Chapter 6
Sitting in the back of the car, my trusty PR woman at my side, I let my breath hiss past my clenched teeth.
"Try not to worry. Despite her job title, the Prime Minister is just a person too." Ms Bridger intoned blandly. As per her usual, the woman's gaze was glued to the screen of her phone as her fingers tapped away. "She is a normal person that was voted in to the position she is in now. She is a woman of the people."
"Right, she's a woman of the people." I closed my eyes and gulped. It didn't make it any easier. "How many are supposed to be there?"
Glancing at the bustling crowds outside of the car, my stomach felt heavy like I had swallowed a large stone. We were outside one of the newest restaurants in London. It had emerged from the rubble of the city, becoming immensely popular with the rich and powerful. They were all too quick to show their affluence despite the way the majority of the city was living. They seemed to like rubbing it in the fact they had come out of the battles unscathed while others suffered. The visit to the shelter had brought home the harsh reality of this new world. There had always been poverty and hunger in the world but its effects were spreading. The damage by the horsemen had been done.
"I don't know the exact number. I was not privy to the full information but I imagine there will be at least ten of you gathered." The petite woman lifted her head and gave me a long assessing look. "Take down your hair. You look too severe with the bun. We need to show your approachable side."
With a shake of my head, I complied. A sigh of pleasure escaped my lips as I let me hair loose and massaged my fingers into my scalp to reduce the uncomfortable ache from having my hair pulled back too tightly.
"Better?"
"Much." Ms Bridger replied her gaze once again on the handset held tightly within her grasp. "Now are you going to get out of the car sometime today?"
I rolled my eyes but allowed a smile to form on my lips. Releasing the door, the sounds of the city rushed up to greet me like old friends. It still amazed me how much I had let myself become detached from the world. But this was it – this was life.
Stepping free of the car, a large ebony skinned man rushed towards me. His form was bulky and obtrusive with the amount on muscle built onto his large frame. His large arms parted the crowds, clearing a path for me to the entrance of 'Paradise.'
Inside, the sounds of the city were replaced with soft chatter and tinkle of cutlery on fine china. And I was completely underwhelmed. To me it was just like every other overpriced restaurant I had even been to in my life. Not that I had been to many.A woman in a sleek black dress stepped into my line of vision. She could have worked at any of the other restaurants I had visited. Her smile was wide and yet her expression was formal despite the spark of recognition in her gaze.
"Do you have a reservation? I'm afraid we're fully booked tonight."
"I'm meeting with the Prime Minister?" I didn't mean for it to come out as a question but it still felt absolutely ridiculous to be saying it.
The woman pressed her lips together, her hand coming to play the neck of her dress. Her eyes darted over my shoulder looking at someone behind me. I didn't turn, no matter how much that I wanted to. Was I missing something here? Was there a secret code word that someone had forgotten to give me? It would be surprising.
"Ms Holmes is part of the Phoenix party."
I jumped, turning my head to the man at my side. And I truly felt nauseous.Victor Lyle was slimier looking in real life than he had been on the television. His cologne was thick and heavy. It strangled my senses until all I could smell and taste was the overpowering scent of Lyle. Only excellent self-control stopped me from wrinkling my nose.
"Of course sir." The woman nodded her head and quickly departed leaving me alone with the man who appeared to hate me and my kind most.
"Where are my manners?" He tittered, his teeth sparkling as he thrust out his hand towards me. "Victor Lyle."
Reluctantly, I slipped my hand in to his and tried my best to smile. His hand was warm and clammy against mine. His fingers curled around mine, his fingers squeezing tight in a show of strength and dominance. If only the man knew how futile such a feat was.
"Savannah Holmes," I offered, nodding my head in greeting.
"We all know who you are Ms Holmes" He smiled.I'm sure most people would have thought that twitch of the lips was attractive. They may have even found it charming. It made my stomach churn uncomfortably. When the man made no move to do anything other than smile at me, I tugged my hand from his sweaty hands.
"Shall we go? I don't want us to be late to our meeting."
"Of course, Ms Holmes." Standing up straight, he gestured me to proceed before him.
"You'd better go first. I don't know where we are supposed to be sitting."
Again he tried to dazzle me with the fake overly charming smile. "How stupid of me – follow me."
He weaved through the tables with ease. The man of the people as he chatted amiably to those he passed, offering a one handed celebrity wave to those who called out to him. As he walked, I watched as he tried to discreetly wipe his hand on his leg. I'm sure if he wasn't in such a public place his face would have been a mask of disgust. Instead he scrubbed his hands against his trousers as if to wipe the contamination from his skin. I couldn't really judge him though, I was doing the same thing.
Eventually he led us into a section of the restaurant that was separated off from the rest. Wooden screens and carefully arranged potted place giving an air of privacy in such a busy restaurant. As we drew closer to the table, I began to recognise the faces. I had seen them all on TV at some point or another. It was surreal to be meeting them. These were the people who ruled the country. They had always seemed so other to me – so apart from me and my little life that I was carving out for myself.
Lyle graciously drew out a chair for me at the table. I let my lips twitch up in a semblance of a smile before taking my place. The conversation at the table faltered for a moment as eyes were drawn to our arrival but ever the politicians, the men and women seated around me just took a sip of from their wine glasses before continuing onwards.
"Would you like a drink ma'am?" Turning my head, I looked into the face of the older man in a perfectly pressed uniform. He wouldn't have looked out of place on the set of Downton Abbey. He appeared to be a butler rather than a waiter. For some reason, becoming drunk in the present company just didn't sound like a good option.
"Can I just get a glass of water?"
"Certainly ma'am."
"thank you." The man bowed his head before making his departure.
Feeling stares boring into the side of my face, I turned back to the table only to find that everyone had fallen silent and I was now their sole focus.
"Hi," I offered weakly.
Victor Lyle leant back in his seat with his arms folded over his chest. He had taken a seat directly across the table from me and seemed quite content to watch me squirm under the attention of many.
"Hello Miss Holmes, thank you for joining us today." A soft lilting voice drew my attention from the man opposite me. "I'm Claire Tate."She was sat at the head of the table, dressed in an elegant midnight blue dress that was forma and yet still glamourous. The prime minister was a strong woman in her early forties and yet there was still a lingering beauty in her features despite the toll recent times had taken on her. I didn't have to be a mind reader to see the damage that had been inflicted upon her aura.
"Thank you for inviting me." "We wanted your input into the upcoming bills that have been submitted into parliament." She folded her hands demurely in her lap as she spoke. "The reality of the situation is these new bills are gaining support. I don't like how quickly things are moving but the implementation of the supernatural registration bill just might be inevitable."
"If it's inevitable, why bring me here?" I asked, biting my lip the moment the words had escaped me. The blonde tilted her head to the side and regarded me openly.
"I invited you here to get your input. I may not like where this is heading but maybe we can come to some compromise."
Lyle's features twisted at these words, his disapproval clear to anyone who was looking his way.
"Compromise? How can there be compromise on this?" I asked, truly wanting to know the answer.
"The act would require that everyone declares who they are and get registered like a criminal. The majority of the supernatural community have done nothing to harm humanity. Instead they have defended human kind when they didn't have to."
"Yes, but looking at the events over the past few years, wouldn't you say that the supernatural have been the cause of most of our problems?" Victor intoned dryly, his eyes meeting mine for the smallest second before he turned his attention to the others, imploring them to take his side.
"I can't deny that there has been a surge of supernatural activity in recent years. And yet, my step into the supernatural world began with a very human man pointing a cross bow into my face and threatening the life of my son. If it wasn't for certain Supernatural persons, I would have died by that man's hand." There was no need to tell them that the man wanted to kill me because he thought I was a demon. And there was definitely no need to tell them the man had been killed by Lucius Satani.
"It was a rarity. Not every human goes around with a crossbow threatening humans." The smarmy git looked at me with that patronising stare. "You cannot hold humanity at fault for the actions of a select few."
"Yet you try to do the same with those who are not strictly human? You're a hypocrite. The supernatural community do not go around making trouble and drawing attention to themselves. Don't you think the world would be a vastly different place if these kinds of events happen every day?" I met the gaze of each and every person as I swept my attention over the table. "A lot of the supernatural community are just normal people, living out their day to day lives worrying about their family, paying their mortgages and trying to live the best life they can. It will cause more harm than good to subject them to this much attention."
"Is that a threat, Miss Holmes?" Victor asked with his sickly smile on his face once more. Yet from the way that his hands were clenched around the items of cutlery, it wasn't difficult to see the anger brewing under his façade.
"Not at all, Mr Lyle," I retorted, my own fake smile plastered on my face. "It is just common sense. We need to create a sense of calm within the population right now. With the financial struggles most households are now facing, a united front is what this country needs." I turned my attention to the prime minister, almost pleading her to take my side in this argument. "Forcing people to register themselves like common criminals will only harbour ill will between everyone involved, human and supernatural. I do not want our nation to become that place."
The Prime Minister, an astute woman, considered for a few moments before opening her mouth to respond. Lyle got their first. His attention was so focused on gaining the advantage over me he did not see the anger that flashed across the woman's face.
"People want to know exactly who their neighbours are. We humans have the right to know if we are living on the same street as someone who is not human." Victor stared down his nose at me for several long seconds, the lines around his pinched lips telling me much more than his words ever could. "And as a man of the people I agree with them. We have a right to know if our neighbours are a threat to us."
I snorted and shook my head. "Right now, I wonder what kind of threat people like you pose to the supernatural community, Mr Lyle. You say that we are a threat to you but you are proving to me right now that the human race might just be a threat to us. I wouldn't take that a compliment." "
I can see that this is not something we will finish in one conversation." The Prime Minister cut in before the verbal sparring match could continue. "I will take both of your comments into consideration and I hope that we can come to an agreement on how this issue will be handled."
With a wave of her hand, waiters approached the table with dramatic flourish and set dishes in front of all the attendees. The smell of the food wafting from the plate was delicious but my stomach rolled at the thought of eating. Still I offered a grateful smile at our hostess and ingested a mouthful of the buttery potato.
The conversation was over for now but I had the feeling that this was only the beginning.