Looking at the four men in my office, I really didn't know if I had the brain power to deal with them right now. I mean, my eyes were now staying open on their own accord, but that doesn't mean that my brain has been kickstarted for the day.
"This would have been so much easier if you hadn't called me so many times this morning," I grumbled to Greyson as I folded my arms on my desk and rested my head on them. Sure, it wasn't the most professional look, but seeing as the man across from me had seen me in my PJs and housecoat, I was pretty sure portraying a dignified Head of House had long since passed.
Might as well be comfortable instead.
"What do you need?" I asked as I searched around my desk to figure out where I put my mug of hot chocolate. Sure it was cold, but even cold hot chocolate was still chocolate. Not seeing it anywhere, I picked up the phone receiver on my desk. Holding up a finger (not that finger… as much as I wanted to) to Greyson, I waited for Stephanie to pick up.
"Can you send in a really big cup of hot chocolate, the tub of chocolate peanut butter ice cream and…" I looked around the room and narrowed my eyes. "Four black coffees, I am pretty sure they look psychotic enough to drink their coffee black."
There was a light laugh from the other end. "I forgot to tell you about them, didn't I?" Stephanie said and I heard her putting cups on the counter.
"Yup," I agreed.
"But at least I already had the hot chocolate made, just waiting on the coffee." I perked up at her words. "All can be forgiven with hot chocolate and ice cream for breakfast," I reassured her.
"And the fact that it is noon?"
"It's my first meal of the day, give me my chocolate, woman," I groused only to hear her burst out into laughter.
"Yeah, yeah, don't get your panties in a bunch," she returned right before she hung up the phone. Now confident I was going to be getting what I needed, I turned my attention back to the general in front of me.
"Am I getting introductions? Or is this a case where if I know their names you are going to have to kill me?" I joked as I studied the unknown men in my office. Each one of them had a bright pink thread coming out of them and connecting strongly to each other. Another connection was made to Greyson, but it was not as strong.
One had a slight greying of his thread, and I closed my eyes to try and understand what might have brought it about. Seeing scenes of war when I touched the thread with my mind, I understood that while his kills were made for the wrong reasons, the implications of them didn't fall on him, but rather on who had sent the orders.
And since Greyson didn't have even a hit of discoloration on his thread, I could only assume that his orders came from someone else.
Unfortunately for me, I would have to get to the bottom of that pile of shit before we started on the main reason why they were here.
Opening my eyes, I saw Greyson studying me intently, I gave him a half smile just as Stephanie strolled into my office carrying a tray of five mugs and a tub of ice cream. Ugh, the woman was an angel.
Waiting until she had distributed everything on her tray before I spoke, I opened the tub of ice cream and started eating it with a fork. Yes, that is right, I ate chocolate peanut butter ice cream with a fork. A spoon just isn't enough to break the frozen peanut butter ribbons down to a manageable size and if I didn't break it down, I looked like a dog eating peanut butter, drool and all. It was not a pretty sight and not something I would do in front of strangers.
Putting down the last cup of coffee, Stephanie quickly left the office, closing the door quietly behind her.
I saw Greyson about to speak, but I quickly shut him up with a look. I didn't know what was going on, and I didn't know what these three were told, however, I would not bring them into monster business unless I knew for sure who they answered to.
Greyson looked at me confused before sitting back in his chair and folding his fingers over his stomach. Taking this moment, I pointed my fork to the man sitting in the darkened corner beside one of my bookshelves.
"Who do you report to?" I asked staring at him. He looked up at me, his eyes widened with surprise and he looked around the room at the other men.
"They can't help you," I said, my fork still pointing at him. I mean, it was pretty clear who I was talking to. "Who are you reporting to?" I repeated.
"General Greyson," he said as he sat up straight and returned my look.
"Try again," I said, not at all impressed with his response. It was useless to lie to any monster. Van Helsings were walking lie detector tests, wolves could smell them, vampires could hear the increase in heart rate, Skinwalkers could read the micro-expressions, Hell, even the Monstru could pick up the subtle tells of a lie.
Me? Well, I could read their lives like a book.
Greyson, now understanding the implications of my questions, sat up and spun around to face the man. "Answer her question, Jackson," he snapped.
"I did. I report to you, General," said Jackson staring at Greyson and even I could feel his sincerity pouring out. So did he report to someone previously, or did someone slip in an order saying it was from the General?
"You have one sketchy kill," I said, ending the staring contest. No one like their trust to be questioned and no one likes to think that their trust was misgiven.