Page 9 of How to Stake a Vampire
A handful of frowns suggested I should.
“Right,” Daria said, rubbing her temple. “Perhaps we should table the solstice discussions for now and reconvene next week to address the territorial disputes.”
“Probably for the best,” Cornelius agreed. “These things tend to sort themselves out if you give them time.”
“Or explode spectacularly,” Titania added blithely.
Samuel groaned.
“Thank you for that optimistic assessment,” Wendall muttered.
“Motion to adjourn?” Gregory suggested.
“Seconded,” came from multiple voices around the table.
“All in favor?” Daria asked.
Every hand shot up with suspicious speed.
“Meeting adjourned,” Daria announced, relieved. “Same time next week, assuming we all survive the interim.”
The Alliance members nodded at me curtly as they started filing out of the room. I couldn’t help but notice the way they gave me a wide berth.
“Well, that could have gone worse,” I said. “At least I didn’t offend anyone.”
“Oh, you did, dear,” Victoria murmured.
“I did?” I stared. “But—everyone was being nice. And the building is still standing.”
Samuel, Victoria, and Pearl exchanged a look.
“What?” I asked suspiciously.
“You were doing that thing you did at the ball,” Samuel explained quietly.
I blinked. “What thing?” I froze, my belly clenching as I grasped their meaning. “Wait. You don’t mean that white wolf pacifier thing where I unconsciously soothe supernatural creatures’ emotions?!”
“Yes,” Samuel confirmed stiffly. He faltered. “I don’t think any of them realized it was happening.”
My stomach sank. “And if they had?”
“We’d be scraping bits of you off the burning wall right now,” Pearl said with zero compunction.
Bo’s ears flattened.
That answer was going to keep me up at night.
“If Elizabeth possessed such a power, it was never recorded anywhere,” Victoria said in a troubled voice as we left the conference room. “We should try and figure out what it is.”
Elizabeth Rochester Hawthorne was Victoria’s great-great-grandmother and had been a white luna. Not only had she united the New England packs during the Shadow War that had coincided with the American Civil War, she was also responsible for creating the town of Amberford and several other supernatural settlements in New England.
“Maybe some things are better left as mysteries,” Samuel suggested.
For once, I had to agree. The way my wolf had gone quiet told me we might regret finding out what that power was.
4
BAD BLOOD AND BRAIN MUFFINS
