“Where’d everybody go?”
Aside from Sara, Sinclair, Jeannie, Michael, BabyJon, and Derik, the room was empty. Oh, and let’s not forget the werewolf who killed me.
“Michael cleared the room after you were attacked. Ah—it’s none of my business,” Sara continued, “but why aren’t you a pile of dust?”
“It’s a queen of the undead thing,” I said, trying to get my feet under me so I could stand. Sinclair gripped one of my arms, Michael the other, and they hauled me up. I stared down at my ruined suit and sighed.
“I must apologize on the Pack’s behalf,” Michael said stiffly. He appeared calm, but I had the distinct impression he was mortified.
And Jeannie was pissed. “There was no excuse for that. At all.” She turned to Sinclair. “You should have torn his damned head off.”
“Maybe next time,” my husband replied.
“Again, I apologize.” Michael nodded at the still-?snoring werewolf. “He will be dealt with; you have my word.”
“No, don’t.”
“Sorry, what?”
“Just forget it.”
“Elizabeth,” my husband began warningly.
“Let’s not make things any worse than they already are. Look! No harm, no foul. I’m fine. He can buy me a new suit and we’ll call it even.”
“Unacceptable,” Sinclair said flatly and, wonder of wonders, Michael was nodding in agreement. Finally, they had a goal in common: ignoring my express wishes.
But for a change I had the chance to be the better man—so to speak—and moved to take advantage of it. Maybe I was beginning to think more politically in my old age. “I mean it, you guys. Let it go. It was a bad situation for all of us. It’s not like I didn’t provoke him. Come on, let’s forget about it and move on. This Council thing—when are we supposed to talk to them?”
“Tomorrow,” Michael said, giving me a look I’d never seen on his face before. Grudging admiration? Disbelief in my sanity? Maybe he just had to use the bathroom. “Midnight.”
Ah, yes. Midnight. Not too big of a cliche. But I kept that to myself—I’d shot my mouth off enough for one night.
“So, we’ll be there. But let’s call it a night for now. I don’t know about you guys, but I’ve had about all the excitement I can take for one day. Night. Whatever.”
Sara laughed; she was the only one who did. But at least the others seemed to tacitly agree, because they fell back and let Sinclair, BabyJon, and me get back to our suite.
“Are you okay?” I muttered out of the side of my mouth, patting BabyJon on the rump. Hoo! The boy needed a diaper change in the worst way.
“I am deeply, deeply regretting not putting my fist through your attacker’s skull,” Sinclair replied neutrally.
“Don’t worry. There’s always tomorrow.”
Sinclair snorted, but seemed to lighten up. That was a good, good thing. I’m sure the werewolves were all badass and everything, but none of them had a thing on my husband, who wasn’t only a) the king of the vampires and b) old and wily, but c) wouldn’t tolerate people messing with me.
If they hadn’t learned that after tonight, there was no hope for them, and no hope for reconciliation. And then what?
War, maybe. A vampire/werewolf war.
Swell.
Chapter 28
My king,
Things here are as well as can be expected. I have reviewed the quarterly report from your holdings in Los Angeles and it seems the new security system for the company’s web server is doing the job.
Laura seems to be entertaining quite a bit in your absence; it seems there are always strangers in the house. Neither Marc nor Laura has said anything to me about them, so I am respecting their privacy and assuming they are trying to fill the void left by the absence of you and the queen.
I trust this finds you and Her Majesty well. If you require anything of me, do not hesitate to contact me at once. In the meantime, I have FedExed copies of the contracts for your most recently acquired properties. Please review them at your leisure, sign them if they are satisfactory, and return them to me. I will then take the next step.
My love and fealty to you both.
—Tina
“See?” I whined. “Why can’t I get e-?mails like that? Not only is it clear and understandable, it’s in English!”
“My love, what in the world are you talking about?”
“Look!” I stabbed a finger at the printout of Marc’s latest rambling.
hey , grrrrl, miss you bad. things out here are BTW, but I’ve got a handle on it. Laura says howdy and wants you to GBH ASAP. tell your magically delicious hubby to answer tina’s e-?mails; the grrl is FRO! later, marc.
“I have no idea what he’s talking about,” I muttered. “This might as well be in French.”
“What is a FRO?” Sinclair asked, studying the printout.
“My point! How should I know? When I send an e-?mail, I actually spell words out. And use punctuation.”
“Light of my life, while I enjoy tirelessly listening to your never-?ending litany of complaints, I believe we have slightly more pressing matters to discuss. For example, your attempted murder. And our appearance before the Council.”
“Yeah, yeah. But we’re getting back to this e-?mail thing.”
We’d been back in our suite for about twenty minutes. The first thing Sinclair did was strip me out of my ruined suit and blouse and examine me from head to toe. It was a waste of time—I was fine. But sometimes there was no talking to the stubborn cuss I had married.
“So, dish.” I had put BabyJon down for a midnight nap and was lying on our bed, covertly feeling my chest now and again. Nope, no gaping holes. “What happened after I got stabbed?”
“Oh, the usual. Pandemonium. Violence. Threats. More violence.”
“You suck at narratives.”
He bowed his head modestly. I knew I was wasting my breath (so to speak). Sinclair wasn’t about to confess that he’d been scared out of his mind yet again. He liked to play it cool, even with me.
“Logically, your attempted murder can only help us.”
“Gee, thanks. So glad to be of service.” I sat up and swung my right leg out to kick him in the shin, which he neatly avoided.
“Elizabeth, you know exactly what I mean.”
“Michael’s humiliated and mortified, which the Council will pick up on? Like that?”
“Yes. Like that.”
“They must have been pretty surprised when I got up off the floor.”
He grinned. “Yes, indeed. Once I was able to remove the chair leg from your sternum, you woke up almost instantly—and healed as quickly.”
“Glad to be of help. That Sara girl was nice. She was about the only one who was nice.”
He shrugged and eased out of his jacket. “Give them time. Your warped charm will eventually win them over.”
“Hypocrites. Is it just me, or did Antonia never get a call or a visit from these guys the whole time she was
