The last few people trickled in, were shown their rooms, and then trickled back into the central meeting room where we all sat patiently, if loudly. The conversational tone had risen until I had to shout to make myself heard over the tumult when I saw RG and some woman amble in and look around for a seat. They made their way around the crush of bodies and settled next to Rose and me on a cushion. I opened my mouth to ask if he'd been followed on the way here, but at that moment Kali and Hades walked in and Kali rang a large bell. We were silent before the tones of the bell faded.
"I'll make this quick, the fire at the club was an accident, there was a cigarette, a spilled brandy glass, and a lot of excitement over the fight and the broken door. We don't need to flee for our lives, but Ariana at least, has shown she is willing to make things more difficult for us. If anyone wants to take off and go into hiding until we reach you and let you know the castle is done that's cool, otherwise we are going to go back to the club, clean things up and get on with life. There are things we all need to wrap up before the move. There are people we need to track down, and a large number of loose ends to be-" Kali broke off staring gape mouthed at RG. "What exactly are you doing RG?"
RG looked up innocently. "I'm listening Kali, what should I be doing?"
"You know exactly what I mean. Is that who I think it is?" I leaned around RG and finally recognition struck. The woman who had entered with RG had been the one I had seen him with at the nightclub, the cop! I stared at the petite beauty until Kali spoke again.
"Alright, we can cope with this. We've coped with every other weirdness that has ever happened. Now what exactly is she doing here." Kali's expression was shifting rapidly between anger and interest. Everyone had been following the priest's romance, and now we could at least see the girl upon whom he was so smitten. "RG, you and I will talk in a few minutes." Kali visibly shifted gears and then continued.
"We are working to get the club in town emptied of the day crowd and ready so that we can redirect Ariana's bunch and the rest of the twits there. We are hoping it will take them a few days to realize that they are the only ones in the club. We'll be using our heartiest bouncers to staff the club and opening it to a wider crowd, mostly ravers and rejected members which will make it easier to conceal our absence. We on another hand can go back to the mansion and resume our lives. Devon has ordered every room in the mansion cleaned and aired so there will be lodging for anyone who wants it, and we will be instituting a security check on the door to make certain we don't let in anyone who might cause trouble." She stopped, but I could her eyes flick to RG momentarily.
"That is all for now, if anyone has any questions, feel free to ask. If anyone is scared, Devon has offered this place up as a retreat for the next few weeks. We do, however, ask that if you decide to stay, you stay the whole time. There is plenty of amusement to be found and the less traffic that comes and goes from here the lower our chances of being found. Thanks everyone, now I'll let you go back to your business." She turned to go through the door and then froze. She turned and looked directly at RG.
"RG, you and I are going to speak now, and we're going to do this in front of whoever wants to listen because what you have done could affect everyone. How do you explain bringing her here? She is not a member, and she is a police officer with an active interest in bringing us down. Was there some method to your madness or are you truly being ruled by your gonads right now?"
RG leaned forward to speak, but the cop jerked something at his throat and he was silent. She leaned forward to speak and Kali cut her off. "I asked RG a question, you are an uninvited guest, a guest none the less, so we will not throw you off the balcony, but be very careful."
RG again leaned forward to speak, and again he was jerked to silence. I looked this time and realized the woman was tugging the end of a reinforced rosary. I was still examining the beaded leash and collar when I realized the woman was speaking. "...Here to request sanctuary. I accepted this assignment when I realized what kind of group you were. I am this close to getting bounced off the force because I keep letting the consenting BDSM crowd go when we raid the nightclubs. Look, I know you're not doing anything wrong, but the Chief and a few of the local lawmakers do not agree with me. I don't want to bust you, I want to join you." She leaned back against her cushions and drew RG to her like a blanket. He curled over her lap and suddenly looked more content that I had ever seen him.
Kali stood with her hands on her hips and her eyes tightened in thought. For a moment I thought she was going to throw the both of them out and just take her chances with the law. When she spoke I understood why she was in such a position of leadership in the club. "OK, this is obviously more complicated than our background checks have shown." Her voice was calm and quiet. "I am going to ask that you and RG stay here in the tree house indefinitely. I can't force you to stay, but I will say this. If you leave it will not help your case any. RG, you are now considered compromised until further notice. And we will have to work out some form of penalty for your rather dramatic and ill-timed breakage of the rules. As it looks like the two of you are bonded in some way it might be smart to make it official while you are being held here because otherwise I will be free to assign whoever I feel like to carry out your sentence." As she turned I could see she was still angry, but there was the faint glimmer of a smile as well. She knew what she was doing, that much was obvious.
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