Chapter 31 Damage Report
DAMAGE REPORT
Daria Tilcott looked like she wanted to get back on a plane.
The Alliance chair had returned from the West Coast inter-coven summit two days ago and was already wearing the expression of a woman who deeply regretted the decision.
She sat at the head of the oval table in the Twilight Conference Room like someone holding themselves together through sheer willpower, her silver chignon in perfect order and her pen tapping the notepad in front of her with a rhythm that suggested imminent violence.
“Let me see if I understand this correctly.” Her voice had icebergs in it. “I leave Amberford for three weeks and you people let an exiled dark witch kidnap the Lincoln sisters, subjugate a local coven, and nearly drain three ley lines dry using a banned blood ritual?”
Several Alliance members developed a sudden interest in the ceiling. Oscar’s territory of darkness expanded by a foot. Cornelius adjusted his cufflinks with elaborate care.
Finnic raised his tankard. “To be fair, we also caught her.”
Daria’s stare could have spoiled ale. “You weren’t even there.”
Finnic considered this, shrugged, and took a long drink.
Samuel sat beside me, his expression carefully blank.
Bo was under the table, having learned from previous Alliance meetings that this was the safest location to be.
Victoria occupied her usual seat on Samuel’s other side, Pearl perched on the armrest of her chair like a queen surveying her disappointing subjects.
Barney watched the proceedings with a guarded look where he sat next to Victoria. The vampire had been invited to the emergency Alliance meeting as a special guest and seemed about as happy to be there as Daria.
“Samuel,” Daria said tightly, “perhaps you could bring the Tremaines and Titania up to speed on what happened. They were out of town during the worst of it.”
Gregory and Constantia Tremaine studied Samuel with matching looks of concern. Titania’s gossamer wings flickered with agitation.
Samuel briefed them on Esmeralda’s secret return to Amberford over a year ago, her carefully laid plans to rob the Lincoln sisters of their assets before kidnapping them to steal their magic using a forbidden rite, the Ashgrove coven’s unfortunate involvement, and Melody falling victim to the dark witch’s subjugation magic and being forced to take the Lincoln sisters’ Alliance seat.
Constantia clutched the pearls at her throat. “Dear God!”
Gregory narrowed his eyes, a muscle jumping in his jawline. “I recall reading about the Black Chalice Rite when the Thornwicks were arrested by the Alliance. It requires pureblood vampire blood. How did she obtain it?”
Samuel hesitated and glanced at Barney. “Esmeralda apparently seduced an unidentified vampire to obtain it, before presumably killing him.”
Gregory’s eyes flashed crimson.
“That’s a violation of at least six blood accords!” he snapped.
“Seven,” Barney said quietly from across the table. His jaw was tight.
“She intended to take over the Lincoln sisters’ businesses and extend her influence over all the covens on the East Coast?” Titania mumbled, pale-faced.
“Yes,” Samuel said flatly.
Daria’s pen tapping accelerated. “What a mess.”
Wendall’s nostrils sparked. “I still don’t understand why our detection systems and wards didn’t pick up on the foul magic she was using.”
Daria let go of her pen, sat back, and pinched the bridge of her nose.
“The Forgetting spells Esmeralda used scrubbed the minds of anyone who may have raised the alarm. The vampiric elements of the rite masked her magical activities.” She blew out a sigh. “It was sophisticated enough to fool every standard monitoring protocol we have.”
A fraught silence settled over the room.
Victoria finally spoke, her expression guarded. “We cannot allow this to happen again.”
Samuel and I had given her a breakdown of what had happened at the Thornwick property when we’d returned home the night of our confrontation with Esmeralda.
Although Pearl had listened without saying a word, the way her eyes had gleamed and her ears pricked told me she had a lot of thoughts on the subject.
There was general nodding around the table in response to Victoria’s statement.
“So, who stopped the Thornwick witch?” Titania asked nervously.
Bo emerged from beneath the table and puffed his chest out.
“Abby did,” my dog announced proudly before I could stop him. “Although I didn’t see the details myself, on account of I was waiting in the surveillance van.”
Pearl twitched her tail. “Waiting for what, exactly?” she sneered.
Bo quietly went back under the table.
I swallowed a groan as nine pairs of eyes swiveled toward me, Oscar’s glinting menacingly from his domain of gloom. I had been doing my best to pretend my wolf and I were invisible ever since the meeting started.
Samuel’s disquiet danced across the mate bond.
“Look, it wasn’t just me,” I protested awkwardly. “Didi and Mrs. Chen helped, not to mention Melody and the Ashgrove witches.”
“They wouldn’t have been able to do what they did if you hadn’t been there.” Concern and wariness laced Daria’s words in equal measure as she observed me. “I spoke to Didi and Wilhelmina at length.” She wrinkled her brow. “I also examined the scene of your confrontation with Esmeralda.”
I had a sinking feeling what she was going to say next.
Cornelius’s expression sharpened. “What did you find?”
Daria held my gaze, her own clouding over. “It will be months before the magic vestiges disappear. We’ll have to cordon off the area and assign a coven to keep an eye on it.”
I tried not to squirm as the stares became laser like. Mrs. Chen had already warned me the convergence and three ley lines would emit raw magic for some time in response to what I did to them.
“Was it your human white wolf?” Wendall asked stiffly.
I hesitated. The doors swung open before I could reply.
The Lincoln sisters entered the Twilight Conference Room on a cloud of expensive perfume.
Maude led the way with an ornate walking cane, which she wielded like a potential weapon to smack someone with should anyone step out of line and annoy her.
She’d lost some weight during her imprisonment and the high fashion outfit she wore hung a little loosely, but her eyes remained piercing and her magical signature crackled faintly around her like static.
Viola walked at her elder sister’s right shoulder, the witch looking dignified and pale in something that probably cost an arm and a leg. The youngest Petunia brought up the rear, the dark circles under her eyes still visible despite by her makeup.
Melody Flowers came in behind them.
Daria straightened. The rest of the Alliance members visibly stiffened.
It was clear Melody’s presence had not been expected.
My chest tightened a little.
The fae-witch looked nothing like the polished, untouchable creature who’d presided over Alliance meetings in the Lincoln sisters’ absence. Without her glamour on display, she seemed frail and thin, her expression still raw from what she’d experienced at Esmeralda’s hands.
I could tell she still blamed herself for what had happened to the Lincoln sisters.
An expectant hush descended. Maude broke it.
“Contrary to rumors,” the eldest Lincoln sister announced sharply, “we are not lingering near death’s door.” She shot a sharp-eyed look in Oscar’s direction.
The demon shrank in his seat.
“We are aware of the inconvenience our absence has caused to the Amberford supernatural community and we will be redressing the situation shortly.” Maude sniffed. “And no, we do not wish to discuss what that woman’s cellar smelled like.”
“Like a sewer had a baby with a cursed swamp,” Petunia muttered.
Viola shuddered in a way that suggested her sister’s description was unfortunately accurate.
Bo peered out at me with gleaming eyes and slowly wagged his tail.
“Maybe I should have checked out that cellar,” my dog huffed.