“Overruled,” I told him.

“Kate!”

“Last time I checked I was in charge. Would you like to challenge me to settle this?”

Jim scowled at me.

“Very scary, but I’m still in charge. Robert, where is the observation post?”

“On Centennial Drive.”

You’ve got to be kidding me. “On Centennial Drive? Across from the Casino?”

Robert nodded.

Great. Sneak into the People’s territory, while Hugh has every vampire in Atlanta looking for anything with a tail or a saber, find a wererat who wanted to stay hidden, which was pretty much impossible, and then hightail it over to the Warren. Piece of cake. Let me just get my invisibility cloak and a teleportation device . . .

“With all due respect, Consort, you’ll never find the observation post,” Robert said. “And even if you did, my scout won’t speak to you.”

“Will you come with me?”

Robert nodded. “Yes.”

“We have enough people to get you there,” Barabas said. “We could go in force.”

“No. The idea is to sneak in and out. If we go in with a large group, we’ll fail. First, we’ll be more conspicuous. We might as well hook ourselves up with a neon sign that says ‘Target here. Bite to kill.’ Second, if we bring the numbers, they’ll view it as an invasion of their territory. Third, if we do encounter any vampires, the plan will be to run and hide to minimize any damage, not fight them off. No, we go in with a small group and whoever comes with us will keep their human skins on.”

“That bastard planned this whole thing,” Jim said. “He was gloating. There will be a trap at the crime scene.”

“Most likely. Which is why I have to go.” Of all of us, I had the best chances of surviving a meeting with Hugh and getting our people away alive.

“You seem very sure of that,” Jennifer said. “Maybe this whole thing was a coincidence. This d’Ambray came down to inspect the People, looked for the man in charge, couldn’t find him, and discovered the murder.”

Oh shut up. “Whatever his motivations are, we must get to the crime scene. This matter isn’t up for discussion.” I raised my foot and deliberately stomped on the bridge. “This is my foot. I put it down. Deal with it.”

They all looked at me.

“No more objections. Just help me get there and get out alive.”

“I’ll come,” Jim said.

“I need you to initiate the siege protocol.” Under siege protocol, every shapeshifter in the city would be pulled into the Keep. Those in the nearest towns would be advised to evacuate to the Wood, a huge forest up north.

“Barabas can do it.”