DAMAGE REPORT
Daria Tilcott lookedlike she wanted to get back on a plane.
The Alliance chair had returned from the West Coast inter-coven summit two days ago and was already wearing the expression of a woman who deeply regretted the decision. She sat at the head of the oval table in theTwilight Conference Roomlike someone holding themselves together through sheer willpower, her silver chignon in perfect order and her pen tapping the notepad in front of her with a rhythm that suggested imminent violence.
“Let me see if I understand this correctly.” Her voice had icebergs in it. “I leave Amberford for three weeks and you people let an exiled dark witch kidnap the Lincoln sisters, subjugate a local coven,andnearly drain three ley lines dry using a banned blood ritual?”
Several Alliance members developed a sudden interest in the ceiling. Oscar’s territory of darknessexpanded by a foot. Cornelius adjusted his cufflinks with elaborate care.
Finnic raised his tankard. “To be fair, we also caught her.”
Daria’s stare could have spoiled ale. “You weren’t even there.”
Finnic considered this, shrugged, and took a long drink.
Samuel sat beside me, his expression carefully blank. Bo was under the table, having learned from previous Alliance meetings that this was the safest location to be. Victoria occupied her usual seat on Samuel’s other side, Pearl perched on the armrest of her chair like a queen surveying her disappointing subjects.
Barney watched the proceedings with a guarded look where he sat next to Victoria. The vampire had been invited to the emergency Alliance meeting as a special guest and seemed about as happy to be there as Daria.
“Samuel,” Daria said tightly, “perhaps you could bring the Tremaines and Titania up to speed on what happened. They were out of town during the worst of it.”
Gregory and Constantia Tremaine studied Samuel with matching looks of concern. Titania’s gossamer wings flickered with agitation.
Samuel briefed them on Esmeralda’s secret return to Amberford over a year ago, her carefully laid plans to rob the Lincoln sisters of their assets beforekidnapping them to steal their magic using a forbidden rite, the Ashgrove coven’s unfortunate involvement, and Melody falling victim to the dark witch’s subjugation magic and being forced to take the Lincoln sisters’ Alliance seat.
Constantia clutched the pearls at her throat. “Dear God!”
Gregory narrowed his eyes, a muscle jumping in his jawline. “I recall reading about the Black Chalice Rite when the Thornwicks were arrested by the Alliance. It requires pureblood vampire blood. How did she obtain it?”
Samuel hesitated and glanced at Barney. “Esmeralda apparently seduced an unidentified vampire to obtain it, before presumably killing him.”
Gregory’s eyes flashed crimson.
“That’s a violation of at least six blood accords!” he snapped.
“Seven,” Barney said quietly from across the table. His jaw was tight.
“She intended to take over the Lincoln sisters’ businesses and extend her influence over all the covens on the East Coast?” Titania mumbled, pale-faced.
“Yes,” Samuel said flatly.
Daria’s pen tapping accelerated. “What a mess.”
Wendall’s nostrils sparked. “I still don’t understand why our detection systems and wards didn’t pick up on the foul magic she was using.”
Daria let go of her pen, sat back, and pinched the bridge of her nose.
“The Forgetting spells Esmeralda used scrubbed the minds of anyone who may have raised the alarm. Thevampiric elements of the rite masked her magical activities.” She blew out a sigh. “It was sophisticated enough to fool every standard monitoring protocol we have.”
A fraught silence settled over the room.
Victoria finally spoke, her expression guarded. “We cannot allow this to happen again.”
Samuel and I had given her a breakdown of what had happened at the Thornwick property when we’d returned home the night of our confrontation with Esmeralda. Although Pearl had listened without saying a word, the way her eyes had gleamed and her ears pricked told me she had a lot of thoughts on the subject.
There was general nodding around the table in response to Victoria’s statement.
“So, who stopped the Thornwick witch?” Titania asked nervously.
