Chapter 9
The Negotiation
Annie looked at her father and it was clear to all present he wasn’t having a good day. If there were any doubts, the poisonous looks he sent her way would clear them up. The look on his face when he had realized Ram had finalized the mating, priceless.
Royal Worthington hated dealing with someone in a superior position. Annie knew that and had expected his bad attitude. What she hadn’t expected was the instant dislike she sensed between her father and Ram’s. More than that, she felt like it was because of her. Her father felt she’d been lured to the dark side and lost all her sense of family loyalty while Ram’s father didn’t like the way her father treated his daughters.
There was nothing she could do to alleviate the emotional undercurrents and if her father had been able to get his way, she and Ram wouldn’t be in the room at all.
“This very much concerns them and my son is staying. If you feel something you plan to say or do during this meeting will distress your daughter, you can ask her to leave.” Aha had said.
Her father had turned beet red. “That’s not why,” He’d insisted. But Annie knew better and so did Ram and his father.
“If that’s all, let’s get down to it,” Ram’s dad directed.
“Very well. What do you offer as a bride price?”
“One hundred thousand dollars.”
Royal laughed. “That might be a fair price for an average bride, but we both know Annie is anything but average. For a female like her, no amount of money would ever be enough.”
“Instead of wasting time, why don’t you just tell me what you’re looking for?” Ram’s father suggested.
“Fine,” Royal said opening his drawer and pulling out a list. “I want full disclosure of your kind. I want unlimited security service and assistance in this war we are all facing. I also want to negotiate for two more items once I find out what you are.”
“Just to make sure we are both clear here, you are aware they are already mated, right?”
Royal made an angry noise. “Yes.”
“If I disclose to you what our kind is, I need some assurance of secrecy.”
“You have it, of course.”
“I need more than that. I need a nondisclosure spell.”
“How do you even know of such things?” Royal said with a growl of frustration. He glared at Annie.
“I am very old. Annie didn’t tell me so stop glaring at her.”
“Fine, I will agree to those terms.”
“Then cast the spell and I’ll tell you.”
“Let the secret once revealed be forever and truly concealed. As I have said so mote it be.” Magic filled the air and it was done.
“We are Phoenix.”
“How is that even possible?”
“I assure you it is.”
“What powers do you have?” Royal asked interested despite everything.
“Mostly control of fire.”
“I don’t see how that will help us.”
“Perhaps you should reconsider taking the money?”
“We will revisit these negotiations. Will you agree to security services?”
“Yes, but they will have limits set beforehand.”
“Very well,” He said reluctantly. “Why don’t we share lunch and take some time to think this all through?”
It was clear to Annie her father hadn’t been prepared for Ram’s father or the revelation that they were Phoenix. He’d also not expected to be forced to keep silent about it. Information was power and her father had hoped to leverage his knowledge into a lot of power. Phoenix were legendary and knowledge of their existence was valuable. Royal was aware Aha was their leader, but he had no way of knowing in what capacity or if their leadership was hereditary.
They left the room and made their way to the dining room. Annie was still the recipient of her father’s displeasure, but it was bothering her less and less as the day progressed. “I’ve spelled the room for privacy. While we eat, I want to be brought up to date on the situation with Hubolla,” Royal demanded.
“There’s not much to report beyond the fact that he’s attempting to establish bases of power all over Florida. He’s managed to either infiltrate or corrupt existing members of the local police departments so we aren’t sure who to trust. Until we get more intel, we can’t take any further action,” Ram explained.
“Further? You’ve taken some action?” Royal asked.
“Not intentionally. We were scouting and one of the police officers was abducted, when we went in to recover the officer, there was a fight. We captured one of the leaders,” Ram said.
“Shouldn’t you have left her in place?” Royal asked.
“Her?” Ram questioned.
“Yes, the female officer you were discussing,” Royal replied testily.
“Who said it was a female?” Ram asked.
“You did.”
“No, I didn’t. Have you been getting inside information?”
“I may have overheard something.”
“From who?”
“One of the police officers in the chain of command,” Royal admitted.
“So, you thought we should have allowed her to be raped and tortured?”
“Of course not. Who said anything about that?”
“What did you think they wanted her for?”
“Well, I hadn’t thought about it. I see this isn’t my area of expertise. What are we planning to do next?” Royal asked.
“I’m glad you asked. I’d like you to help us contact all the different paranormal groups,” Ram explained.
“Which groups?”
“All of them. Maybe you could start with mermen and work on the less known groups after that.”
“Less known? Mermen are about the least known group there is.”
“What about dragons and unicorns?”
Royal laughed, but his laughter cut off abruptly when no one else joined in. “You’re joking.”
“I assure you, they do exist.”
“Do you want me to find a Dodo bird while I’m at it?”
“No, those no longer exist.”
“Any clues on where to look for these legendary creatures?” Royal asked.
“I’ve heard you know how to reach the mermen. The unicorns are said to be hiding among wild horses and living in the land of the Gods which we assume means Greece. Dragons, well they like caves high in the mountains. I’m sure you have some magic at your disposal to locate them,” Ram observed.
“Didn’t Annie explain that it’s not easy to locate things or beings?”
“She did indeed, but she’s much younger than you so you’ll know more. There’s no way you’ve told her everything you can do.” Ram stared hard at Royal and saw the truth. He’d not told her a lot of what he could really do.
He knew Annie thought her father had been honest and upfront with her, but it didn’t look like he had. Even her magical education wasn’t all she thought it was. Maybe there were good reasons for Royal to hide things from her like plausible deniability, but he found it hard to believe. Her father wasn’t a complete asshole. Ram thought he loved his daughter. He just wasn’t the kind of father his own dad was and Annie had deserved better.
From what Ram had seen and heard from Annie, her mom was wonderful. Maybelle just hadn’t won the mate lottery. Royal had too many obvious faults his mate had tried to make up for, but sometimes couldn’t. Ram praised the ancestors, not just for his dad, but for his amazing mom as well. His sister was a doll, too. His whole family was loyal and loving.
Annie would have them too now. They would all love her, because from what he’d seen, everyone that knew her did. She was someone you wanted watching your back or working beside you. He remembered the truth spell and how easily she had cast it. When she interrogated him, the man had been eager to give her whatever she wanted. Ram would bet she’d never interrogated anyone before.
Servers were coming in and leaving, dropping off food and drink as they enjoyed their meal. Ram needed to look for a cook and a housekeeper since his mate was used to this. Maybe just one for now since it was just the two of them and he’d have more time to find the other and a nanny later. The need to procreate was hitting him hard now that he’d found his special one.
“The food is wonderful. Compliments to your cook,” Aha expressed.
“Thank you. I’ll let her know. She’s been with us a long time,” Royal admitted.
They continued to eat and dessert was brought out. Crème Brulee and it looked marvelous. Ram had to admit he had a giant sweet tooth. His eyes rolled back in his head at the first taste. “This is incredible!”
By the time dessert was done, they were all stuffed. “I’m glad everyone enjoyed the meal. I will see about contacting the mermen and asking around about dragons and unicorns. I hope I don’t get laughed at too much,” Royal admitted.
“If you do, you will have the last laugh when the others see these legendary creatures,” Ram declared.
“I’m sure,” Royal said, but managed to say it in a way that let everyone know he didn’t mean it. Whatever. They were about to leave and Ram was glad. Hanging out with Royal wasn’t on his list of fun things to do.
“Lunch was lovely, but my mate will be wondering what happened to us,” Aha explained.
“The little woman runs things, eh?” Royal said.
“Only when she wants to,” The king agreed. It sounded like Royal was being insulting, but his dad refused to take it that way. They all rose and headed toward the door and Royal walked with them.
“Maybe you should bring the boss when you come back next time,” Royal said, hiding an insult in a joke.
“I’ll see if she’s willing to come along,” Aha said.
They said their goodbyes and left quickly making their getaway. “I’m sorry,” Annie said. “He’s usually more diplomatic than that. Maybe it’s the disappointment of being presented with our mating completed.”
“It’s not your fault, child. Your father is a grown man, older than any human would be. He’s in charge of his own behavior,” Aha insisted.
They all loaded up in an SUV and headed back to their headquarters. Ram’s mother, Cleopatra, was waiting for them. “I’m glad you made it back. I’ve been on the phone with Maybelle discussing your mating/marriage ceremony.”
“What did Mom say?” Annie asked.
“Mainly that your father wants an elaborate ceremony starting with a ball to announce your engagement. I’ve not been to a ball in many years. We’re meeting with your mom tomorrow for lunch and then we’re going to shop for gowns and accessories. I’m very excited about it,” Cleo said.
“Who is going to plan the event?” Annie asked.
“The three of us will discuss it and divide up the responsibilities. Your mom said your family owns an event hall with a ballroom that we’ll use for the event,” Cleo mentioned. Ram and Aha looked glassy-eyed. “You two can go catch up.”
“Thank you,” Ram said kissing his mother’s cheek before he gave Annie a scorching hot kiss and a wink. His dad gave Cleo a hot kiss too.
Ram led his dad to the rec room while their females headed off the other way. They were relieved not to have to listen to talk of ballgowns and flowers. It wasn’t that they didn’t appreciate the beauty of both those things, they just preferred to see them at the ball rather than hear all the steps the females went through to acquire the right ones.
They picked a table and his dad sat down while Ram went to the bar and got them each a beer. “Do you want to play cards or watch some TV?” Ram asked.
“I’m easy to please.”
“Let’s watch some fights on TV,” Ram said as he turned it on and found a match.
They sat down watching two human males pound the shit out of each other. The skill and graceful moves the men used were worth watching even though they didn’t have the speed and strength of the paranormal kinds. A quick uppercut and the camera zoomed in on the blood and spit flying through the air. The show was primal as the two male animals inflicted as much pain on each other as possible.
The part Ram found the most amazing was at the end of the fight, with one declared the victor, both men hugged each other and the announcer pointed out they were close friends. There was a time Ram would have said no humans were able to fight like that and put it behind them without the friendship ending. A good fight with fair rules and sportsmanship applied was a thing of beauty to observe.
“That was a good fight. I’ve not had one like it in a while,” His dad declared.
“A battle is coming and we will all be getting our fists bloody,” Ram commented.
“You truly believe it will be that serious?”
“I have seen the signs that it will be. The humans Hubolla recruits have no honor and they will follow him to their deaths. Perhaps most of them had sad lives and feel they aren’t worth continuing. More insight into their reasons might help.”
“I doubt they’ll share that with you. They are probably the type to attack first and get facts later.”
“It’s true that the ones we met aren’t very smart. If they were, they wouldn’t want to be used.”
“Did you ask those you captured why they served him?”
“The one in leadership said he paid well. One of the guys was protecting his family. The other guy just enjoyed feeling superior to the others,” Ram explained.
“Before too long, we will raid one of their locations. I wish to see these recruits myself.”
“You just want to fight.”
“I do. What’s wrong with that?”
“Nothing. I like to fight too. At least we’ll get a chance to fight together.”
“What of your mate?”
“I don’t think Annie fights. We’ve not discussed it.”
“Your mother will expect to come with us.”
“True and if Annie finds out, she may too.”
“What will you do if she does?”
“I’ll do what I have to do. I’ll take her with us and watch her as closely as possible.”
“I don’t think that will be a problem. She’s a strong witch and can protect herself with magic.”
“I think her father has discouraged that. I’m not sure she’ll want to go against his wishes.”
“Oh really? Did he encourage her to spell for her mate?”
“Okay, you have me there. Maybe she’s ready to break free from the paternal controls. We’ll find out soon if you are sure you want to plan a raid?”