Page 10 of How to Stake a Vampire

I spentthe weekend dodging questions from Ellie about the Alliance meeting. Luckily, it didn’t take much to distract my best friend.

Sunday morning was pack brunch at the Hawthornes and I found myself the unwelcome topic of conversation once again. It was a good thing I was too mellow after an intense night of passion involving my alpha and some bed posts to take offense at the wild suggestions flying around the table. James kept asking Samuel why he looked tired, Pearl made several scathing remarks about alpha stamina training, and Victoria was asking Bernard for a Bloody Mary by ten o’clock.

All in all, it was a standard Hawthorne family meeting.

“How did it go?” Charlene said the moment Bo and I stepped into the lobby of Hawthorne & Associates on Monday.

Fred materialized from the room behind the reception desk with the kind of speed that suggested he’d been lurking there just waiting for us to arrive.

“Did anyone try to kill you?”

I sighed at the half demon’s bloodthirsty tone. I didn’t even have to ask what they were talking about. Chances were,someone in the building had a betting pool going about my fate on Friday night.

“Really? That’s the first thing you guys want to ask?”

“It’s a legitimate question,” Fred said defensively. “Alliance meetings have a reputation, after all.”

“He’s not wrong,” Bo huffed. “Those people were weird.”

No one pointed out that a sassy, talking Husky of indeterminate supernatural lineage was even weirder.

“Remember what happened when the gargoyles tried to join?” Charlene reminded Fred worriedly. “Half of downtown had to be rebuilt.”

“The gargoyles tried to join the Alliance?” I asked warily.

“Maybe we shouldn’t talk about the gargoyle incident.” Fred looked over his shoulder and shuddered.

I made a mental note to ask Samuel about the gargoyle incident later. Assuming I survived whatever fresh hell this day was about to throw at me. Three weeks working for Hawthorne & Associates had taught me one thing if nothing else.

Okay, two.

My coworkers were batshit crazy. And the supernatural community of Amberford was even more so.

“But seriously,” Charlene said in a voice that was half zeal and half dread, “how was your first meeting? Did Daria try to hex anyone? Did the dragon newt set anything on fire?” She paused and gulped. “Please tell me Finnic didn’t bring his drinking horn, get totally wasted, and throw his axe at someone?”

Bo and I exchanged an uneasy glance. It seemed Friday’s meeting had been exceedingly mild compared to usual standards.

“He brought a tankard,” I admitted, seeing the dwarf chieftain in a whole new light.

Charlene and Fred traded knowing looks.

Bo and I took the elevator to the fifth floor.

Janet, Gavin, Didi, Mindy, and even Nigel were loitering in the open office area in a suspicious cluster. Bo and I became the object of intense stares once more.

“Oh, hey, Abby,” Janet said with forced casualness. “We were just thinking of having a coffee break. Want to join us?”

I looked at the clock on the wall and frowned. “Isn’t it too early for a coffee break?”

“The early bird gets the supernatural politics gossip,” Didi declared with unashamed honesty.

“You might as well give up and spill the beans,” Bo told me stoically. “These guys are like a dog with a bone when they want answers. I should know.”

Mindy abandoned any pretense of subtlety and flickered into full visibility. “Did you accidentally command anyone to do anything embarrassing? Did the dog insult someone important?” She leaned forward excitedly. “Did you threaten to punch anybody?!”

I narrowed my eyes. “Why does everyone assume I threatened to punch someone?”

“Pattern recognition,” Gavin said promptly.