Damien reached out and tucked a lock of hair behind my ear. “With you. Always with you.”
“Okay, then let’s go talk to Buckley.”
I stormed off with Damien at my heels. President or not, I would grind this woman down until she had no choice but to submit to me.
Eleven
Damien and I were waiting in a tent while Buckley finished up a press release on what was happening with the Dream War. We were told the press conference was happening at the opening of Trillium Lake, down the road, and a huge canvas sheet had been erected to cover the opening to the Dream War. Damien and I watched it live from his phone.
“Who is this woman who can… open a way between our worlds? Is she an American citizen?” one reporter asked.
Buckley plastered a huge smile on her face. “Commander Kit Steele is very much an American citizen and very much on our side. Details of her abilities are classified of course, but I can tell you we are working together very closely as allies.”
She was smooth.
“Why are the Galadrias here? When are they going home?”
I stiffened, but Buckley kept her smile plastered on. “The Galadrias were brought here by Commander Kit Steele in an emergency situation and will return just as soon as they are able. Next question.”
Bitch.
“Is it true the ghouls burn up when they hit our atmosphere?” a young, eager man shouted.
Buckley cleared her throat. “Yes.”
The room erupted into chaos of questions but Buckley stood there confidently. “One final question, I have time for one final question…”
A young Asian woman stood up on a chair. “If Commander Steele can open a door to their world and the ghouls die when they hit ours, let’s start throwing them out! What are you doing to end the Dream Wars?”
The smile fell from Buckley’s mouth and turned into a grim line of determination. She leaned forward, hovering over the mic. “I assure you I am doing everything in my power to end this war. That is all. Thank you.”
Buckley walked off camera and Damien turned off his phone.
“Reporters are rabid,” he exclaimed.
I crossed my arms. “Well, they are about to get more rabid. because if Buckley doesn’t agree to my deal, I’m going to the press.”
Damien winced. “Just… try to remain calm. Anger and negotiations don’t mix.”
I wanted to tell him that asking me to calm down just made me more enraged, but Buckley‘s assistant walked into the tent right then.
“The president is on her way in,” he informed us and left.
Two minutes later, Buckley entered.
“Commander Steele, I’m glad you made it back.” She nodded to me. Then fixed her eyes on Damien. “My assistant has told me the gateway is holding?”
Damien nodded. “Jeremy’s idea worked.”
Buckley pinched the bridge of her nose. “He’s a genius. Tell him whatever he needs, he gets.”
I cleared my throat. “Ma’am, we have an issue we need to discuss.”
She looked up at me and I almost felt sorry for her in that moment. The bags under her eyes were large and dark and I wondered when the last time was that she slept.
She checked her watch. “You have three minutes before my telephone conference with Japan.”
Three minutes… jeeze.
I squared my shoulders. “I am not going to risk myself and try to bring down the Dream War without knowing the Galadrias will never be sent back there. I want them to have full citizenship or I’m out.”
Instead of looking pissed, she sighed as more stress eked into her features.
“Kit. They’re aliens. Regardless of how gentle they may be, humanity still associates them with the Dream Wars and everything bad.”
“I don’t care. I’m telling you right now to go back in that press room and declare the Galadrias safe from persecution or I’m out and Jeremy goes with me.”
That caused her eyebrow to rise and I felt Damien stiffen beside me.
“I just watched their home be ripped from the sky! They are refugees. Have a fucking heart!” I finally screamed, letting the rage fully take over. I didn’t give a shit if she was the president or not.
Her anger finally came up to match my own. Fury lined her gaze as she stepped closer to me. “Do you want to start another world war? When the Dream Wars end, then we have other countries trying to wipe us off the map for harboring these aliens?! I’ve already got Russia doing flyovers in Alaska and threatening to bomb this very lake where we stand! Now Japan is nervous about our involvement with the Galadrias.”
I hadn’t thought of that. Was that what her call was about with Japan? Were other countries nervous that we’d given the Galadrias refuge? Shit. I hadn’t considered that.
“What if we didn’t let them stay in America?” Damien piped in. “What if I used my wealth to buy them an island? Somewhere remote. Away from humans.”
Buckley sighed, crossing her arms. “I might be able to swing that, but who will continue to pay for their food and care? It can’t be America. We cannot associate with being soft towards the ghouls. Any type of ghoul. The world is freaked out enough by Kit’s powers. I can’t add another thing on.”
Ouch. But she had a point, dammit. Maybe I didn’t understand politics.
“It won’t be,” Damien assured her as my heart completely and utterly beat for him and him only. I’d never loved him more than in the moment he pledged to use his parents’ lifelong legacy and wealth to give alien refugees a safe place to live. “I will set up a trust fund for them,” he declared, and I couldn’t help the tears that fell down my cheek.
Buckley seemed moved as well; her eyes grew misty and she started to pace the room. “Alright, goddammit! Find and purchase that island and I’ll announce it to the press. Spin it as a private third-party
