Chapter 615: Vampires In Peril
Gram and Shenka were in the kitchen when I stormed into the house, magic weaving around the dishes, cleaning up the mess from the party. Sassafras hissed at me as I stomped past him, barely missing his tail with my toes. He leaped onto the table to glare at me as I came to a jarring halt.
"Sebastian isn't clan leader anymore." Blurting random troubles was apparently my specialty.
Shenka seemed surprised, but Gram didn't. In fact, she looked a little guilty before her wrinkled face fell into a frown.
"Tell me you didn't keep this from me." Yeah, my anger button was on a hair trigger. Had been pushed. And pushed. And pushed-
"I knew." At least she didn't try to deny it. Even so, I vibrated with the need to shake her.
"And you thought it was a good idea to keep this little tidbit to yourself." Cold, Syd. But, well, damn it.
"There's nothing you can do," Gram said, faded blue eyes empty and flat. "And you had enough on your plate. Still do."
That kind of crap was not going to fly with two broken wings.
Gram sat with a sigh, her harsh mask fading, sadness and her own frustration showing as she reached out and stroked Sassy's fur. He instantly began to purr despite the tension in the room, his demon magic offering her comfort. "I had my own occasion to return to the vampire mansion," she said. "I found out then Sebastian wasn't in control."
Grrr. My teeth ached from grinding them together. "Do you know who is?"
She shook her head.
"Celeste Oberman." I let that particular gem sink in, watched her shoulders sag, felt instantly regretful and sank into the seat next to her. "Gram, Celeste. Of all people."
Her eyes flashed with blue fire, the family magic she still controlled rippling back toward me as her own anger woke up. "That bitch," she said.
Who undermined my mother at every turn, a Purity who couldn't bear to be a Hayle, who killed some of the finest witches I knew to protect herself. Who'd sided with Batsheva Moromond and the Brotherhood.
Yeah. That bitch.
"She has to be up to something." I sat back, my own hand in Sassy's fur. He turned his head to stare, demon fire glowing in his gaze as his purr gained in volume. I could feel the tendrils of his comforting energy sliding up my hand, toward my heart and allowed it. "Anastasia came to me, asked for help. Said Celeste has been starving the vampires." Gram gasped softly while Shenka took the seat at the head of the table, shaking her head, eyes wide. "That the Queens have gone mad." It felt weird to repeat Anastasia's words. But I knew she was right. About Pannera, anyway, who accepted a known traitor into her blood clan.
Wait a second. Anastasia said queens.
As in-
"Sunny." I leaned forward, taking Gram's free hand in mine. "Have you talked to Uncle Frank?" Guilt slapped me all over again. Why hadn't I insisted they come for my birthday? Christmas last year? Something.
Anything.
Gram squeezed my fingers, jaw setting into a strong line. "I haven't spoken to either of them for months." She nodded once, a sharp gesture. "But you're right, girl. We've all been so wrapped up in our own messes, we've let this go on too long. Time to find out what's what."
Awesome. I stood up, her hand falling from mine. "Let's go."
Gram's scowl was so deep I wasn't surprised when she kicked me firmly in the shin with one of her fuzzy socked-feet.
"'Us' nothing." She stood herself, tugging her button-up pink sweater around her thin cotton dress even as her eyes took on that faraway look telling me she spoke to someone elsewhere. I tried to eavesdrop, only to have her cut me off and glare. One sharp index finger poked me aggressively in the ribs. "You have to stay out of it."
Like hell.
I didn't get to protest. Not when someone familiar walked through the wards and knocked on the door before Varity Rhodes let herself in. The tall, thin, former Enforcer leader looked as grim as Gram, so I assumed the short message Gram managed to fire off had some of the pertinent details.
"Coven Leader." Varity bowed her head to me before hugging Gram. "Ethie."
"Feel like taking a little trip?" Gram stepped away from her friend. "My son hasn't been answering his mail."
Varity glanced sideways at me before shrugging like it was no big deal.
"I like Austria this time of year," she said. "I'll drive."
Gram grunted. "You always get us lost. I'll drive."
Seriously?
"I'm coming." I'd already made up my mind and they weren't changing it.
Two pairs of eyes stared me down, two old ladies, their mutual power snapping and crackling, sending me back a step.
"You're staying put." Varity pointed at me then at the floor under my feet. "Don't think I'm out of the loop, young lady. The Council is watching you like you're something good for dinner, just waiting for you to screw up. And while the vampires aren't in our purview, there's no way any granddaughter of Ethie's is going to the stake on my watch because some anxious-ass Council member decided you stepped over a line."
Bossy pants.
"Let me handle this." Gram turned from me, offered her hand to her old friend. "We'll be back before you know it."
A million protests broke over my mind.
Didn't matter.
Damn them.
I watched them leave, tension poking me in the back, the need to act, to help, to do something driving me to shake where I stood.
But they were right.
How was I supposed to get anything done if I had to look over my shoulder every two seconds?
Shenka rose and came to my side, hand on my shoulder, turning me gently around. The empathy in her eyes told me she understood.
And was almost more than I could stand.
"They might as well have left me in that pretty prison at Harvard," I said, turning from Shenka. Meeting Sassy's eyes. "I'm still in a cell."
Sassafras sighed. "I hate to agree with you," he said. "But you're correct. For now, all you can do is allow others to handle things. There will come a time when breaking the Council's shackles will be worth the risk. But not this time."
I didn't get a chance to reply.
Syd! Liam's mental voice lurched against mine as I felt him surge free of the wards around the Gate cavern and into the open air. His touch was so strong I saw him standing in the dark basement of town hall, eyes wide, whole body shaking.
Liam. I reached back, hugging him with my magic, surprised peripherally to find his clinging mother wasn't hovering in the background. What's going on?
The Sidhe. He let me feel his fear. Something is wrong.
-Decay. Crumbling death. Loss. Crushing me, pulling at my breath, my strength, the very earth beneath me weak and failing as Shaylee cried out in pain-
No way was I holding back. Sassafras's right time to act had just shown up.
***
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