They wouldn’t have arranged this little warning if that was what they planned.
“No, they’re not,” Anton agreed. “Aileen may be a pain in the ass sometimes, but she’s ours. We’d massacre your entire family line.”
“Does that include her sister and father?” our uncle challenged.
“They could always become vampires,” Anton said. “Actually, I quite like that idea. No one could claim Aileen broke the covenant if her family joined our ranks.”
Caroline raised a hand. “Don’t forget that werewolf is an option too. I’ve seen her mom cook. The woman would not last eternity on a liquid diet.”
That—was a very good point. Mom’s love of food rivaled my own. I couldn’t see her accepting the limitations that came with vampirism.
“It doesn’t matter either way because they’re not here to kill me. Are you?” I asked.
My uncle’s smirk was slow in coming. “Observant. Did Patty teach you that?”
“You could say that. Along with other things.”
None of which I planned to share with this family member that I still didn’t know very well.
“You can see how this puts us in a sort of bind. Because of our pact, we can’t refuse orders from a council member. But we also don’t kill family.” Our uncle’s eyes were cold as he smirked at me. “However distant that family has become.”
“At least, not unless they do something very stupid or very dangerous,” Drake interjected with a wink.
I ignored him to look at the other two. “What is it that you want?”
From all this verbal tap dancing, there had to be something.
“If the council member who put the hit out on you were to perish or suddenly no longer be on the council, their request would become null and void,” our grandfather said.
The cunning old man. That was what they were after.
“You’re asking a lot given you haven’t told me who it was yet,” I said.
Our uncle snorted. “How hard can it be? Exactly how many enemies do you have?”
“You’d be surprised,” Anton muttered under his breath.
I was the only one who heard him.
Our grandfather drained the last of his coffee. “I suggest you figure it out and quick. We’ve stalled about as long as we can. Eventually, we’ll run out of excuses.”
I squinted as they both rose. “You never did introduce yourselves properly.”
Our uncle threw a bunch of bills on the table. “You never asked.” He nodded at Jenna. “You have our number. We’ll await your decision. Don’t take too long though.”
What was this?
I fixed wide eyes on Jenna. “What decision is he talking about?”
“I’ll let you know soon,” Jenna told our uncle.
“Let him know what?”
Jenna didn’t look at me, avoiding my demanding stare.
Our uncle turned to Drake. “You got this?”
Drake chewed on the soft ice in his glass, his drink long gone. “If I don’t, are you going to step in?”
