Page 24 of Mate
I freeze, loath to admit how much of a wimp I am.
“He won’t be bothering her anymore,” Koen says flatly. “She made sure of it.” Definitely not the whole truth, but Misery equivocates and gives me a proud, fangy smile.
“Actually,” I start guiltily, “if Koen hadn’t been there— ”
I stop, because suddenly the screen is fully taken up by a pair of piercing light green eyes. They blink at me as a small, sleepy voice asks, “Serena, did they tell you I lost two tooths?” The angle shifts, and a small tongue wiggles in and out of a wide front gap. Forwaylonger than is needed for a demonstration.
Ana.My heart nearly bursts with love for her. For some reason, my hands start trembling. “Nope.” I try to firm up my voice. “They rudely kept it from me.”
“I thought so.” She pulls back, just enough for me to see her give the adults behind her a disappointed look. “Someone will bring me money. A fairy. A creepy fairy made of tooths.”
“We’ve been over this, pest. The fairytakesthe teeth, but she’s not made of . . .” Misery waves her hand. “You know what? Sure. The damn fairy is made of enamel and pulp.”
“Ana, it’s too early for you to be up,” Lowe says, failing to sound stern. “Remember that you promised that after saying hi to Serena, you’d go back to bed?”
“Okay. Bye, Serena,” she says cheerfully, stopping to kiss her brother on the cheek and to blow a raspberry on a resigned Misery’s arm.
I watch her disappear, trying not to think about the fact that there are people out there who would be willing and capable of hurting her, until Koen says, “I thought the Vampyre council had agreed to stop fucking with Weres.”
“It’s a complicated situation,” Lowe acknowledges. “As you know, Owen, Misery’s brother, has been trying to consolidate control over the Vampyre council and convince them to agree to a trilateral peace treaty with the Weres and the Humans.”
“With mixed results, given the frequent mentions of his suddenly receding hairline,” Misery informs us. It’s unclear whom the recap is for. Probably me, the one voted most likely to forsake an internet connection and melt into the underbrush.
“After Serena’s interview,” Lowe continues, “Human public opinion has become highly favorable toward Weres. Disclosing the genetic compatibility was a gamble, and it paid off. The alliance Maddie and I have formed is stronger than ever. Peaceful coexistence, demilitarized areas, softer borders— none of this would have been possible even six months ago.”
“And the Vampyres are feeling left out?” Saul asks.
“The Vampyres have been invited to the playdate,” Misery says. “But for interspecies alliances the council needs a supermajority, and some members think it’s all a trick to weaken their position in the Southwest area.”
Koen snorts. “These crusty Vampyres really believe other species think about them that much, huh?”
“That’s exactly whatIsaid,” Misery points out. They share a look, brief but full of contempt. Shocking, how well they getalong. “Basically,” Misery continues, “someone on the council wants to blow up the alliance between the Weres and the Humans, and they put a bounty on Serena’s head, and now any Vampyre in want of a fortune is after her.”
“How did they track her down?” Koen asks. “Only Amanda and I knew her location.”
“That is my . . . well, I don’t know that one would sayfault, per se,but. . .” Alex timidly clears his throat, wringing his hands. I suspect he finds regular Koen terrifying— andangryKoen bloodcurdling. “When I gave Serena the satellite phone, I, um, recorded it with her initials to keep, uh, track of it,” he finishes in a hush.
“How thorough of you. Why not add a couple recent pictures, just to give the kidnappers a visual aid?”
“Actually.” Alex swallows. “There may have been one.”
Never mind Alex,Iam scared of Koen. I slide my hand on his leg, feeling the warm flesh of his thigh through his jeans. His muscles clench tight, then abruptly relax.
“Do we know which councilmembers set the bounty?” I ask.
Misery shakes her head. “Owen has a network of informants and thinks that Councilwoman Selamio or Councilman Ross might be behind this. Others might be involved, too. In a way, it’s not a bad thing. If they are caught participating in something that might start an interspecies war, they’ll be instantly killed, and their seats will pass to their heirs. Selamio Jr. and Baby Ross are assholes, but they’re not stupid. They know that entering the trilateral alliance would be for the best.”
“So . . . why are their parents still alive?” Koen asks. His leadership philosophy seems to beif inconvenient, why not dead?
“They’ve been covering their tracks,” Lowe admits reluctantly. “Without proof, Owen can’t make accusations.”
Koen grunts, unhappy with the concept of due process. “What do they even want with Serena?”
“To prove she’s an imposter. To use her DNA to dilute the symbolic power of a Were-Human hybrid by creating Were-Vampyre or Vampyre-Human hybrids. Who knows?” Misery massages her forehead, like the sheer idiocy is giving her a headache. “But they’re willing to part with a lot of money to have Serena delivered to them,alive, and . . .” She presses her lips together. Stares at me with those unblinking lilac eyes. “Serena, did you just shrug?”
“What? No.”
“She did,” the redhead mutters.
