All throughout his two days at the Memorraw leading up to the meeting, Jean spent most of his time "training" Basker. An overall quiet, patient dog, Basker was liked by Jean's friends and acquaintances alike. As Jean didn't quite know how to train a dog, he enlisted help from Will, who was far more familiar with them than he was. Obviously, Basker was praised for how "naturally" skilled he was.

Jean liked to cover his tracks.

Despite all the people who arrived at the outpost, there was one particular man Jean didn't so much as catch a glimpse of: Caden, the man who organized the meeting. Jean wanted to think it was a bit strange, but considering the man's high position, perhaps it wasn't.

The outpost was already lively with activity when Jean awoke. Night guards were switching with day guards, breakfast would be ready in minutes, and there had been much talk about what would be discussed during the meeting.

Eyeing the disk recordings from Artie, Hugh, and Butch's cameras atop a shelf, Jean huffed softly to himself. His previous attempts to find Caden resulted in failures. If he could contact him, he could inform the man of his offer to show the footage during the meeting. It was something every hunter needed to see, and he imagined Caden would even want a copy of it, which Jean could provide.

If only he could find the damned man.

Letting it go for the moment, he looked at the body lying beside him on the bed. Celezar slept soundlessly, unbreathing, and still as the dead. Jean had learned the hybrid was more hallow than devil or mahre, and so he didn't breathe when he was truly sleeping, as was the case for hallows. Celezar hadn't explicitly expressed a desire to somehow attend the meeting, causing Jean to internally war between waking his partner or letting him sleep.

Sliding off his side of the bed, he moved to sit on the opposite and sat adjacent to him. Gently, he combed his fingers through the slightly curled auburn locks. Since arriving at the Memorraw, he had truly contemplated his decision to become inhuman.

He wanted to. Despite everything, to a frightening degree, he truly found himself wanting to.

It was all because of Celezar. Everything about him was true, believable, plausible, and no different from what Jean already knew about him. He was coming to realize this meant there were others like Celezar, that other inhumans could be just as trustworthy and innocent. Not all of them deserved to die; there were many like Sarkis, even. It was so simple to think about, believe and understand, now. It bothered him a bit. Just some days ago, he was of a merciless mindset, willing and wanting to kill all inhumans.

Now, the only thing preventing him from succumbing to his new desires was fear. Fear of the unknown future it would produce, fear from memories and ingrained teachings.

Sighing with some sadness, he admired Celezar for a bit, then leaned down and gave the hybrid a kiss atop his temple. There wasn't so much as a twitch made in response. Slipping from the bed, he moved to the bathroom to take a shower.

While washing up, he realized his scar was almost completely healed, if not so. It wasn't as puffy nor as raised as it was before he left Isle Veni. As he ran a hand over it, it felt more like fresh skin but wasn't as soft. His left eye was open, and he imagined his quick healing was because of Celezar. That didn't bother him, anymore. It helped that even his men knew Celezar was likely if not the absolute reason it was happening.

After exiting the shower and dressing, he watched his partner sleep for a moment more. He then took the disk and put it in a folder before leaving for breakfast.

The mess hall was located on the second floor at the near-middle of the outpost. Fortunately, there were transporters located throughout it. After exiting the barracks, he found one with an empty seat and people-watched the rest of the way.

Several familiar faces were about. He acknowledged them all and they returned the gestures. Over the outpost's intercom, breakfast was announced to start. He was sure the mess hall wouldn't be nearly as overwhelmed as it appeared it would be; he was certain many of those who were already walking to other destinations had already eaten. Those who lived at the outpost likely ate separately or even earlier than the guests.

"Ah, Jean!"

He came out of his thoughts, noticing a friendly face nearing the transporter, Jermaine, leader of the Hancock Hunters. He gave a smile and took his friend's hand, helping to bring him onto the moving vehicle.

Sitting beside him, Jermaine looked around. "Been here for a day and I haven't seen Madeleine or Eirene anywhere. You?"

"No. Haven't seen Holloway, either." Jean followed his friend's gaze.

Snorting, Jermaine rolled his eyes towards him. "No one has seen Holloway or the Licht sisters 'round."

Jean shook his head and looked forward. "Like they aren't even here."

"Precisely."

When they arrived on the appropriate floor at the wide entrance to the cafeteria, smells of breakfast wafted strongly in the air. Breakfast was served in an efficient cafeteria-style but was fresh and well-made. The usual suspects Jean enjoyed—eggs, bacon, pancakes, waffles, pastries—were all present, along with several variations of breakfast foods from different nationalities.

After securing breakfast, Jean and Jermaine looked for free spots. Jean surveyed the area carefully. He spotted two familiar men sitting at a fully occupied table. They were Alister Crowley and his second-in-command Clancy, friendly hunters from an outlying island. They didn't seem to notice him, so Jean continued looking.

Not too long after, he spotted two more people, a man and a woman, dressed in hunter clothes modified to match their Clovure tribe's traditional garb. They were Megedagik, the newly-appointed hunter of the Wisk Hunters, and Alsoomse, his second-in-command. They also didn't seem to notice Jean, but his expression wilted when he saw them.

It didn't take too long while slowly walking around before he noticed someone waving at him. He lightly elbowed Jermaine, motioning to the spot with his head.

At a long table almost completely occupied, three women and a man sat at the near-end. They scooted over just enough, allowing space for Jean and Jermaine. Glad to see them, all fellow hunter leaders and their seconds-in-command, Jean nodded his head towards them as he sat. He turned on his microphone before speaking. "Was just thinking of you all."

Winces went around the table at the sound of his voice, but they quickly recovered. Madeleine, the woman next to him, scoffed. "Sure, you were." She beckoned to the woman across from her. "You barely ever think of Eirene."

At the mention of the masked woman beside Jermaine, Jean looked at her. "Admittedly...yes?"

Eirene dismissively waved a hand, though the man next to her frowned. "I'd rather people not notice me."

"You know," Jermaine said with a high inflection, "being quiet can bring more attention to you."

She nudged her head at Jean. "Not in his case."

Amused scoffs went around, including from Jean himself. "How are you four?" he asked, cutting into his food—which mostly comprised of meats.

Various sounds of passable temperaments were made. Before there was an answer, Artie sat at the end of the little group beside Eirene's second-in-command Tsukasa. He gave everyone a nod of greeting before beginning to eat.

"We were just talking about the new norm: The Infernal problem," said Madeleine. Her fingers tapped the table. "We've all had close calls, at least for us here, but we can't say the same for others. It's pretty awful, as you can imagine."

"Don't have to imagine." Jean raised his head to look at them and motioned towards Artie. "We've dealt with some shit since the very beginning on our side."

Grim faces spread around the table. "I've been rather fortunate," Eirene confessed, her visible brows creased. "My group has only recently had problems; I'd say within the past few days. I'm aware that at most other locations, the rise in activity happened almost simultaneously some while ago."

"You did say that, Gustel," said Madeleine, nodding at her companion beside her.

"Yes," Gustel hummed, "it seems as though something awoke the Infernals, as you said, almost all at once. I've communicated with other technicians and they all pretty much theorize the same idea."

"My men did suggest that," Jean added, recalling his conversation before he left the Cellar.

"As did mine." Eirene shook her head with a huff before looking at her smoothie. "That's a terrorizing thought."

"It was probably that devil," Artie interjected. He didn't look up from his plate.

A short silence settled at their end of the table. Madeleine pursed her lips, Gustel glanced down. Tsukasa gave a solemn nod and Eirene softly exhaled. Jean merely closed his eyes for a moment.

Finally, Tsukasa murmured, "No doubt, Holloway's going to say something about that at the meeting. There's little else to talk about." As everyone roused from their momentary subdued stupor, their attention focused to him. He glanced around the table at them. "It's not as if we all don't know what's going on. Yes, it's widespread. Yes, we're rapidly losing people. Yes, we're overwhelmed. But honestly, is it really worthy of a meeting instead of a phone conference?"

"Actually," Jean interjected, reaching into a large inner breast pocket of his coat to take out the folder, "I've to show everyone some footage of that incident. It's good timing for us to gather."

Tsukasa's eyes widened and scanned the item. "Ah..."

As more sounds of shock and surprise floated about, Jean grumbled, "Which is why I've been looking for that bastard Holloway." He tucked the folder away and glared around the mess hall.

More scoffs. "Good luck," said Madeleine as she turned to her food. "We haven't seen him once. Not even in passing."

"I think I've seen some of his men slinking about," Tsukasa admitted. "Dangerous fellows, they are."

Jean looked at him. "Someone of his men?" The realization dawned on him that, in eight years, he never so much as considered Caden's new group. It was a strangely sobering awareness.

Jermaine pointed his fork towards something. "Ah. See those two over there?"

They each turned towards the direction he was pointing at, which was behind Madeleine, Jean, and Gustel. Near a wall, talking to one another, were two men. One was dressed in all black and had slick black hair, giving him a very pale complexion with his already light skin. He was grinning languidly with his hands behind his back, leering at everyone around the mess hall with hooded eyes. The man near him was older and also had black hair, but it was far longer.

"What about them?" asked Tsukasa.

"Never seen them before," added Eirene.

"Likewise." Jean looked confused, and his sentiment was shared with everyone except Madeleine and Gustel.

Putting down his fork, Jermaine explained, "I've been told those are Holloway's men. Raven and Nigel, I hear they're called. Raven's the older one, Nigel's the inky one. Nigel's supposed to be Holloway's second-in-command."

Raising a brow, Jean opened his mouth to speak, but he was interrupted by a feminine voice over the intercom that echoed, "All guests, please head to the meeting hall in twenty minutes."

Artie sighed. "Well, it's about time."

Jean leaned back, his eyes slanted. "Sounds like you're ready to return home."

"I am. This place is massive, yet manages to seem so...claustrophobic, at times."

The knowledge of being within a mountain probably brought about such a thought, Jean considered. He hummed in understanding and finished eating. If he was being honest, he was also looking forward to going back home. Perhaps it was a good sign. As willing as he had been to leave Isle Veni, it must have meant his days "off" were worth it.

Before Holloway's men disappeared, he approached them after eating. As he neared, the older man took notice. "You two Holloway's men?" he asked, stopping a respectful distance from them.

The man nodded, whereas his grinning companion merely scanned him. "Yes."

"Name's Jean. Jean-Luc Lowell. I've been trying to get into contact with Holloway for a while. I've something to give him, something I think he might want to show during the meeting."

The inky one tilted his head to the side. "What is it?"

Reaching into his coat, Jean brought out the folder. "My men and I encountered the devil and an unidentifiable creature. This is a report of it and a recording of the footage and audio we could recover."

Both men's expressions changed to ones of interest in varying degrees. "Lowell, you said? Pleased to meet you." The older man nodded and said, "Raven Lazaroff. We'll give it to him."

Returning the nod with gratitude, Jean handed the item to him. "Much appreciated."

"Are you the one whose group the Cap'n used to be part of?" asked the still-grinning man, pointing at him with a slender finger.

Jean blinked, observing the man as he was observed back. "Yes."

"What happened to your face?"

Raven briefly closed his eyes with a long-suffering sigh. "Nigel."

Nigel's grin somehow grew even wider, and he never took his eyes off Jean. "The man doesn't have to answer. I'm only curious."

"It's a long story. That's my answer." Giving another look of thanks to Raven, Jean eyed Nigel before turning around and walked back to his friends.

A low, amused chuckle was made behind him, rubbing him the wrong way. But he returned to his companions who stood ready leave for the meeting room. Such a strange man Caden chose as his second-in-command.

He and his friends followed several others to an elevator within walking distance. Once they arrived on a story just above the ground floor, they continued after the crowd. The walls, like most of the others, were rocky, and the entrance was a nearly ceiling-high doorway with two guards beside it. Passing through revealed a large space that reminded Jean of the Plight outpost in Connecticut.

Rock-like ledges emerged from the walls leading from passageways all along them and lined with rails. Like everything in the Memorraw, the room had been set up especially for the guests with a massive oval table made from smaller ones at the center of the room. A large projector screen was lowered on one end of the room with men from a higher point on the opposite side readying a projector.

As they filled in, they were handed microphone headsets, one of which Jean declined after pointing to his earpiece. His eyes swept around for a sign of Caden. Upon realizing he was looking for him when there was no longer a reason to, he instead looked around for the sake of observation. There were exits at the four corners of the room, a detail he was glad to have noticed. Some ledges, along with the passageways behind them, had stairs at their rights and lefts for one to walk up on. Finally, the ceiling was massive, with a large dome light in its center.

They sat down and waited. Jean looked around the table. There were many hunters from all of Clovure's subcountries and some outlying islands, such as Alister's and Jean's. Some feet away from Jean sat Will and his second-in-command Brønnild. So many hunters, so many faces; Jean was glad and impressed that so many if not all had come out at Caden's call.

Jean felt a gaze boring into him but didn't so much as passively acknowledge it. He knew who it was. Ordell Frye, leader of the Frye Hunters, was from an old family of magic-users like the Lowells. All Jean knew was that their families hated one another and was ordered since childhood never to engage in conversation with them. So, he never did.

But, now that he was older, he wondered.

Within a few minutes, the natural low drone of voices died down as the last of the hunters entered the room to sit beside their respective seconds-in-command and leaders. From one of the exits nearer to the projector, two identical women entered. Jean recognized them as the sister duo who were the leaders of the Licht Hunters, Inez and Cher. Several of the Licht men and women were dispersed around the room, watching from ledges or from along the walls.

Behind the women, a tall, muscular bronze-haired man swiftly entered. He didn't look happy in the slightest. This was Caden Holloway, leader of the government branch of inhuman hunters. As the women moved to sit down in two of the last three chairs, he remained standing beside the projector with a remote in his hand.

"Can everyone hear me?" he asked, the headset microphone he wore greatly augmenting his voice.

There were nods all around. His voice was loud and commanding, carrying well in the room despite its size. It helped that everyone was perfectly quiet.

"Good, I'll get right to it. Over the past several days, we've all encountered a spike in inhuman activity, specifically Infernal. Normally, that wouldn't exactly be a problem, as it's happened before. Usually, it's caused by something. In this case, however, whatever is causing it is none other than a devil. I'm aware some of you have even seen this creature at a distance."

There were soft murmurs of agreement around the table.

He nodded. "No one has directly encountered this legendary creature..." He looked at Jean. "Except one group."

Louder murmurs emitted from the table, ones of disbelief and concern.

Jean stared back into Caden's brown eyes, and the man beckoned him to approach. When he stood, the room became completely silent. He moved to stand beside Caden, who motioned to him.

"You have the floor," he said.

With a nod, Jean stepped forward, amplifying his microphone before speaking. "Along with the devil seems to be a long-limbed creature of unidentifiable origin. My men and I encountered both creatures five days ago in the Ridridge District of Fayette, Narrapansett. We responded to the Wisk Hunters' distress call." He nodded towards Megedagik.

The man nodded back, deep pain in his dark eyes and in the eyes of Alsoomse beside him.

Jean glanced at Caden. "I had footage..."

Caden pressed a button on the remote in his hand. The lights dimmed just enough for the white projector screen to be clearer before he handed the remote to Jean. The remote had simple buttons: stop, play, fast-forward, rewind, and assorted options. For the footage, the video ones would be enough. Caden moved to sit beside Inez, and Jean slightly shifted aside before pressing play.

The video was an edited mix of content from both the drones and the men's cameras. It started from Dragonfly-C's view of the devil within the apartment. "Here, we though the creature was a demon," Jean explained, briefly pausing the video at the zoomed-in infrared view were the devil's horns could be seen. After a second, he pressed play again.

The video transitioned to a short slide-show of the carnage and destruction shown from Butch, Artie and Hugh's cameras. There were some low murmurs. Anyone would think more than one Infernal did such acts. Then the footage continued, following Hugh's view behind Artie and beside Butch as they eventually made their way to the residential area. The sudden shift in the men's demeanors caught everyone's attention, from what Jean saw out the corner of his eye. The men were so scared, so uneasy. But there was nothing to see, nothing to hear.

The screen halted as all three men froze in place. The unsaid signal of sensing something ahead was made, and the view turned to the apartment with the blood trail leading to it. Artie turned around and signaled he was going to turn back to spray the sigil on the ground some distance away. Following this, the screen split into three, showing narrowed views of what was happening via the three cameras.

In the footage, Artie was murmuring softly as he sprayed the sigil, glancing about nervously. Hugh and Butch kept their focus on the apartment, as if sure whatever it was they were evidently sensing was coming from it.

The present Artie wasn't looking at the screen at all.

"Around this time," Jean explained during the brief silence, "the mist you'll see later started approaching them from the opposite side of the district where I was with the others."

On cue, the footage showed Domien crawling from out of a low window of the apartment, only to growl and immediately approach the men on his hind legs. Shouting out in horror, they opened fire. Tension grew in the room as everyone watched, growing concerned. The shaking camera was steadied a bit in the edited footage, allowing them to see the devil's form more clearly. A soft swear emitted from someone, and from his peripheral, Jean saw Caden run a hand over his mouth.

"Unreal," he murmured.

The video continued, and once Jean heard his voice over the radio telling his men to fall back, he looked away from the screen. He was already starting to feel sick as he recalled what was soon to follow in the video. Noticing Artie seemed to be feeling the same, his lips tightened in sympathy.

Jean then heard Hugh's cry in the video and watched many sitting bodies snap back in shock, inevitably when Hobboilen appeared in the mist. But what truly caught his attention was how disturbed everyone looked. Every single one of them were visibly uneasy. They shifted, swallowed, stared in horror, blanched, broke out into sweats, and heads swiftly turned away with wide eyes. Initially, Jean didn't understand why, but then he recalled what Nicholae said about what happened when he saw the footage.

Celezar had mentioned the natural fear hallows and devils emitted. The only true answer to what was happening was that the fear Hobboilen emitted was powerful enough to transmit through video as well. It was a terrifying thought.

When the screen darkened and only audio was heard, they listened to the noise when the men teleported back to the others, only for the tall being to chase after them. Much of it was impossible to make out, until the sudden, thunderous thud as the third creature arrived and gave a roar that caused audio to end.

When the audio and video ended, eyes immediately fell on Jean. Before anything was said, he already had a hand raised as he moved to stand before the black screen. "After the audio failed," he explained, "the tall, slender creature appeared back where the other men and I were. It was also where the three who directly encountered the devil teleported to. I tried to attack the tall one using some of the strongest magic I have. It didn't work. My magic was negated by a mere glance. My three men were unconscious when they arrived, and then a third creature appeared which caused the loud noise and the audio to cut. We do not recall what that third creature was.

"When the tall creature came before us...it was overwhelming, destroying me from the inside. I could feel my mind slowly wither away. It is intelligent; I could clearly sense it's...appreciation for my abilities. We have no idea why it appeared, why it didn't kill us, let alone why the third creature appeared, either," he lied, turning off the projector and raising the lights.

He pressed a button to raise the projector, and then moved to place the remote on the table before sitting down between Artie and an acquaintance, who briefly placed a hand on his shoulder.

He nodded at him, then they all looked at Caden as he steepled his hands over the table with a deep inhale. Beside him sat Nigel, who was looking as disturbed as everyone else without his signature grin.

Caden cleared his throat before speaking. "From the concentrated efforts of our technicians and veterans, we can safely concede that the devil is causing the spike in Infernal activity. Possibly, even, the long-limbed creature. Whatever the hell said creature is, it may be working with the devil." He glanced at his fellow hunters. "I've gathered everyone here because we must consider what to do against these...new horrors."

There was a short bout of silence as everyone gathered themselves. Throats cleared, eyes blinked rapidly, glances were exchanged as everyone realized they had all reacted the same way upon seeing the creature in the video.

"Have you any ideas?" a man finally asked, and his question was met with several sounds of agreement.

Caden paused momentarily before nodding. "The Licht sisters and I have spoken about it, but we wish to deliberate with you all, first."

Another short moment of quiet descended the group. Some hunters murmured to one another; others seemed to gather their thoughts. It wasn't questioned. From Jean's point of view, he figured everyone was recovering from the shock of seeing the Entity.

Finally, someone spoke. "I've an idea. A very logical idea," said Hamza Akhdar, leader of the Akhdar Hunters. "But more than half of you won't like it."

Eyes around the table narrowed. "If it has anything to do with inhumans," spat a woman, "indeed, we want nothing to do with it."

Another woman slapped her hand on the table in anger. "There has to be another way without resorting to inhuman aid. Aid! The words are disgusting even to say..."

"What else do you suggest?" asked a different hunter. "Is there anything else to suggest?"

"Plenty!"

"Such as?" Jean's hoarse voice brought abrupt attention to himself. His gaze was calm and curious. "This is a devil, not some offhanded Demon Noble, must I remind you."

"And then there's that thing with it," added a man. He shuddered.

Some sounds of similar sentiment were made. "And then there's that thing," a woman repeated. "What can we humans possibly do against that?"

A woman who spoke earlier narrowed her eyes. "My group is not dealing with inhumans."

"Only because you are an absolute fool." The young hunter leader Rowan Savage brought all attention to them. They sat with crossed arms while leaning back in their chair, a stern expression upon their face. "If you all think logically—as Akhdar so wonderfully enunciated—you'll see we have little other choice. That's it. There's nothing more to think about. End of discussion."

"Absolutely not." Aaron Reznick, a man with a grim expression, pointed towards them. "Listen, Savage, we'll not have your flippant nonsense at a time like this. Magical arts and calculated measures are key to winning this invasion, just as they did 2000 years ago."

Jermaine raised a brow. "Let's...not call it an invasion. And I have to mention not every hunter group is as fortunately experienced as yours."

"Yes," added the mature hunter leader Zueiry Guzmán. She was staring deliberately at Aaron with a slightly displeased tilt to her lips. "Or are you forgetting all the lives that have been lost to both these monsters?"

Jean briefly closed his eyes. He never did like Aaron, the arrogant man. "Nor are many fortunate to have magical arts. That is a dying practice, at least in Clovuria."

"Not so much in the south." All eyes went to Cheveyo, the chief of the revered Echo Hunters. The building dissension paused as he spoke. His calm, keen eyes cut deeply into those he looked at, which included Aaron. He then beckoned towards several other hunters. "Several of my fellow Southwest hunters have spoken of this. We have tried to devise a spiritual way to awaken the potential for using magic in some bloodlines with magical connections. It is not impossible to bring the practice back."

Murmurs of interest and awe resounded. However, a loud snort came from one man. "Yes, that's all well and good, but how's about the right here and now, dammit? I imagine that process will take fucking forever."

Several baffled glares were thrown at the man, but he didn't seem to care.

"Listen, man," growled Will, boring a hole into him, "at least someone is trying to help. What have you to bring to this quite fine and literal table, eh?"

Before the man could retort, another young hunter leader, Bon-hwa Kwon, waved his hand dismissively towards him. "Fact of the matter is, while I thank you, Echo, and truly hope you succeed, we do need an immediate counter to what is happening."

Appreciating his respect and reason, Cheveyo nodded his head. "Indeed." To everyone, he announced, "I, too, suggest we take the aid of inhumans who would be willing to give it."

"And exactly which amongst them would do that?" balked Madeleine. "We hunt them for a living, as our creed! I imagine they would be afraid some of us would immediately turn on them after using them, and I wouldn't blame them as there are plenty here who would gladly do so!"

Some eyes darted at certain hunters at the table, including Jean. He understood completely. His family's brutality was well-known.

"I have to agree with Crane." Jermaine nodded towards Madeleine. "Why would any inhuman help us?"

"Because their lives are in danger as well," reasoned Rowan while shaking their head. At the scoffs and sounds of contempt, they sighed, "It's actually not so hard to believe."

Alister nodded, gazing off as if recalling something. "Many inhuman communities are suffering from this. They have already begun to aid my group."

"Blasphemy," said Will, and several agreements were made to this sentiment.

Ordell slapped his hands on the table. "This meeting is about the devil and the unknown creature, not about profane associations with inhumans!"

"Love of Creation!" said a woman while throwing up her hands. "Lowell and Savage made all the reasons! We have no immediate magical aid and if there are inhumans in our situation, they obviously will help us!"

"Only because of blasphemers like you two!" Marion Fairchild, leader of the Fairchild Hunters, shouted back while pointing at Alister and Hamza. "And only with blasphemers like you! You have these 'connections' and 'sympathize' with them!"

Jean rubbed one of his temples. "Must I remind everyone the question of why said inhumans would want to aid us 'unfortunate' non-sympathetic hunters was never answered?"

Hamza seemed to be feeling the same, his eyes closed and rubbing them with one hand. "The answer is that we could likely protect the whole country if we as a collective overcame our prejudice and hate for inhumans."

"The end," said Rowan, rolling their eyes. "We saved Clovuria."

Will narrowed his eyes dangerously at them along with Aaron. "Savage, I fucking swear—"

"Enough, Richardson," a woman snapped at him. "Focus!"

A hunter leader named Euphemia Law also rubbed her eyes, then looked up at them tiredly. "Yes, but what would we lose in the process?" she asked, looking pleadingly around the table. "Inhumans; they taint people. Why would we risk corruption for this?"

"Not every inhuman corrupts," Rowan sighed. They looked as if they were about ready to get up and leave, tired of the nonsense. "We all know this. Especially the more powerful ones, if not specifically the more powerful ones, which are the ones we would be getting help from. Obviously," they harshly sneered.

"Exactly." Hamza leaned forward. "Listen, in my territory, there is someone who might be powerful enough to defeat a devil—at the very least the devil." There was a short, shocked silence before some murmurs rose. Continuing, he said, "His name is Antonio Alighieri, an inhuman hunter, who is also part-devil—"

"What the FUCK?!" shouted Will, his loud voice booming over the other shouts of shock and surprise. He seemed ready to stand up and fight against the blasphemy. "A part-devil? And you know them? Have you lost your mind, man?!"

"If this conversation continues," Aaron shouted across the table while pointing at Hamza, "I'm leaving!"

"Good! Your adnuntor ass has no place here, Reznick!" a man shouted at him. This only caused an even louder cacophony to arise at the derogatory slur.

Exhaling deeply, becoming profoundly irritated, Jean growled out, "Can we please focus?" His voice was just high enough over the others, but that meant nothing as they continued."

"Oh, please, Lowell," scoffed Rowan with a lazy smirk. "Focus on what? This is a dead and done conversation. I'm with Aaron for once, I'm ready to leave."

Aaron practically stood. "Why you—"

Jean sat back and exhaled deeply as the cacophony went on. This was getting them nowhere. He spotted Caden, who was interestingly sitting with his eyes closed and was eerily quiet. Beside him, Nigel was also quiet, leaning back in his chair with that damned, languid smile of his and slanted eyes as he watched the chaos.

The Licht sisters, while they didn't partake in the conversation, were softly conversing with one another as they observed. Every now and then, Inez would whisper something to Caden and he would nod or shake his head in response.

"We are all furthermore forgetting something!" said Madeleine, who looked positively irate. "What about the other creature?"

"Yes, if it is mated to the devil, we cannot merely kill the devil first, and all the more so if it is pregnant," said Cheveyo. "We must, unfortunately, take out this far more powerful creature first. Would a half-devil be enough?" he asked Hamza.

Surprisingly, Hamza gave a nonchalant shrug. "Considering this half-devil has killed children of the Inferno Rulers, it is a possibility."

An almost collective gasp of horror struck the room. Jean's head snapped over into Hamza's direction with terror. Such a powerful creature this friend of his was—and a half-devil at that!

With a sound of exhausted outrage, Will completely sat down, clearly unable to believe what he heard.

Almost frighteningly, Caden rose a brow of interest at this revelation.

As words of awe, horror, and outrage floated about, Jean glanced away. Celezar was a hybrid of three extremely powerful creatures, including devil. If even he could not defeat Hobboilen, this half-devil would be of no aid, even if he did kill children of Inferno Rulers. Just as he began to speak, Zueiry interjected him.

"Much as I wish I could believe your friend could help us," she said to Hamza, "I do not believe one part-devil would be enough." She seemed to be on the same mental wavelength as Jean.

Hamza sighed. "Yes, that is a possibility."

"A possibility?" Megedagik was so tired, so sad. "We need more than a possibility. I've lost so many people from this outbreak."

"Yes," said another man who looked just as exhausted. "The Southwest has been doing its damnedest to keep news of the outbreak quiet, but we're losing the battle. At best, people believe a homicidal cult is going about. At worst, people do believe it is the work of something paranormal and/or supernatural. They remember the Vampire Incident."

The man's words were backed up by other Southwestern hunters and seemed to quell some of the shouting and screaming, but not all of it.

Ordell glared about. "Yes. I believe humans can still win this. I think it's time we let the masses know of inhumans again."

While several people nodded in half or complete agreement, the outrage swelled once more.

"Are you fucking out of your mind?" Jermaine demanded, palms held up on the table in disbelief.

A woman pounded the table. "How would you expect us to control something like that?!"

"What else that is not blasphemous do you suggest?" Will shouted back, looking up from his hands.

"Will! Tell me you're not for this!" exclaimed a fellow South Central hunter leader.

"No magic, no might—what do you suggest, then?"

"Uh, hey," said Rowan, waving a hand at him. "Inhumans? Help us?"

As Will covered his face with his hand, separate arguments began to erupt at the table, several at a time. While most of the seconds-in-command had wisely kept quiet, they did involve themselves in these other clamors with their leaders.

"Did ANYONE think that maybe there are multiple A-Class Infernals that can help collectively, such as Alighieri?" Alister said, making a rare scene of raising his voice. "We have to at least try!"

"For the last time!" Will shouted, backed up by Aaron, Ordell and several others. "NO!"

Alister shook his head and gave up, sitting back in his chair.

"Does anyone have any better ideas?" a hunter snidely demanded.

"Do we have any other choices?" pleaded another.

Sitting back with her arms crossed, Zueiry concluded, "I'll do what I have to do to keep my region safe, whether my fellow Southwest hunters agree or not."

"To hell with you, then," said another woman.

Beside her, Zueiry's second-in-command shot the woman a threatening glare. It would have been enough to kill a person. "Excuse me?"

Just as things looked as if they would escalate to dangerous degrees, Jean and several others saw the gun pull out but weren't quick enough to do something about it.

The loud gunshot froze everyone in place, eyes wide as they turned towards the source. Nigel, this time brandishing a dangerously irate grin, sat comfortably in his chair, a smoking black revolver in his raised right hand. When all eyes were on him, the table successfully quiet and people were sitting again, he lowered his hand and tilted his head to the side. "Shut it the fuck up and listen, children."

Rightfully insulted, teeth were clenched and soft sounds of indignation were made. The sound of the bullet shell clattering on the floor was the only sound for some moments. Gazes steadily focused on the Licht sisters and Caden.

"We are here to brainstorm," said Cher, her expression cool. "Do not start threatening each other. For all we know, that's just another thing this devil wants."

Nodding, Inez waved a hand. "We are here to cooperate, to commiserate, to conceptualize. Nothing is set in stone. Nothing is definitely happening."

"I disagree," said Hamza. "I'm keeping my territory safe any way I must."

Several others quietly agreed.

Caden's eyes snapped open and he glared at them. "Shut...up," he barked, his voice erupting with abated anger.

Everyone could see Hamza and some others were going to say something but figured that wasn't the best idea, for the moment.

Closing his eyes again, Caden continued in a low voice, "We are thus far fortunate to have only directly encountered the devil and its probable mate once. A harbinger for the tall one is mist, so everyone should note that."

Soft murmurs were made at this, but Caden didn't seem to mind.

"There is even a possibility the creature is a new type of Infernal or Eldritch—and Creator or whatever deities you believe in save us all if that is so. Therefore," he said, slowly standing up to glare openly at every one of them, "we have to keep our regions in constant. Contact. With one another. None of this anti-social shit you're all so fond of. Whether you like it or not, we're in this together, or get the fuck out the country."

For several seconds, no one said anything. Like children, they were rightfully chastened. Gaze lowering, Jean felt Caden's stare drill into him. The worst part about their chastising was how Caden was telling the truth. They didn't communicate with each other as often as they should have.

"On that note, actually," said Cher, "word was received that some major activity in the eastern countries has died down. They are more prepared to deal with such rise in Infernal activity, so we can all learn from them."

Rowan gazed idly at their fingers. "They do enlist help from inhumans."

"You should know," someone muttered.

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" hissed the man beside Rowan.

His head snapping into their direction, Caden banged his hands on the table and growled, "I don't fucking care how anyone protects Clovure, just so long as you keep your goddamned wits about you! I'm all for using inhumans as weapons." He glared at Rowan and several others. His gaze then turned to linger on Hamza, and the man scowled back. Standing upright, Caden said, "Let me show you." He snapped his fingers.

Seconds after the ominous snap, a tall, dark figure appeared hunched behind him, as if from out of thin air. Glowing red eyes leered from the inner darkness of a hood, causing Jean along with nearly everyone to gasp and fish for or draw their guns.

Without prompt, the figure's head titled sharply to the side with an alarming CRACK, and in the same second, those who drew their guns hissed and dropped them. The metal was steaming, as if their owners themselves were inhumans who had touched blessed silver. Wary, alarmed eyes looked up towards Caden as he emitted a short laugh.

He gave the figure's broad shoulder a pat. "Thank you, Sylvestar." To his audience, he explained, "Sylvestar here is inhuman. Wasn't born that way; he was bitten by some sort of vampiric creature."

In his chair, Jean went stiff.

Moving around the table, hands behind his back, Caden met the eyes that turned aghast gazes onto him. "If you want to have inhumans help you, find some way to tame them. They merely have to be controlled. Find their weakness. Subjugate them. It's not impossible even without magic."

Lips pursed and soft scoffs of outrage were made, but no one said anything.

Closing his eyes, Caden stopped behind Artie and Jean, who stiffened even more. Caden then moved away, continuing his little walk. "By the way, I hope, for the remainder of the day, you all remember the reason why you're here, which is to bond." His eyes opened. "Do your damned jobs and create some."

All was silent, all was quelled. By the time Caden returned to sit behind his chair, Sylvestar's large figure had slunk backward to vanish eerily into the ether. Then, looking at them, a dangerously kind smile spread on Caden's face.

"Dismissed."