“Yes. You've all known about my campaign to have the rift opened. I'm now officially ready to show you my proposal.”

A commotion started. Members turned in their seats, arguing with each other until they were nearly shouting back and forth.

Lily Bellum stood up and shouted, “Shut up! All of you! Listen to what he has to say.”

Telal clenched his jaw at the outburst. He looked to Kearnyn to give him the nod to get her out of here but his guard wasn't looking at him. He was watching the witch sitting next to Lily.

Jeremiah Caine threw back his chair as he came to a stand. “You do not speak to a man this way! Where are your manners?”

She narrowed her eyes on him. “Where are yours?”

He sputtered, cheeks reddening. “You are a succubus. Where is your man who speaks for you? I'll give him a good dressing down for this.”

Telal's spine went rigid. Though she surprised him with what she said. “I don't have one.”

Jeremiah’s mouth opened. “But you are a succubus. What is your name, girl?”

She sat back down and crossed her arms. She looked like she enjoyed this. “Lily Bellum.”

He smirked as if he'd guessed right. “Figures, the Bellums have always been a wild bunch. Now with your father gone and no male heir to keep you straight, you're as wild as a whore.”

Several people gasped at the insult. Telal felt a surge of feelings tear through him like a train. In a flash he saw himself jumping across the table and plowing his fist into the incubus’ face until bone cracked. Instead, he glanced at Lily, waiting for her to come back with one of her witty comments, but she didn't. Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment, her lips were clamped closed.

“Sit down, Jeremiah,” he said in a low voice.

Jeremiah opened his mouth to protest but Telal cut him a violent look that had him slamming his butt back down into his seat. He looked one last time at Lily to see her not meeting anyone's gaze, but he ignored it. He didn’t like the look of hurt and shame on her face, but now was not the time for her problems. Already she was on track to ruin his first official meeting.

“As I said, it is time for the rift to be opened. I have here a plan that we can implement that will allow demons like me to cross the rift once again and keep the idummi and other demons below the rift.”

Telal took copies of his proposal out of his briefcase and passed them along to each of the members. Since there was no governing body that resided over all, he had chosen select members of specific groups to meet with. Though, the one with the most leverage was Tyrian en Kulev. He and his Atal Warriors alone guarded and punished those who crossed the rift.

He waited until everyone read the proposal before continuing. “Tyrian, since you are the commander of the Atal Warriors I would hear what you think of this first.”

Tyrian neatly folded the proposal and pushed it away. “The shahoulin demons cannot be trusted. I don't see why we'd change something that doesn't need to be fixed. Also, it says here in your proposal that you'd recommend keeping the Atal Warriors under the rift to ensure that other demons do not cross to the top layer of the rift. That would mean my warriors are at risk of confrontation with the shahoulin.”

Telal knew Tyrian would say that. He'd had years to plan his operation and he knew each of the downsides to it.

“I believe the shahoulin can be trusted again. They once were as we all remember. If the Atal Warriors act as an objective governing organization then they can keep the top level of the rift safe and focus solely on the idummi or, god forbid, the jaheera. We are not violent people.”

Tyrian carefully chose his words. “I would consider this; however, I'd need unwavering certainty that the shahoulin will not start a war on the earthen-realm or with my warriors. I will not have another war.”

Jeremiah Caine slammed his hand on the table. “I can't believe you are even considering this. The world has been a better place since those demons have been locked up down there.”

“Oh, can it, Jeremy. We've all suspected for years that Tobius raged that war against the demons over a petty personal matter. I think that's exactly what happened.” Lyonis Keelan turned to look at Telal. “You have my full support, for whatever that's worth.”

Draven stood next. “It's about damn time we opened the rift again. Not that I'm looking forward to seeing any old faces.” Henry and Rayn slowly nodded too. Telal knew they were the ones in the most uncomfortable situation since they'd been fighting all these years to keep the demons who tried to escape in the rift. Being part-demon, that also made the matter more difficult for them. But they, like him, did what they felt was necessary for the times.

Rosa el Blanco spoke up, her soft, Spanish-accented voice sounding almost beautiful. “I agree. This has been a long time in the making. I fully support you, Telal.”

Jeremiah shook his head. “Well I don't agree. This is preposterous.”

Telal took a deep breath. He kept his face relaxed even while inside his guts churned like a machine in his gut. So far this meeting played out exactly as he thought it would. But that didn't mean the difficult part was over yet.

“Tyrian, this is ultimately up to you.”

Tyrian rested his chin in his hand, thinking for several minutes. Time seemed to slow as Telal waited for an answer. This one man held the key to his entire project, to his people, in his palm.

“This isn't something I'm prepared to answer right now,” Tyrian said.

“Of course.” Telal had expected as much.

“Right now I can say that I have one condition. A big one.” He leveled his cold blue eyes on Telal.

“What is it?”

“No one has been under the rift for nearly a thousand years. We have no idea what kind of leadership is in place right now. Whoever it is will need to be joining in on this conversation before anything else happens.”

Telal clenched his hand into a fist then opened it to scrub his hand over his face. He had not thought about this.

Tyrian continued. “Meanwhile, I'll consider it.”

Telal nodded but his entire body felt numb. Tyrian strode forward and clasped his hand, pulling him in close for a brief hug. “I do this for Chloe because she would want this. Not for you.”

Telal nodded. He didn't give a shit why he agreed, so long as he did. He ended the meeting but barely noticed people leaving as his mind ran through all the options. When he finally went through them all, he realized there was only one answer. He'd have to go into the rift—he'd have to see his family for the first time since he left them there.

“Come on, let's get the hell out of here,” Rosa said, tugging on Lily's arm like an impatient child to her mother. She didn't budge.

“No, wait, I want to talk to Telal first.”

Rosa spotted the man in the corner coming towards her and her heart started racing. “Then get a ride home with him, I'm out of here.”

Lily muttered something that sounded like a goodbye but Rosa didn't stay to hear it. She bolted from the room. The male incubus tried to go through the door at the same time and stepped on her dress. She tripped and the material split with a loud rip. That male was coming closer, his brow pinched forward. Something about him frightened her, sent her running down the hallway towards the stairwell. If she could get there before he caught her, and some instinct told her that was exactly what he was trying to do, then she could cast her spell and port back to the shop.

Glorious relief surged through her body as she came to the door. She slammed her hands into the push lever and darted inside, breathing hard as she plastered herself against the wall. What on earth was wrong with her? She quickly dismissed that stupid thought. She always listened to her instincts and in this particular case they told her to run and hide.