“Nickel silver.” Kane nodded affirmatively.
“I was gonna say that earlier,” Steve muttered glancing between Sid and Jared, “but, you know... I like living.”
“Good choice,” Jared and Sid said in unison.
Steve shrugged. “Nickel silver looks close enough to silver that the untrained eye can’t tell. People sell nickel silver as the real deal because they can charge a higher price and profit. Lucky for us, people are getting cheap metal instead of silver vampire killer bullets.”
King, who had been silently watching the circus unfold, finally sighed. “How about this—nobody gets shot, and we stop having this dumbass debate. Any vampire who’s ever been hit with real silver knows the difference. You don’t forget that kind of pain... and you sure as hell don’t want to feel it again.”
“I don’t know anyone other than you who has survived being shot by real silver and lived to tell about it, so I’ll take your word on that,” Kane said, then grinned at Raven. “Sorry, Rave,”
“Hey, this wasn’t my fight,” Raven said, glancing between Jared and Sid. “All I know is that I got shot and it hurt like hell, real silver or not.”
The room fell quiet for a heartbeat.
Then Kane smirked at Charger. “Told you walking in here was a mistake.”
Charger chuckled, shaking his head. “I like living dangerously.”
Before Kane could respond, the office door slammed open so hard the walls rattled, sending everyone on high alert.
“Don’t you assholes have shit to do?” Sloan barked, glaring around the room like he was picking targets. “Am I not working you enough?”
The room went dead quiet. Even Jared’s mouth snapped shut, something that rarely happened.
Sloan stomped to his desk. “I swear to God, I have never—and I mean never—walked into my office without one of you jackasses already in here.”
Kane smirked, glancing at Charger. “You think he means us?”
Charger snorted. “Nah, must be the other jackasses.”
Sid leaned back in his chair, a grin spreading wide. “We just miss your enlightening and titillating conversations, boss.” He wiggled his eyebrows for dramatic effect.
Sloan froze mid-sit, turned his head slowly, and stared at Sid like he was seriously debating murder. “I will kill you if you say another word.”
“Do you even know what titillating means?” Raven gave Sid a sideways glance.
Jared snorted loudly. “I bet he definitely doesn’t know what that means.”
“I know what it means!” Sid shot back. “It means... educational!”
Raven groaned. “That’s not what it means.”
“Son of a bitch,” Sloan muttered, dropping into his chair and rubbing his temples. “One of these days, I’m going to fake my own death just to get five minutes of peace.”
“Wouldn’t work,” Kane said with a straight face. “We’d show up at your fake funeral, arguing about whether the silver bullets went straight through or not.”
“Fuck you, Kane,” Jared hissed, flipping him the finger.
Kane just laughed, not even responding. These Warriors really let their feelings show, and it was easy to piss them off. Kane was good at pissing people off. He did it daily for shits and giggles. It passed the time and put him in a good mood.
“Are you any closer to getting in undercover with the asshole who put a hit out on Joey?” King asked, breaking through all the bullshit.
“Actually, that’s why I’m here.” Kane glanced his way, hating to break this news to him. “But I did find out from a very reliable informant that Amara’s name is being tossed around again. Keep her close, King. I’m sure if there isn’t one yet, another bounty for her being taken alive is coming soon.”
“We figured that,” Damon, who had remained silent during the silver not silver controversy, said from his new place in the new compound, sounding bored and pissed as usual.
“Yeah, well, you can throw vampires into the mix who want Amara and anyone else with Golden Blood. I can almost guarantee Golden Blood is going to trump anything we’ve seen with Crimson Rush.” Kane said, glancing at King. “Hopefully,Jinx removed Joey’s name from the Golden Blood database in time, or you are going to have your hands full, brother.”