25
Morgan pov.
"You are brave." Cade whistles as we walk back to my office after our morning safety brief with Sinclair. "Two weeks. Two weeks on DND and you walk in here and act like you haven't been gone but a few hours." He laughs and I shrug my shoulders.
"It's not like much has changed. She forgets that I wrote most of the code keeping the Glaze functioning. There isn't much that I missed, unless she's decided to tell us why she still hasn't redacted her expansion proposal." I allow him to walk into my office first and he shakes his head.
"Unfortunately, no such thing has happened. The Commander has been here twice in your absence though and I think Rames is aiming for your job." We look at each other and then burst out laughing.
"Rames will have to actually use his head." An alert comes through, and I punch in my keycode to see the sector representatives have set a home meeting with me for tonight.
"Are you in trouble?" Cade asks, looking over my shoulder at the alert on my desk and I shrug my shoulders.
"No idea." He pats me on the back and mentions something about safety codes of a new building before leaving. I try to call Luca, but the Fairie still isn't taking my calls making me more than a little worried. Okay, I get being mad about the expansion, but not answering my calls for three weeks? I make a mental reminder to ask Isa tonight, since she's so kind to pay me a personal visit. I send Rain a message to expect extra dinner guest, four of them.
***
The doorbell rings at exactly seven o clock and when it opens Isa, Benjamin, Agness and Sinclair are all standing behind it, dressed in their official uniform. I wave them in without a sound, feeling a little of my nerves leave me as Benjamin leans down and gives me a soft kiss on the cheek as greeting. Having them show up in their uniform isn't a comforting sight though.
"Are you staying for dinner?" I know they are, they always do even if this happens so rarely, maybe because it happens so rarely.
"Yes, if we're not imposing." Isa smiles, her wings tucked tight to her back tonight. I give her a tight smile and lead them into the dining room, where Rain has already set everyone's places. Benjamin takes a seat at the head of the table, Isa on his left and Agness on his right. Sinclair next to Agness and I fall in line next to Isa with Rain's place the only one vacant on my side. The wolf in question brings in the food and I watch him as he moves around the representatives with ease. "This is impressive." Benjamin remarks when Rain finally sits down. The wolf made each guest their own meal and I can't help but notice it's something that they would actually eat back home. "Tell me, pup. How long have you been Morgan's slave?" I tense at the word, making Benjamin smirk. The ancient vampire knows exactly what he's doing and I'm playing right into his hand.
"Four weeks." Rain answers without missing a beat. Isa smiles over at him but I know her kindness always comes with ulterior motives. The Fairie is a master manipulator. She can convince you to buy air if she so choses to.
"Why are you all here?" I ask, having wanted to at least get through dinner but with the tension in the air I know that won't happen.
"There has been a violation." Sinclair pipes up, having no doubt been waiting to utter those words to me. "Your slave has broken rules." I look over at Rain whose eyes are wide, filled with panic.
"Bedroom, Rain. Now." For the first time since I met him, he doesn't hesitate and leaves the table like someone lit him on fire. When I'm sure he's gone I lean back in my chair and drag my gaze over the people at the table. "Okay, now that you've managed to sufficiently scare the crap out of him, what the fuck are you talking about?"
"Calm down, little one." Benjamin shushes.
"He's been looking into human behavior. You as well as we know it's cause for concern." Agness tries to sweet talk in her steady voice. "We believe that he's trying to study you." She continues and I bite my lip to keep myself from cussing them all out.
"No, you believe he's trying to kill me. That's why you're in my house, isn't it? That's why you didn't send a Court Marshall like these cases require." Benjamin and Isa share a look. "We were worried about you." Isa says and I shake my head.
"He's not trying to kill me. I gave him the tablet. I gave him the account. Gave him the order to study. That's what he's doing. He's following orders." Sinclair narrows her eyes at me. "Why would you give him an order that would allow him to break the rules?"
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"Why would you let someone go who branded my property against my direct request to deliver him without marks?" Slight panic glazes over her eyes before she steels herself again. "I'm not the only one at this table who has done what they were not supposed to do."
"What is she talking about?" Benjamin looks over at Sinclair who looks down at her lobster as if it's the most interesting thing in this room.
"Directed a Court Marshall to drop the case I opened against Gerald Hutting for damaging Rain like he's some sort of cattle. Apparently, that's not a safety concern when you violate a contract but Rain making some dark web searches warrants me a visit from the entire representative squad. How lucky am I?" I grab my glass and take a healthy drink of my wine. Sinclair looks surprised, like she didn't think I'd find out.
"Sinclair?" Agness asks and the blond-haired woman rolls her eyes.
"It's irrelevant to the matter at hand." She tries and I scoff.
"It's relevant but just because it's you in trouble you'll try to sweep it under the rug and that's fine." Her eyes widen and I smile. "As long as you sweep Rain's dark web searches under the rug, and we say this was a friendly dinner between the five of us. He was following orders. He shouldn't get in trouble for doing what I told him to do. Don't we all agree?" They look at each other before they all nod.
"A friendly dinner indeed." Isa lifts her glass and drains the entire thing. I follow suit knowing I'll have to get the Fairie alone at some point.
"I'll get Rain." I mutter and Benjamin shakes his head, rising from his seat.This belongs © NôvelDra/ma.Org.
"No, let me." He speeds out of the room before I can stop him, not that I would. The less fuss I put up now, the sooner I can get these beings out of my house. Friendly dinner my ass.