Amelia wrapped her arms around herself. "We now know that the necklaces are made from souls."
Darian wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close. "We know that the necklaces are being created for the express purpose of giving the wearer shifter abilities, halt physical and mental degradation, and they can sometimes render the user invisible."
Elizabeth turned to Gavriel. "We know they are actively trying to recruit warriors by any means necessary."
"We know that the necklaces glow bright green when you break them." Aiden grimaced. "We've already broken a few--one by accident and the others because they were hurting Amelia."
Meryn tapped her fingers on the table as if she was typing on an imaginary keyboard. "We also know they have been organizing for a long time; this shit didn't happen overnight."
Anne leaned forward. "Not to sound like a five-year-old, but why? What are they after?"
Kendrick looked up. "The number one reason for every cause of misery in the paranormal world since the dawn of time."
Everyone looked at him expectantly.
Kendrick looked around the table. "Power."
Meryn scrunched up her face. "That's stupid. Power to do what?" She curled her fingers in air quotes. "Rule the world?"
Kendrick remained silent. He had been around a long time; he had seen what the taste of power could do to people.
Meryn's mouth dropped. "Seriously? We're dealing with a paranormal version of Pinky and the Brain?"
Kendrick blinked at her. He couldn't help himself; he started to laugh. How did she do it? How did she manage to reduce the most serious threat to their world since the Great War down to a cartoon?
"Meryn, I love you," he said and wiped his eyes. Around the table, everywhere he looked, he was met with confused expressions. Only Rheia and Anne were smiling.
Kendrick scowled at the men. "Don't any of you watch television?"
Darian shook his head. "Not really, though I'm surprised that you understand Meryn's references."
Kendrick sighed. "I don't get out much. Television is a welcome change of pace when I need a break from my studies."
Anne giggled at his side. "And he doesn't play well with others."
Aiden frowned. "Why does that sound familiar?" He glanced down at Meryn.
Gavriel cleared his throat. "So we have the Committee using our current crisis with the ferals to gain political leverage to change our current power structure..."--he laid his head back with a sigh--"all while we are scrambling to deal with the destruction and chaos the super ferals are creating."
Meryn reached under the table and pulled out her laptop. "Are we going with the term 'super feral' as the official name?"
Gavriel raised his head and stared at her. "You know, you are right. We have not come up with a name for them as of yet."
Colton shook his head. "I don't like it. It makes them sound more impressive than they really are."
"What about reapers?" Anne asked softly. "They're responsible for taking people's souls right?"
Meryn smiled at her. "That's perfect! So the rambling, brainless monsters that y'all are used to are ferals. The ones that wear the soul necklaces and lead armies of ferals are now called reapers." Meryn tapped away on her laptop.
Kendrick noticed that Anne had turned white. He leaned down. "What's the matter?"
She looked up at him, her blue eyes wide. "She said rambling, brainless monsters. That sounds a whole hell of a lot like zombies to me!"
Meryn looked at her. "They are not zombies because they don't go after people's brains; they kinda eat all the body parts."
Kendrick watched as Anne started to sway in her seat. "Just breathe. Nothing can get to you here, I promise."
Meryn shook her head. "Actually we've been attacked here twice."
"Meryn! Remember what I told you about being more observant to social cues?" Elizabeth hissed.
Meryn looked over at Anne, and her eyes got wide. "Sorry!"
Kendrick wrapped and arm around Anne and pulled her close. "That was before I was here. Nothing can attack this house and survive."
Anne looked up. "Promise? I swear, I normally have nerves of steel, but I just can't do zombies. When I was a kid I stayed up after my parents went to bed and watched Night of the Living Dead, I've been having nightmares ever since."
Kendrick took one more moment to enjoy the feel of her tucked in close before he gave her a final squeeze and let her go. "Promise. An army of those things could attack and they wouldn't make it to the first step of the porch."
Aiden snorted. "Don't make promises you can't keep. Those things are strong and ruthless. They think and they learn. They aren't like normal ferals."
"Reapers, call them reapers," Meryn interjected.
Kendrick looked across the table. "I never make promises I can't keep."
Colton laughed. "Come on Kendrick, you versus an army?"
Kendrick just stared at him.
Colton quieted. "Seriously?"
Kendrick decided that it was time to give the men a reality check. "Gentlemen, I have more than enough power to handle these so-called reapers and not break a sweat. You're used to working with witches that are under five hundred years old. Storm Keep will only allow young witches to serve in the units outside of Storm Keep. Once they hit five hundred years old, they have to return to the city where they continue their studies and are assessed. If they are deemed too weak to serve the city as a witch, they can resume their positions amongst the units; however, most do fairly well and go on to master their chosen field of magic."