I stood a little straighter, wished I was wearing my sword. And adjusted my body to block the doorway, just in case they made a move.
“Yes?” I asked, the word and my expression as mild as I could manage.
“Elisa Sullivan,” said the one in the front.
I just looked at him, waited.
“We’re from the Assembly of American Masters. It’s time for you to answer for your crime.”
TWO
My eyes silvered immediately, fury like a heated poison through my veins. The AAM was the ruling body of American vampires... and they weren’t here for a friendly visit.
“I have committed no crime,” I said, and each word was bitter.
But I knew why they were here, the violation they believed I’d committed.
I’d changed a human named Carlie into a vampire without authority or consent—the AAM’s or hers—during that trip to Minnesota. But I’d done it to save her. Carlie was still in Minnesota, now living with the local vampire coven; that was the best place for her, but knowing that didn’t ease the thorn of guilt lodged beneath my heart.
“We’d like to come in to discuss this matter.”
“No,” I said, not even bothering to consider the request. “You are not invited in.”
Magic wouldn’t keep them out; that was one of the vampire myths that wasn’t true. It was a courtesy, and most were fastidious enough about rules to adhere to it. As if a second line of defense, I felt them move in behind me—my army of friends. Lulu and Connor took point.
“Is there a problem?” Connor asked. That the heir apparent of the North American Central Pack stood before them didn’t seemto faze them at all. They’d probably researched me, uncovered the basics. But not everything.
A monster lived inside me. It was, or so I thought, a fragment of the singular magic that had allowed my mother to conceive me, as I was the first and only vampire to be born. My conception had been unexpected, facilitated by bonding magic Lulu’s mother had created to trap a creature ravaging Chicago. I wasn’t just uniquely born, but uniquely fused to a consciousness not my own—and one that only Connor knew about.
“There’s no problem,” I said, with more calm than I actually felt, and pushed down the monster’s sudden perk of interest. “These vampires are going to say their piece and leave.”
The vampire’s eyes flashed silver, a sure sign of his flaring anger. But he could get in line behind me.
“Then I suppose we’ll do this in the hallway,” the vampire said with obvious disdain. “I’m Blake. This is Sloan, and Levi,” he said, introducing the vampires beside him. “We are representatives of the Assembly’s Compliance Bureau.”
By tradition, vampires that weren’t Masters used only their first names. Blake was the one talking. Sloan was the dark-haired female behind him on his right, Levi the blond-haired male behind and on his left. They all wore the same dark and fitted suits, although each with a different flourish. Sloan had a string of pearls; Levi had a rose tucked into his lapel. Blake wore a pendant on a leather thong. They looked official and posh in the way of vampires, who knew how to use fashion to intimidate.
“This will formally advise you that you have breached vampiricCanon, laws and regulations, by making a vampire without authority to do so and without the human’s prior agreement,” Blake said. “Your activities risked the exposure of the local coven, harm to the human, and danger to all vampires. You are summoned to appear before Bureau representatives at midnight tomorrow for adjudication. Grant Park.”
“She saved someone’s life,” Lulu said.
“Carlie,” I said, because the AAM knew her name by now. “Her name is Carlie, and she didn’t deserve to die in someone else’s fight.”
Blake’s expression stayed bland. “You broke the rules.”
“Not the rules that matter,” Lulu said.
Blake turned his chilly gaze to Lulu. “She brokeourrules. She is a vampire, sorceress. You are not.”
I shifted, putting myself between them. Sorceress was the path Lulu had purposefully not chosen, and she didn’t like the reminder. Bickering wasn’t going to help. Most important, I didn’t want their anger directed at her.
“Who told you about Carlie?” I asked.
Blake’s lips thinned. “A confidential informant.”
More than a few candidates for that position, I thought ruefully, including the Minnesota Pack members still angry at our interference in their dysfunctional little community and the head of the vampire coven now sheltering Carlie, who hadn’t been happy I’d made a vampire.
“I’m entitled to know their name.”