River and Juniper were admiring a collection of swords when Juniper took one down, spun like she was a mighty ninja or Jackie Chan, and tossed it to me. To my credit, I caught it. But it was sturdy, solid metal meant to decapitate a vamp or a villain in a single blow. It was heavy, and I was unprepared.
Esther turned to look at me. As did everyone else and a hush fell over them. They weren’t oohing and ahhing anymore. They were staring like I was the freak in the room. I was, but I didn’t know they all knew it until the advice started pouring in.
“Try to imagine yourself like a mighty lion.”
“Or a fire-breathing dragon again.”
“Those only exist in fairy tales.”
“You don’t know.”
“Be a crocodile or an alligator.”
“Too low to the ground.”
“Something with thick skin that it would be hard for a bullet to penetrate.”
“Oh, right. Like she can be Iron Man.”
The voices just kept coming, and I wasn’t sure who said what. Back and forth. Arguing. Suggesting. Louder and louder to make their points, but to me they blended into one and if they didn’t stop, I was going to shift right here in the weapons closet.
“Maybe you could be a bee. Sting them to death,” River said. That was followed by a laugh that made everyone else chortle.
Then everyone stopped and looked at River. But Tabi was the one who said, “They’re vamps. Not the kid from My Girl.”
We devolved from there. “The Home Alone kid.”
“Yeah, but he was a badass in Home Alone. In My Girl, he was kind of delicate.”
“Wasn’t he in Simon Birch, too?”
“No, that was the kid from Jurassic Park. The original.”
“If we could all put our Siskel and Ebert away,” Esther interrupted. “We have a far more important issue to deal with.” She sighed and glanced at me. “Are you weapons trained?”
I wasn’t even spatula trained. I shook my head.
Tabi smiled encouragingly. “Try to be a lion. A tiger. Something with sharp teeth and a bad attitude when it comes time. And whatever you do, don’t shift in front of the other pack or shift back where anyone can see you.” These weren’t just a warning, these were words of wisdom. “People will believe what they see, but they don’t have to know where it came from. And remember. They all have phones.”
And we didn’t need a video of me shifting going viral.
I nodded because I didn’t have a lot of other choices. I was in a room with weapons within every reach. Last thing I wanted was to be staked, stabbed, or shot.
“And when this threat is neutralized”—oh, for being such a child of the sun, Juniper was very tactically spoken—“we’ll start your training in earnest.”
Esther nodded. “All shifters should be trained to defend themselves against rival packs and vampires. Don’t worry. We have your back. We’d have started your training earlier, a few days ago, but I thought we had a little more time before Holly’s minions drew the vampires’ attention.”
I nodded, still reeling from all the information. Even later, when I was in my home, alone, I couldn’t separate the voices as each conversation we’d had came back to me with startling clarity.
Instead, I just soaked up their friendship, the way they included me and promised to help me get through this gala and to train me for future situations. There was definitely a benefit to having friends like these.
Especially when anything we did to take down Holly and whatever her plot was might bring my daughter back to me safely. Because even though I liked these ladies, that was my real worry. My real focus. My daughter. And keeping her alive.
CHAPTERTWENTY-TWO
To my intense surprise, Tilly was in the kitchen when I got home. She smiled sheepishly at me. “Hey, Mom. I made tea.”
Our kettle was set on the table, steam rising from the spout. She picked it up and poured the hot water over a couple of bags of Earl Grey in our favorite mugs. We’d used them since she was a little girl. They’d both been handpainted at one of those fancy places. Mine had “Best Mom Ever,” and hers had, “Best Daughter Ever.” Both of them were done in different colors with hearts and stars. Neither looked perfect, more like complete messes, but they were some of my most beloved objects in our house.
