Page 6 of How to Stake a Vampire
“Spoken like someone who’s never had to deal with magical artifact disposal,” Gregory said with a frown. “You can’t simply throw something like that in a furnace, Wendall. The magical backlash could level half the town.”
“Then what do you suggest?” Cornelius asked thinly.
“We should study it,” Oscar declared portentously from his shadowy corner of Hell. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn from a cursed artifact. Knowledge is power, after all.”
Melody looked like she was in agreement with the demon.
I, on the other hand, didn’t like the sound of that one bit.
Finnic’s words echoed my thoughts.
“Knowledge is also how you accidentally do something stupid,” the dwarf groused, taking another swig from his tankard. “I speak from experience.”
“The point remains, we need to decide what to do with the skull,” Daria said firmly.
Pearl surprised everyone by jumping on the table. She waited until she had everyone’s undivided attention before dropping a bombshell.
“Might I suggest that since the Hawthorne luna was the one to neutralize the artifact’s power, her opinion should carry significant weight in this decision?”
3
DECISIONS AND DISTRACTIONS
The silencethat followed Pearl’s pronouncement was so thick you could have cut it with a silver knife and served it at a vampire dinner party.
Victoria and Samuel were staring at Pearl like she’d lost her feline mind.
“Pearl?” the Hawthorne matriarch said uneasily.
“What are doing?!” Samuel hissed at the cat. “We said we wouldn’t let Abby get involved in Alliance matters!”
“Yousaid you wouldn’t let Abby get involved in Alliance matters,” Pearl retorted. “I know you want to protect your luna, but it’s pretty clear she needs to step up if we want to stop the Alliance from doing something stupid, like the dwarf says.”
“Hear, hear,” Finnic said, waving his tankard unhelpfully.
Every pair of eyes in the room had swiveled to me with an intensity that made me want to crawl under the table. Which, considering the table was occupied by some of the most powerful supernatural creatures on the East Coast, probably wouldn’t have helped anyway.
“Well,” Daria said slowly, her pen hovering over her notepad. She put it down and leaned back in her chair. “That’s a novel perspective.” She fixed me with a penetrating stare. “Eventhough Abby is not officially an Alliance member, I think we should hear her thoughts on the matter.”
“The white wolf did demonstrate considerable influence over the artifact,” Cornelius agreed with a grunt. “She’s probably the only one who can control it without tapping into a ley line.”
I bit my lip worriedly. It was clear from the Tremaines’s and Portia’s anxious expressions that they were thinking about how the white wolf had commanded an entire ballroom full of supernatural elites to sit down like obedient puppies.
Wendall’s nostrils sparked again. “With respect to Ms. West’s unique abilities, this is hardly her area of expertise.” His tone suggested he was finding this whole situation about as appealing as a root canal performed by a troll.
“Neither is it yours, Wendall,” Melody pointed out with that dangerously sweet smile of hers. “When was the last time any of us dealt with a cursed artifact of this magnitude?”
“The 1800s,” Gregory muttered under his breath.
“Exactly my point,” the witch-fae continued blithely. “We’re all flying blind here. At least Abby has actually used the thing.”
I shifted uncomfortably in my chair. I wasn’t sure “used” was the right word. It had been more like desperate improvisation spurred on by my wolf. I said as much.
“That’s the best kind of improv,” Finnic declared, raising his tankard again. “Nothing teaches you about magic quite like nearly dying from it.” His eyes hardened a little. “Ask me how I know.”
I was starting to get the feeling the dwarf had either led an especially dangerous life or was as accident prone as my best friend Ellie.
Samuel leaned forward stiffly, his protective instincts humming through our bond. “Abby’s connection to the skull was circumstantial. She was trying to save lives, not conduct a magical experiment.”
