Benedict nodded, accepting what he was saying: only our family could be trusted. But after what I experienced tonight, I was no longer sure. Like him, though, I understood this needed to wait.
Dominic didn’t speak again as we finished our sweep of the floors. We found our mother administering a swift death to a familiar on the third floor. Nearby, a few black-clad vampires lay dying with mortal wounds.
“No mercy for them, I presume?” Benedict asked, starting toward them.
“No!” she ordered, rising to her feet. Her black gown caught the light, revealing sticky wet spots on the fabric I knew was blood.
“You never discriminated before,” he pointed out.
“Only warriors deserve honor,” she said coldly. She walked to one of the dying males and spit on him. “These are cowards.”
Not one of us argued with her.
“Has anyone been called?” Dominic wrapped an arm around her, drawing her to him. Death always brought out each’s affectionate side.
“There was no need. Everyone was here,” she said flatly. “Boucher is dealing with the humans who were present. And the Council is convening to discuss next steps.”
Dominic looked around and sighed. “This is a mess.”
She smiled wearily at him and pulled away. Moving to Benedict, she examined him for a moment before giving him a tight hug. She hesitated when she reached me, but the bitterness I’d felt earlier this evening was gone. It had been stolen from me.
“Mother,” I said softly.
“Son.”
I wrapped my arms around her, knowing that our differences would never come between what we were to each other: family.
Sabine pulled away and glanced around, her expression turning to panic.
“Sebastian?”
“He’s fine,” my father said, shooting me a glare. “He saw to the safety of our son’s mate.”
Sabine’s eyes narrowed, but she didn’t say anything.
“You don’t seem surprised, my love. I found this revelation shocking.” He glanced at my brother. “Does anyone tell me anything?”
“Later,” she said tersely as a group of well-dressed vampires approached us. There wasn’t a speck of blood on them or a hair out of place among the lot. It seemed the vampire Council let others fight their battles.
“Sabine, Dominic,” the tallest female greeted them in a somber tone. “We will be speaking with every pureblood sire this evening.”
“Of course,” Sabine said, dropping her eyes in an unexpected sign of fealty.
“Your sons are not needed,” he continued, “for the moment.”
I didn’t like the sound of that, but I was more than happy to get the hell out of here.
“I’ll drive you home,” Benedict offered. “I assume Sebastian took your car.”
“Probably.” I just hoped he’d let Philippe drive.
My brother had parked his Mercedes in a nearby car park. I paused when I saw the tan interior and grimaced. “I’m afraid I’m going to stain your seats.”
“So will I,” he said with a shrug.
“You’ve been in France too long,” I muttered as I slid into the passenger seat. I buckled my seat belt and reached into my breast pocket for my gloves. Drawing them over my bloody hands, I felt the fresh magic dampen.
“You had your gloves off,” Benedict noted lightly.
“It worked out,” I told him. “A familiar passed me her family magic before she died. It’s been a while since…” It was unusual for a familiar to pass their magic in its entirety to a vampire. The woman who’d died in my arms tonight must have felt she had no other choice.
“If you took a wife–a familiar wife–you would have access to her magic.” He kept his eyes on the road. “It could make all the difference.”
“For what?” I asked. Even now, after everything that had happened, my family wanted to marry me off to an old familiar family.
“For whatever happened tonight.” He cleared his throat. “You said there was one at mother’s party. Now, this. I knew that tensions were high, but I never expected violence.”
“Tensions?”
“There’s talk among some vampires that we’ve become too docile. Everyone seems to have an opinion. Whoever this group is, it seems they are siding with the more extreme voices. The ones who want us to take back the night.”
“Carpe Noctem,” I muttered.
Benedict lifted an eyebrow.
“That’s what the vampire who crashed Mom’s party yelled.”
“This attack,” he said, taking a deep breath before saying what I already knew. “It was planned. They must have people inside our circles.”
