"Hey. All good?"
"Yep. What shall we do tonight?"
"Something low key. Pretty sure Cole is flaming mad about last night's photo incident."
Lincoln chuckles and says, "Yes, I saw that. Quite the couple."
I glare at him and say, "Anyway, take out and a movie?"
He grins and says, "Absolutely. My choice though. I’m still trying to get up to speed on the last fifty-seven years’ worth of cinematic excellence."
I roll my eyes. So far, we have done all of the Godfather films - twice - plus every other gangster film known to man, plus Kill Bill, and a bunch of the big hit blockbusters starting from 1956.
"Fine. Just get something we… well you, haven’t seen before. No more gangster crap."
He looks insulted. "Gangster crap? I take offense."
"Well, you shouldn't. That way of life is not acceptable," I admonish softly.
He looks a bit abashed. "Yes, I see the error of my ways, but really. You could give me one more?"
"No!" I snap good-naturedly. Having found out that Lincoln was a true 1950s Chicago mob member before he left in search of his own kind and got trapped by Lance, I am still surprised. He is the sweetest, gentlest, most loving person and I can't imagine him being that way. There again, who am I to judge? With a kill count higher than I care to think about, my glass house is no place to throw stones.
"Can we get Chinese?" he asks.
I smile at him and say, "Sure." I won't eat a great deal anyway, but he eats like there's no tomorrow.
"And maybe pizza as well. Oh, and popcorn!" he says enthusiastically.
"Whatever you want. Now I need to get to work," I say.
"Oh, I'm coming with. Scott said I could use the Video Conference facilities as I have issues that need hashing out with the southern states."
"Okay, no worries. Let's go then. Will you still be around for lunch?"
"Probably not, no. I need to get up to Brooklyn for a meeting of feline Shifters."
"Christ. You are busier than me!" I say.
"Well, in all fairness you have seven separate Ambassadors to do your Vampire dirty work. I, on the other hand, have just me to deal with a world full of Shifters," he says ruefully.
I stop in my tracks. It never even occurred to me that he would struggle. The Underworld is made up of numerous types of Weres or Shifters as we call them; Wolves, Cats, Bears, Dogs, you name it. They call me a Shifter, even though I don’t think of myself as one of them, because I can Shift into, not only my Dragon form, but other people. This, however, is not a trait synonymous with Shifters. It is a Dragon thing, and Dragons are not classified as Shifters, who are born what they are and can only Shift between their human form and their animal form. They are a completely separate species to us. If my mother ever heard anyone classify us Dragons as Shifters, She would probably throw a shit fit. All that aside, it seems I inadvertently dumped all of that onto Lincoln and he being who he is, has never mentioned it before.
"Shit. Linc! You should have said something sooner. We can appoint delegates. Just tell me who and where and
it's done."
He looks both relieved and annoyed that I question his ability to handle it. "We'll see," he grumbles but I can see that he is already making a mental list and I smile inwardly. I do need to focus more. This is getting a bit ridiculous, really. With one problem after another rearing its ugly head, I am just neglecting my duties. Bad me.
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED ONE
T he three of us stop at the coffee cart on the corner. I order my usual black coffee. This is getting to be a habit now and more often than not, I choose coffee over tea. Wondering vaguely if Cade is going to make an appearance, we step away and start the short walk.
"Christ, it's cold this morning," Lincoln grumbles. "That's one of the things I envy about your kind."
One of the things he envies? That's interesting: we usually get nothing but contempt - albeit good-natured contempt, if such a thing actually exists.
"Considering you were trapped in a forest for fifty-seven years in Romanian winters, I thought you'd be hardier than this," I scoff with a smile in my eyes to take out the sting.