Page 91 of How to Stake a Vampire

27

ACCUSATIONS AND VANISHING ACTS

The emergency Alliancemeeting that evening had all the warmth of a tribunal. TheTwilight Conference Roombuzzed with tension as supernatural leaders filed in, faces grim and tempers already frayed.

I sat between Samuel and Victoria, my stomach churning. Pearl observed the proceedings lazily where she perched on the armrest of Victoria’s chair. Bo was unusually quiet next to me, the gravity of the situation evidently not lost on him. Barney maintained a stony silence beside the Tremaines, his expression still dark.

“This is a complete disaster,” Titania muttered, her gossamer wings flickering with agitation.

“Disaster doesn’t begin to cover it.” Cornelius’s fae features managed to look beautifully ethereal and depressingly glum at the same time.

Victoria shifted uneasily in her chair. I understood her discomfort. The room felt like it was one wrong word away from exploding.

Daria called the meeting to order with a sharp rap of her gavel.

“As you all know,” she began, her voice cutting through the tension like a well-honed axe, “our security has been compromised. Ludvik Bludworth has been operating from the subbasement of this very building for at least two weeks.”

“Two weeks!” Wendall’s nostrils sparked with rage. “How the hell does a homicidal vampire set up shop under our noses without anyone noticing?”

“Because someone wasn’t doing their job.” Melody’s voice carried an edge that could cut glass as she looked pointedly to her left.

Sulfur wafted weakly around Oscar as he slumped deeper into his shadowy corner. The demon’s usual pompous demeanor had deflated and he looked like he’d rather be anywhere else but here.

“Oscar,” Daria said with the kind of calm that preceded executions. “You’re in charge of building security and maintenance. Care to explain how this happened?”

Oscar’s zone of darkness shrank a little. “Well, the thing is…” He trailed off and gulped audibly.

My wolf wrinkled her nose. I could smell his fear from where I sat.

“The thing is what, Oscar?” Gregory’s eyes flashed crimson.

“I may have, er, sublet some of the unused basement space,” the demon mumbled.

I narrowed my eyes while the room exploded.

“You sublet Alliance space?!” Finnic roared amidst the cursing and protests. He slammed his fist down hard enough to make everyone jump. “What kind of idiot?—?!”

“It was perfectly legal!” Oscar objected, puffing up slightly. “Those basement levels have been empty for decades. I thought, why not generate some extra revenue?”

“Revenue for what?” Daria asked, though her icy tone suggested she already knew the answer to her question.

I had my suspicions too, based on my first Alliance meeting.

“To fund”—mumble mumble—“for the”—mumble mumble,the demon said indistinctly.

Wendall leaned forward menacingly. “Care to repeat that?”

“To fund the expansion of Amberford’s demon community, alright?!” Oscar blurted out.

Daria and I adopted similarly disgusted moues.

The demon continued. “We’re severely underrepresented and I thought?—”

“You thought you’d rent out secure Alliance space for your pet project?” Portia interrupted, her banshee voice hitting a pitch that made everyone wince.

Melody was studying Oscar like he was a bug she wanted to squash. ”Did you even vet the tenant?”

Judging by Oscar’s increasingly uncomfortable aura, it was clear the answer was no.