Dawn was streaking the sky with pink when I left the SIA. Standing out in front of my apartment, I stifled a yawn. The last twenty-four hours had been surreal. Drugged and kidnapped by Vince, who was working for the director, discovering I was a Druid, watching in awe as the Council had taken control of the SIA, issuing an arrest warrant for the director, clearing Nate of all charges, and making the human hunts our priority. The Council operated like a well-oiled machine and I had to give them credit for it. I'd always thought of the council as figureheads, pencil pushers who didn't bring much value to the paranormal community beyond being simple puppets for their respective species. How wrong was I?

There were layers to the Council no one was aware of. They had their own secret service, soldiers trained in war. I couldn't believe the SIA hadn't known about them, but I guess that was the point, wasn't it? For situations like ours where someone in a position of power becomes corrupt.

Carter slid his arm around my waist and tugged me into his side. He had to be even more exhausted than I was.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" He was gazing at the sun cresting over the horizon, light dancing in a magical display as the sunrise chased away the night.

"Sure is."

"I'm beat," he admitted and I chuckled.

"Me too."

There was so much more to talk about, so much more to sort out, but exhaustion tugged at me. We'd talk later.

* * *

Later came sooner than anticipated. I'd been asleep for what felt like minutes when there was a banging at my front door. Struggling out of bed, I slipped on a tank and pair of tracksuit pants and made my way downstairs, brushing my hair out of my face as I went.

"What?!" I demanded, flinging the door open. Nate stood there, fist raised ready to begin another round of pounding.

"Ah good, you're awake." Pushing past me, he headed for the kitchen, making himself at home.

"What do you want?" Closing the front door, I followed. "And did you bring breakfast?"

"I didn't, but I'll make you something." He grinned, opening my fridge door and peering inside. "How do you like your eggs?"

"Prepared by someone else," I grumbled, climbing onto a bar stool and watching as he placed the eggs on the counter and fixed coffee. "What do you want?" I asked again.

"I have a feeling what I'm about to say is going to piss you off." He stopped what he was doing and faced me, arms crossed over his chest. Great. Now what?

"Just spit it out. I'm tired. I've had what? Three hours sleep? I'm not in the mood for word games or dancing around the topic."

"So I'm the temporary Director of the SIA," he said, watching me closely. Okay. Not what I was expecting, but I shrugged, so what? Someone had to be. May as well be him.

"But you have no SIA experience," I pointed out.

"They wanted someone clean. New. With my special ops background and the resources I have at my disposal..."

"Yeah, fine, whatever." I cut him off. I really didn't care. Unless he was about to fire me. "Wait! You're not firing me, are you?"

Laughing, he shook his head. "No, I'm not firing you. Or Carter," he added before I could ask. Right on cue, Carter appeared at the top of the stairs.

"What do you want?" He sounded as grumpy as me. I smiled, leaning in for a kiss when he slid onto the stool next to me.

Nate continued making the coffee, sliding two steaming mugs across the counter to us.

"He's here to tell me something that's going to piss me off." I updated Carter, taking a sip of my coffee.

"Oh?" Carter cradled his own mug and watched Nate with narrowed eyes.

"How about the good news first?" Nate looked at a spot just beyond my shoulder. He was nervous. Which made me nervous. What did he have to say that was so terrible?

"Spit it out." Carter didn't catch the undercurrents, eyes on his coffee instead.

"The night you two were taken? There was no human auction. So we don't have any more missing humans. And with Vince on lockdown, the ring has been disbanded."

"That's good." I nodded, still on edge. "What else?"

"By combining resources we were able to make significant headway in determining Ridgeway’s plans."

"We know her plans. To make a super supernatural."

"I meant, why she chose those particular humans. They were specifically chosen. Vince told us she gave him the names. They weren't random. And they were kidnapped off the streets, not as part of an auction sweep which consisted of snatching the homeless."

"I'll bite. Why those particular humans? And where are my eggs?"

Rummaging around in my cupboards, Nate retrieved a bowl and began breaking eggs into it. "Because all of the victims have the Cennit6 gene. It's rare. Very rare."

"Okay. That's not news. Our own lab confirmed something about a rare gene." I shrugged.

"From Keller's notes we can see that he believes that gene is the key to a successful mutation, but they needed—a bridge, so to speak, to successfully marry that gene to the paranormal DNA."

"Okay." I nodded. I didn't know a whole lot about genes, DNA, and science, but what he said sounded feasible.

"You're the bridge."

"Okay," I said again. I already figured they thought my DNA was the key.

"Buried deep in your DNA, you have what they call building blocks. Well, they don't really call them that, they have a long scientific name I can't pronounce, but the gist of it is, they are building blocks."

"And what does that mean? Precisely?"

"It means that you can mix any other DNA with yours and create a hybrid species. You know how vampires can't be born, they're created? By one vampire turning another? And werewolves and shifters are born, not created through a bite or a scratch? Your DNA turns all that on its head. You can give birth to a vampire baby. You can give birth to a werewolf or shifter baby."

Riiiiiight. A thought drifted across my mind about the first time I'd had sex with Carter and how pissed I'd been that we hadn't used protection. Seems I had a sixth sense after all.

"So Keller was right then. I am the key. But why would that piss me off?"

"We know what you are. The Council knows."

"What?!"

"You're a Druid. Or more precisely, a Banduri," Nate said, watching me.

"You're a Druid?" Carter gasped, choking on his coffee.

"Yeah. How did the Council find out?"

"They have records. Going back hundreds of years. The Druids were thought to be extinct."

"They went back to their own realm due to the persecution they received here," I said.

"And how do you know that?" Nate arched a brow.

"Because when I was beaten almost to death, I visited their realm. Discovered the truth. They abandoned me here as a baby. They thought their species might have more success surviving here if they integrated from infanthood." And I was still pissed about it. I needed to find a way to get back to their realm and have it out with them.

"The Council asked me to give you this." Nate handed over an official document, complete with red seal. Tearing it open, I read it, then looked at him in disbelief.

"What does it say?" Carter leaned over, trying to read the paper in my hands.

"They want me on the Council. To represent the Druids. My species." It was ridiculous, of course. I was the only Druid. I'd be representing myself.

"No thanks." I tossed the paper back at Nate.

"Would she have to leave the SIA?" Carter asked at the same time. Nate turned his attention to Carter and nodded. "Yes. But I have a sweetener."

"Oh?"

"Positions for both of you on the SS. Secret Supernaturals."

"No," I responded immediately. I liked my job at the SIA. I liked my colleagues, I liked my life. This was all too much.

Carter grabbed my wrist to hold me in place when I went to slide off my barstool. "Think about it for a second, Raven. You—we—could do a lot of good, especially if you're on the Council."

"It's ridiculous they'd offer me a position on the Council," I scoffed. "I'm the only one of my species. It's a waste of everyone's time."

"Not true." Nate cleared his throat. "A woman named Enna turned up with half a dozen Druids at the Council." Turning his attention back to the eggs, he began to beat them with a fork.

"What?"

"They followed you back, confident that since you reached adulthood unscathed it was safe for the Druids to return."

"Oh my God." I dropped my head into my hands. This was why the Council wanted me. The Druids hadn't been on Earth for hundreds of years. They'd have no idea how to survive here—our technology, our laws. They needed someone to show them the way and the Council had chosen me. Even though the parchment in front of me was an invitation, I was aware it was a thinly veiled order. Refusal was not an option.

"There's another positive," Carter whispered, his breath hot against my ear.

I looked at him out of the corner of my eye. "Do tell," I muttered, not at all enthused at this turn of events.

"It could get the pack off our backs. If my mate was not only on the Council but also able to birth wolves?" His words hung heavy in the silence. It was true. I was sure the pack would welcome me with open arms if my status changed from that of an ordinary SIA agent to a member of the Council. As for the other? "They'd be hybrid babies," I pointed out.

"But with all of the traits of both species. Am I right, Nate? If we had a baby, it would have all my wolf abilities?"

"Correct. And Raven's abilities."

"Powerful," Carter breathed.

"Yeah, don't get too excited," I shot him down. "We're not creating a mini army. We're talking about having babies. Can you see me with a baby? I'm not exactly maternal." How had we gotten on this topic? Panic washed through me, knowing Carter's pack, heck any werewolf pack, were all about reproduction. That was why I wasn't suitable in their eyes. Would they welcome hybrid offspring into their pack? I couldn't bear to bring a child into the world that was shunned as I was.

"They would love, cherish, and protect any child we produced." Carter swiveled me to face him, hands on my shoulders. "If we had a child they would love and welcome it. They're just being overprotective of me, but if we had a kid? It would be loved."

"I'm not getting out of this, am I?" I turned my attention back to Nate.

"The Council needs you and your people need you. And as the acting Director of SIA, it would help me to have a friendly ear on Council." He winked and I couldn't hold back the snort of laughter. Of course, there was something in it for him.

"I guess I'm joining the Council. Now, about those eggs?"