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“Doesn’t it matter to them that you didn’t care?” Since he was the true leader of the Tribunal, shouldn’t his opinion matter more than Juan Carlos’s?
“To some it will be enough. To others, your werewolf blood will be… What is the phrase I’m looking for? It cannot be overlooked.”
“A deal breaker?” I suggested.
“Yes.”
Great, my life was a Presidential election, and the Elder Council was Florida.
“What can I do?” I pictured myself stating my case before a room of centuries-old vampires, trying to convince them I didn’t deserve to die. Given my skill for saying all the wrong things, I didn’t foresee that particular scenario going great for me. “I don’t need to, like, testify or something, do I?”
“No. I can’t imagine you speaking for yourself would do anything but damage your reputation further.”
I would have been offended had I not just thought the same thing.
“There’s something I need to deal with in Manitoba. I think I might have a shot of finding my mother. If the council wants me dead, can they wait until I’ve taken care of that situation first?”
I didn’t want to die, in spite of my decided lack of joie de vivre lately. But if the Council decided it was curtains for me, I couldn’t die without knowing my family was safe. All my promises of protection to Grandmere, my sister, Mercedes, Tyler and others would be considered null and void once I was dead. If I could at least eliminate one of the last threats against them, maybe I could accept my fate with more grace.
Nah. I’d still fight tooth and nail down to the bitter end.
I wasn’t the kind of girl to lie down and let the world kick me in the ribs, and I had no intention of starting now.
“It might be wise for you to leave the city again while the discussions are underway. I don’t like the idea of you being considered a vulnerable target by vampires who might wish to claim your seat.”
“Haven’t I always been considered a vulnerable target?”
“In the beginning, certainly. But as time has passed and you’ve proven yourself to be strong, the threats have fallen away. This sort of negative attention might renew interest, though. The possibility of power has been known to make civil men and women do reckless things.”
I wanted to check my phone but resisted the urge. It had only been a half hour since Dominick woke me. Things with Desmond hadn’t likely changed in such a short period of time.
> I dug my thumbnails into the lifelines on my palms. One long, one short, neither future certain. Some days I wish I knew which path was which, because I was starting to think no matter what I did I was going to end up with the short line and an early death.
It was a shame my life wasn’t a Choose Your Own Adventure novel where I could peek ahead to see if the decisions I was making would lead to another chapter or end in certain death. That would have been handy.
Knowing my luck, though, even having a peek at the happy ending wouldn’t be a sure thing. I’d find a way to get myself into trouble somehow. It was a gift, really.
“I need to wait until Desmond can travel.”
“Don’t wait for the wolf. Take Holden.”
I bristled. “This isn’t an even-trade situation. Mercy isn’t a vampire. I need another werewolf with me to help hunt her in the daylight and to make sure she’s not hunting me. Holden is—”
“Holden is what?” The man in question had opened the front door and was standing in the entryway holding a Starbucks cup. I wasn’t sure if that meant he’d been visiting with Calliope, or he knew how much I liked a cup of dark roast when I woke up.
“I was just saying you wouldn’t be my best odds of protection when the person I’m after can come at me during the day. That’s all.”
He moved closer, placing the big cup in front of me and removing his jacket like it was a dance move. “What you really mean is I haven’t done so well at protecting you when it matters.”
The words felt like a sucker punch to my gut. I’d thought Holden was dealing with the whole Doctor situation better than me, but maybe he was just more skilled at hiding his true feelings. Did he honestly blame himself for us getting taken?
That was a discussion we could have when Sig was gone.
My inability to say what I wanted made me cranky though, and I snapped, “Don’t put words in my mouth. I wanted to bring Desmond because he’s familiar with pack politics. And my mother won’t play fair. If she thinks she has a shot of killing me at high noon, she’s damned sure going to do it.”
Sig was watching the exchange with thinly veiled interest. “Perhaps you should bring them both.”
Yeah like that wouldn’t end terribly.
