m in the lake. I said, “I’ve decided to ignore it for as long as I can.”
“Implying that you’re aware that you won’t be able to ignore it forever.”
My kingdom was a small one. I had my family, my mate, my pack, my city. I didn’t want anything else. I didn’t want an empire. But I would fight to protect what I had. I’d fought before, and I’d be an idiot to ignore the forces out there building empires, who would take my world away from me if I let them. Grant was right.
“So this is just another battle in your war against the forces of chaos,” I said.
“‘Just’ another battle. You make it sound mundane.”
“And you suspect Anastasia of being part of it?” I said.
He just smiled.
And while we were all discussing various conspiracy theories and secret suspicions, Provost and his crew were recording everything on video. Maybe one of the producers wanted information. What better way to gather intelligence than to bring a bunch of people on the inside together, then record their conversations? What happened when the secret shadow world of vampires and the forces of darkness got discussed on national TV? Wait a minute, who was I kidding? To the average TV-watching audience, these conversations would seem boring. They’d never end up in the final cut.
The gathering by the dock had turned quiet, drawing our attention.
“Lee?” Ariel called. She treaded water, turning slowly and looking out over the surface. “Where’d he go?”
“How long has he been under?” Jeffrey said.
“I don’t know,” Ariel said. “A while, I think.”
“Lee knows how to take care of himself,” Tina said. “He’s a were-seal, for crying out loud.”
“But where is he?” Ariel said.
Except for the ripples Ariel was making, the surface of the lake was still, dark, not a bubble in sight. I stood and wandered to the edge of the water. Grant came with me. A moment later, Jerome was standing with us, all of us looking out, and the nervous rock in my gut was growing heavier.
“Should we call someone?” Jeffrey said.
A body erupted from the water and lunged onto the edge of the dock. Torpedo-shaped, it was big, rubbery, with slick gray skin mottled brown, dripping wet. It had a face like a mashed-up dog’s, with huge, shining dark eyes. Opening its mouth wide, it showed off way too many sharp teeth and brayed, a throaty, belchy bark.
Everyone screamed. Except maybe Grant, who raised a curious brow and took a step back. Even Jerome shouted and stumbled away from the water. Tina and Jeffrey scrambled away from the barking seal. Ariel didn’t even bother climbing onto the dock. She swam for the shore, splashing in a panic.
The seal—Lee, I assumed—gave another growl. I swore it sounded like laughter. Then he rolled back into the water. Breaking the surface, he splashed his flippers, then swam, fast and hard, away from shore. He broke the surface now and then, his skin gleaming in the sun.
When I’d calmed down, I had to admit I was impressed that Lee had enough control to play a practical joke while in his lycanthropic form. I wouldn’t have.
“Ballsy,” Jerome said, chuckling nervously. He must have agreed with me.
“You jerk!” Ariel screamed after the now-distant seal. She stomped her feet, splashing in the water. Fuming, she turned to the rest of us. “That was awful! Ooh, I’m going to get him back. I’m so going to get him back for that!”
Tina started laughing. A tad hysterical, but still. All of our hearts were racing. If we didn’t laugh, we’d have heart attacks. But I agreed with Ariel—we’d certainly have to find a way to get back at him, wouldn’t we?
We were missing someone. I looked around, didn’t see him.
“Where’s Conrad?” I said. “Where’d he go? He had to have seen this.”
“He went back to the house for a minute. Said he had to use the bathroom,” Jerome said.
“Are you kidding me?” I screeched. Honest-to-God lycanthropic shape-shifting right in front of him—sort of—and he was off using the bathroom? I could have cried.
“Murphy’s Law,” Grant said. “The most powerful force in the universe.”
“Goddammit,” I muttered.
Just to make the scene even more cinematic, Conrad came wandering down the path from the lodge then. He stopped when he found us all staring at him with posttraumatized, half-amused, half-murderous looks on our faces.