Her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I don’t know why I came,” I said awkwardly. “Maybe to say thank you? I didn’t know you would be busy.” I tried to back away.
Cynthia stood from her spot on an antique sofa near the fireplace, and started to usher me out the door. She froze when Leah spoke. “Tell me what I should do.” I looked around for a second before I realized she was speaking to me.
The room was filled with murmurs and hushed conversation. Viktor stood, clenching his fists. Cynthia started to say something, but Leah held up a hand and she was quiet, her lips compressed to a thin line of disapproval. I could feel the tension in the room, flowing about me like choking smog. Viktor, never one to know when to shut up, spoke out over the others, “but she’s just a human.”
Leah gave him a quelling look, her blue eyes showing a hint of silver. “Yes. She’s a human. She has human morals, a human soul. Something we’ve lost.”
Haine touched my shoulder in passing and went to take a seat on an old fainting couch near the fireplace. I frowned in confusion, automatically looking to Peter for explanation. He leaned against the mantle, refusing to meet my eyes, and I clenched my teeth.
Leah took a seat on the ottoman next to me. The tension in the room ratcheted up a notch, and I thought I might get killed just for being here. What in the world was going on?
The master vampire took a deep breath and let it out. Just like that, the tension was gone. Her power over the others was that strong. This was one of her talents. She gave me a calm smile. “I am nicer than other vampires,” she said, surprising the hell out of me.
I cleared my throat. “Um… yes.”
She looked around the room, her eyes lingering on each vampire in turn. “I am very young to be a coven leader.” Her eyes met mine and they were completely silver. “But this is what my master wanted. When he left this world, he insisted that I take the coven. He wanted a new direction for our kind.”
I nodded. Peter had told me this. Their master had been an optimist. Her voice grew soft and distant. “I’m a woman. I’m not just young, I’m soft. I wouldn’t choose this role if the choice were mine to make.” She inclined her head toward Peter and the others. “But, my coven is my family. I need to protect my family or the wolves will devour them.” I met those compelling silver eyes. Her fangs were out. I had trouble breathing. She was supremely pissed.
I was missing something. “What do you mean?” My voice was small.
Peter stood. “Cashern’s people must be taken care of.” His voice was soft, deceptively and dangerously quiet.
I swallowed hard. “How?”
Leah took a deep breath. “I will kill them.” Her voice was cold, brittle.
I didn’t know what to say. They had made a play for power and lost. Naïve little me, I had thought that was the end of it. Peter finally met my eyes. What I saw there wasn’t comforting. “A fire starts as only one tiny flame, yet it will grow until it consumes everything and becomes unstoppable.”
Leah stood suddenly. “I know there is something more to this than what’s on the surface. I should put out the spark before it grows. If they think I’m soft-weak- more will come.”
I was shocked by the cold decisiveness in front of me. “But the whole coven?” My voice gained strength. “I only saw about four or five people the entire time I was there. What about the ones that had nothing to do with it?” They would all die because of me. I shook my head in denial. “No. That isn’t justice. It’s ruthlessness.”
The eyes on me were not kind. I had just dared to contradict their leader. I was chastising a bunch of monsters for being ruthless. I was shocked when Cynthia agreed with me. She wasn’t comfortable speaking out, but she lifted her chin defiantly. “Take out Cashern and bring them in,” she said quietly, “like you did for all the others.” Leah’s adopted family of orphan vampires.
Viktor looked at his sister as if she had lost her mind. “Without knowing where their loyalties lie? What if they are just waiting for the chance to betray her?”
Cynthia took a quick breath, refusing to look at Leah. “Bind them.”
A