Page 94 of How to Stake a Vampire

Gasps echoed around the room. The Alliance members pushed back hastily from the table, their stunned gazes locked on me as my wolf’s powers buffeted them.

“What the—?!” Daria mumbled.

“Calm down, Abby,” Victoria said tensely.

“Now is not the time for this,” Pearl added sternly.

Cornelius recovered first and narrowed his eyes. “It seems you’ve been hiding the truth about your luna powers.”

The other Alliance members exchanged wary glances.

“She wasn’t hiding anything,” Samuel snapped.

An unholy growl left my throat. I was about to speak when my wolf froze. My head snapped to the doors, my instincts screaming danger.

Something had just entered the building.

Something that was moving fast and seething with rage.

Barney and the Tremaines stood up, power rolling off them as they took a defensive stance. Amber lit up Samuel’s eyes as he rose in a half crouch, ready to transform at a moment’s notice.

“What the hell is that?!” Wendall hissed, horns flaming and tail out.

“I don’t know, but I don’t like it,” Melody murmured tensely.

Magic bloomed around Daria’s hands. Portia’s hair unraveled. Bo hugged the floor under my chair.

“Oh.” Pearl blinked and relaxed fractionally. “How interesting.”

The doors of the conference room slammed open before any of us could make sense of her words.

Ellie burst in, hair disheveled and eyes glowing a red so vivid, her pupils looked like they were filled with blood. The air boiled around her, the power she wielded almost matching mine.

“He took him!” she snarled, her fangs gleaming. “That asshole took Virgil!”

I blinked, my rage fading to shock.

“What?” Gregory mumbled.

Constantia gripped her husband’s arm tightly, her face ashen.

Ellie squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. “Virgil was supposed to meet me for dinner, but he never showed up,” she ground out. “When I went to his apartment, the door was open and there were signs of a struggle.” She swallowed convulsively. “I could smell him. I could smell the bastard who turned me!”

I moved and hugged Ellie, my heart pounding heavily.

My best friend froze before shuddering, her arms locking tightly around me.

Gregory’s voice was barely controlled when he spoke. “We have to find them.Now!”

Constantia sat down heavily, a raw sound of pain leaving her.

Victoria and Titania rushed over to console her.

The rest of the Alliance members traded tense looks.

“All disagreements are tabled for now,” Daria said in a hard voice. “We have less than twenty-hours until the full moon. That’s our deadline.”

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