaulted in the Marketplace by a vampire in full view of Nigel and Neil Morninglory. Granted they're young, but both are unit warriors. Non-vampires wield very little respect and power, despite position or rank."

Adriel felt like he had been sucker punched. "Why didn't you report any of this?"

Declan's expression became apologetic. "Sir, before the refugees got here, the incidents were so small they didn't bear reporting. For example, vampires not stepping aside for a unit warrior, or a unit warrior having to repeat requests before action is taken."

Adriel leaned back. "But they happened all the time, or am I wrong in that assumption?"

"No sir."

"I wish you had gone to your unit leader or me about this. You should know by now that my door is always open to the unit warriors." Magnus said looking as shaken as he felt.

Declan shook his head. "No sire, we couldn't. All of us have seen how hard you're already working to change perceptions. It's taken you decades to get a majority of the city willing to try blood substitutes. We didn't want to undermine those efforts, so we basically picked our battles."

"I appreciate that more than you know." Magnus gave Declan a tired smile. "I want the unit warriors concentrating on keeping those refugees safe and tracking down Augustus Pettier." He turned to Bethy. "Did we get anywhere with the housing project today?"

Bethy shook her head. "No, but that may be a good thing. In light of the recent tragedy, I'd like to keep all the refugees together on one level. I don't think they'd appreciate being split up, and frankly, we don't have enough warriors for them to patrol every level ensuring that the shifters aren't being bullied. I'd like to put forward the idea of adding all the additional housing to Level Six."

Magnus frowned. "But that is where the Marketplace is."

Beth nodded. "Exactly. They will be surrounded by people. It's a lively atmosphere, they can stay together, and they'll have access to vendors. This will eliminate the need for tunnel escorts altogether. Later, we can manage the empty houses as hotels or quarters for visitors. As an added benefit, creating the housing will go much faster since we'll be concentrating on one area instead of splitting up the witches over 4 levels."

Magnus nodded slowly. "I like it. Let us do that instead." He rubbed both temples. "And of course, we would have dinner with the Géroux family tonight. Maybe we should cancel?"

Adriel spoke up. "I do not think that is a good idea, sire. The Géroux family, as you know, has always been one of your biggest supporters. I think having dinner tonight will reinforce your faith in them." Adriel looked at Aiden and continued. "In fact, I would recommend you have as many dinners with the different families as soon as possible to get a bead on their true feelings."

"There is no way to do that without using magic," Magnus said.

"Meryn could, sire; she is a natural empath. She had to leave the Grand Hall yesterday when the refugees arrived because their pain and confusion overwhelmed her," Adriel suggested.