“Yes,” Connie replied. “And just to clarify, I am not his mate.”
“Well, actually, I'm afraid you are,” Rose said, her soft lips quirking. “Congratulations, and condolences. I'll always have a free drink and a sympathetic ear ready for you.”
“Hey!” Chase protested. “I'm not that bad.”
“Yes, you are,” Killian muttered.
“The boys are upstairs waiting for you,” Rose said to Chase. “Not that you need me to tell you that. Shall I get you the usual?”
Chase shook his head. “I'm just dropping by. Thanks, Rose.”
“Why are we here, Chase?” Killian asked, as they followed Chase to the back of the pub.
“Because I need to meet with some people,” he replied, leading them up a narrow flight of stairs. “And I wanted you to meet them, too.”
Chase opened a door, revealing a small private room. Four people were seated around a small circular table. Connie recognized Commander Ash, but she didn't know the other three.
“Connie, Killian, this is my fire crew,” Chase said, beaming. Then he frowned. “Or at least, some of my fire crew. Commander, where's Griff?”
“I am afraid he is indisposed,” said Commander Ash, rising to his feet. “The usual problem. He sends his apologies. Ms. West, I am pleased to meet you again in, ah, better circumstances.”
“Likewise,” Connie muttered, unable to help blushing as she remembered their first meeting.
At least I'm wearing clothes this time.
At Ash's gesture, she seated herself gingerly on a free chair. Besides Ash, there were two other men and one woman present. Connie lifted her chin, forcing down a wave of self-consciousness as she met their stares.
Commander Ash was as coolly unreadable as the last time Connie had met him, but a muscular, red-headed man was openly curious. The curvy black woman snuggled under the red-head’s arm caught Connie's eye and gave her a conspiratorial wink. In contrast, a young, handsome man with bleached white hair and pale blue eyes was scowling at Connie as if she'd personally offended him somehow.
“Griff's sick again?” Chase frowned as he plopped down onto a chair next to her. “Damn. I could really use his talent. Hugh, can't you do anything to help him?”
“If I could, don't you think I would have already?” the white-haired man snapped. He rubbed his forehead as if he had a migraine. “I can't heal everything.”
Commander Ash raised one hand. “Before we go any further, there is something I must clarify first. Ms. West, are you aware that Chase is a shifter?”
“Yes, of course,” Connie replied, frowning. “Why do people keep asking me that?”
“Truly, it is a mystery.” Chase looked across at the red-haired man, clearly struggling to keep a straight face. “Any ideas, Dai?”
Dai's ears turned nearly as red as his hair. He appeared to find something intensely interesting about the ceiling.
The woman next to him laughed. “It's one of those annoying in-jokes,” she explained to Connie. Her accent marked her as a fellow American, making Connie feel a little less out of place. “When I met the crew, there were… a few misunderstandings.” She held out her hand. “Virginia Drake. I'm Dai's mate.”
“See!” Chase exclaimed triumphantly, as Connie shook Virginia's hand. “Independent evidence, right before your eyes! Mates do exist!”
“And apparently Chase is managing to make even more of a mess of things than I did,” Dai murmured. He had a pleasant, deep voice with a lilting Welsh accent. “I'm not sure whether to be comforted or alarmed.”
“Personally, I'm past alarmed, and well into terrified,” Killian said dryly.
Ash leaned forward a little, the slight movement instantly silencing the banter. “Secondly. Are you aware that we are all—Virginia excepted—shifters as well?”
Connie shook her head, but she wasn't actually surprised. Even though the three men didn't look anything like each other—Dai huge and muscular, Hugh lean and elegant, Ash contained and controlled—there was something similar about them. On some deep, instinctive level, she could sense the power that they possessed.
She cast a sideways look at Chase, realizing that he too had that indefinable feral aura. Killian did as well, though to a lesser extent.
“Let me introduce you both to everyone.” Chase waved a hand at Ash. “For those who haven't met him yet, I present Fire Commander Ash. He's the Phoenix, and yes, that's 'the', not 'a'. There's only ever one. “
Killian looked at Ash with awe, and a touch of wariness. “It's an honor, sir.”