I wish I could say Mom's demand was met with reason, but vampires, it turned out, weren't the most accommodating creatures. In fact, they reacted en masse with shrieking defiance, blurring and rising themselves, wrapped in shadow, ready to start a battle.From the look on Mom's face, she was okay with that. And while I was infinitely grateful for the backup, no way was I letting her jump into something that could blow up in our faces in more ways than one."How dare you interfere?" Pannera rose, her long black hair writhing around her, navy blue gown rippling as though in a stiff wind. "Leave this place at once and never return!""Oh, settle down and take a seat, Pannera." Mom wasn't alone. A portly, older woman with a strong, British accent waved at the Queen as if her reaction was commonplace. The vampire hissed at her, but descended, though she didn't sit, probably out of sheer stubbornness. The round woman with the badly curled head of short hair and snapping hazel eyes fixed Ba
My vampire reacted before I could, an explosive gust of spirit magic shoving back the advancing undead with murder in their hearts."You touch her," the essence said through my mouth, "and you will feel pain the like of which there has never been."It probably helped the concussion of her attack had knocked most of them back, even leaving Mom and Margaret wobbling a little. The rotund European Council Leader spun on me with anger in her eyes, but Mom was faster."Shall we proceed with said diplomatic talks now?" One of her eyebrows arched artfully as she spoke directly to Margaret in a casual tone, as though the vampire Queens weren't of consequence.My mom was so many kinds of awesome.Margaret huffed a moment before shrugging. "Very well. I will moderate."Pannera sat back with a deep frown that did nothing to mar her beauty. "I will attend," she said.Batsheva looked like she was going to fight me personally only to turn away and sulk. "Wasting time," she muttered. "But fine.
Kind of miffed. I hadn't been spreading that particular fate of mine around and here was the vampire side of me spilling it willy-nilly. Okay, not so nilly. But willy? Yup, yup.At least from the startled look on my undead friend's faces the revelation was satisfactorily shocking. Enough to convince Sebastian to have my back?From the sounds of it, he didn't really have a choice.Sunny's flawless face looked so sad I hugged her, letting Sebastian go, breaking the bond as my vampire retreated again and let me take the reins."Syd," she whispered. "Oh, Syd."No crying. Damn her and her sweet sympathy. I was so over it.Yeah, right."Such a burden to carry alone." Sunny wiped at a crystal tear on her cheek, clearly not as concerned about the whole weepy thing as I was, making it harder for me to keep the grip sadness had over my throat from forcing me to sob."I wish it mattered." Sebastian's shoulders rolled forward and for the first time since I'd met him, he looked defeated. "W
Sitting and waiting had never been one of my strengths, but after Sebastian rose abruptly at the interruption and left rather quickly, I didn't have much say in the matter.Charlotte calmed enough she was back to mostly normal, though I knew her present state would change at the barest hint of a threat. It couldn't be easy for her, surrounded by her enemies, knowing my life was in danger, and I almost wished Anastasia hadn't brought her, no matter the insane demands I'm sure Charlotte made.And though my usual reaction to being trapped and frustrated because my fate was being decided for me would be to pace or throw things or storm my way into more trouble, I found myself reclining on a divan, looking out at the silent mountains, lost in thought.Did my demon and Shaylee, not to mention my family magic, have that much of a restless influence on me? I certainly felt calm, almost relaxed, and had to blame-or thank-my vampire for my present emotional repose.Though, of course, instead
Charlotte looked ready for murder. Chances were she just needed someone to take out her nervous energy on. I was shocked she hadn't killed him already, to be totally honest about it. As she glared down at him he continued to smile at me, sweet face as creepy as ever, especially knowing what madness lurked behind his gentle eyes."Forgive me," he said, shuffling forward on his hands and knees to bend over and press his forehead to the top of my foot. "I told you the truth when we last met, I swear it." He looked up, a wide smile showing his perfect, even, white teeth, the scar marring his right cheek barely visible now he was human again and not in the demon form he'd been forced into. "You have an ally in Batsheva's clan.""You let them drug me again." I stepped away from him, not wanting him to touch me. Charlotte took my disgust as permission to reach for him and jerk him to his feet, almost suspended from her hand as she hoisted him away from me."I had no choice." His words sque
In the moment it took me to understand just how deep Batsheva's evil ran, Demetrius plowed ahead as if he hadn't just dropped a magical nuke in my lap."I helped her make a crystal of her very own." He shook his head, tsking. "Foolish. She used it in secret to drain Yvette's magic while they fought." Charlotte rumbled her unhappiness. Not that the vampire Queen was betrayed, I didn't think, but more so out of her inherent sense of fair play. "Batsheva defeated her, easy peasy lemon squeezy, then drained her dry. Slurp."Bile was the worst taste ever. I just wished I had control over its rise."Her crystal?" If I could get my hands on it... but no. Each one was keyed to the user. So no help there. But if I could somehow have mine brought to me, a whole bunch of new possibilities were available. That was, if it could break through the block from the powder. Though I had reason to believe that might be the case. After all, it allowed me access to my magic when I'd been magically smothe
Margaret left us, presumably to talk with her Council, and even though she'd come around, I was still happy to have Mom alone for a little while.She hugged me again, not letting go this time as she led me to a settee and drew me down beside her. The segment of her magic tied to vampire power, thanks to Batsheva herself no less, connected with mine and, in that moment, the world opened up again.Beginning with a very angry tirade from Gram.When I get my hands on that tart of a bitch with a capital 'B'-She wasn't alone.-can't say out of trouble for ten minutes. That was Sassafras, piggybacking into our conversation. I didn't mind. Not even a little.Enough, you two. Mom stroked my hair while I leaned against her and just let her be my mother. Syd's been through a lot in the last few hours. And none of this is her fault.Of course it isn't, Gram snapped. What's the hold up? Sassafras's amber magic snaked inside me. The moment it did, I felt his panic. I thought you were jus
Batsheva rambled for a while until even Celeste began to look embarrassed by her leader's behavior, all about her plans for dominance and what she was going to do to Pannera, to my mother, to Margaret, on and on in a spiraling downward vortex of cray-cray.I watched Celeste carefully and realized very quickly the force of power had shifted between them. Though Batsheva came across as the leader, from the moments of hatred puncturing her calm, it was clear Celeste now held the reins, allowing the other woman to act as some kind of deranged figurehead. And though I wasn't sure why, just yet, Celeste must have had a plan. Possibly with the help of the Brotherhood.Which meant she was now the more dangerous of the two.Hard to take Batsheva seriously anymore as she paced and snarled before cackling and twirling like a demented fairy tale princess in front of her mirror. Sad, actually. Depressing. As much as I was happy to see her go down, I wanted her to be aware of her fall. Her defeat