"Y'all came from somewhere, where are your parents?" Meryn asked Law.
He shrugged. "Mother is off on an assignment and we lost father in a feral attack when we were about one hundred."
Pierce nodded. "I lost both of my parents in the eighteen hundreds when a train derailed. We can take a lot of damage as shifters, but some things kill us the same as any human."
Oron looked at his brother, and they both sighed. Oron spoke for both of them. "You know what happened to our families."
Meryn was frowning. "I swear to God y'all gonna make me lose my mind." She glared around the table. "Did no one ever think of doing a census before Beth?"
Oron looked around, he wasn't the only one who looked confused.
Aiden bumped Meryn's shoulder with his own. "What did you think of now, baby?"
"Something Law said how they're the oldest paranormals now. I just think it's really odd that you have all of these supposedly immortal, fast, super strong peeps out there, some with magic and they've all had accidents? There aren't enough trains, ferals or what not to take out an entire generation."
Pierce chuckled. "I'm sure it's not as severe as that Meryn. We're also some of the oldest due to the Great War as well, we lost multiple generations in that war."
She crossed her arms over her chest. "Bet me." She looked around the room. "Hands up if you're part of this Hope Generation." Oron raised is hand along with six others. "Now lower your hand if you have lost both parents." Oron lowered his with Darian and surprisingly two others. Meryn looked at the remaining three. "Lower your hand if you have lost a parent." Law and the other two lowered their hands. Everyone looked stunned. Meryn continued. "This is called a sampling." She pulled out her phone and tapped. "Fifty-seven percent of you have lost both parents. Forty-three percent of you have lost one parent. One-hundred percent of you have lost someone from that generation. Need I go on?" she asked, putting her phone down.
Law leaned forward and set his wine glass down frowning. "The mortality rate can't be that high."
"Pierce said that not everyone in his leap or whatever had kids right away. What if a lot of them died, but since they didn't have kids, and their parents had died in the Great War, who exactly would mourn them?" Izzy asked.
Meryn pointed to his mate. "Exactly."
"That's impossible," Liam said, looking spooked.
"And chameleon shifters weren't hunted to near extinction either. And ferals didn't start banding together to create reapers either..." Meryn said, in a mockingly high-pitched voice.
Aiden stood. Meryn instantly looked contrite. "Sorry baby."
He shook his head and leaned down to kiss her forehead. "As usual you see what we don't. I'm going to call Magnus and have him throw his weight behind Beth's census project. Then you can do your magic 'tap-tap' on your frisbee and let us know what's really going on." He was pulling out his cell phone as he walked away.
Meryn smiled. "Magic 'tap-tap' huh," she sighed then looked back at her squire. "I will definitely need that coffee now Ryuu, I see databases in my future."
Pierce and most of the Vanguard looked from person to person slack-jawed. Pierce looked to Law. "Could she be right?"
Law now wore a scowl. "She's hardly ever wrong. I know we put out the order to bring in all deployed Vanguard, but we need to start putting out feelers for the Elder Generation too." He turned to Darian. "Could you speak to your queen about this?"
Darian nodded. "Of course, though, most fae live in Éire Danu, so it shouldn't be too hard to get our numbers."
Oron heard rumors of Meryn's strange ability to notice things that everyone overlooked or took for granted. But this was the first time he saw it in action. "Meryn, you're an amazing little human."
Izzy nodded. "I promise to make you whatever coffee you need while we're visiting so you can do your databases."
"I'm so falling for you," Meryn admitted.
Izzy laughed. "My coffee kung-
fu is strong."
"I'm imposing a two-coffee limit for now Meryn. You shouldn't be as tired in Éire Danu as you were in Noctem Falls. You'll be getting plenty of fresh air, so let's take it slow okay?" Serenity said, holding up two fingers.
"The fate of our world could depend on my laptop and caffeine levels," Meryn countered.
Serenity smiled. "I'm more concerned about your baby, they're depending on you, not your laptop."
Meryn gave an exaggerated sigh. "Low blow, but I get it. You can monitor me then you'll see how much the nugget likes coffee."