She frowned. “Maybe it’s time we had somebody who wasn’t exactly a model-fit for it. Look at what happened with Linda. You’d think she’d be perfect but the vamps found a way to exploit her and turn her to their own use. I don’t know where the Aunties transported her to, but I can tell you this: if someone as strong and as serious as she was can be so easy to blackmail, maybe it takes somebody with a sense of humor and an alternative view on life to run things properly.”
“I’m glad you have faith in me, because without it, I’d probably just pack up and move.” I glanced around the kitchen, realizing how much I had come to love the mansion. “Or maybe not. Whatever the case, let’s get this show on the road. Delia will be waiting.”
WE HEADED OUT to the Town Hall. Bedlam during the day looked quite a bit different than Bedlam did during the night. Both times the town was magical, but during the day Bedlam was a cheerful, bright spot. At night, she was a mysterious, moody town.
“The snowfall this year is ridiculous,” Sandy said as we maneuvered through the freshly plowed streets. “We have to have close to three feet. None of the other islands have that.”
“The Winter Fae are having one hell of a party this season.”
“True that. The summers have been warmer, winters colder, and we have definite rainy seasons during the autumn and spring now.”
I eased through the town, waving at old Mrs. Pennyhessy as we passed her ice cream parlor. She was one of the few avian shifters we had in town. In her younger days, she had flown many a mile in her hawk form. Now, she mostly shifted when she was feeling poorly and stayed in hawk form till the spell passed. She seldom took wing anymore, though. Nobody knew how old she was, but she claimed to be at least three hundred years, which was getting up there for a bird shifter. She did a lot of babysitting for young mothers, thrilling the kids with her stories of the old days.
She waved back, then vanished inside to the soda fountain. I had the sudden craving for an ice cream float, but decided it would have to wait until after the meeting.
“Well, there’s the Town Hall.” I finally found a parking spot—the lot was crowded during the day with all the government workers—and stared at the building. “So you really think I can do this? Because once I walk through those doors and officially announce myself as the new High Priestess of the Moonrise Coven, that’s it. There won’t be any going back, not unless I do something as stupid as Linda did. Or unless Rachel manages to find me and slay me.”
“No going back and don’t worry it. I called Angus and Terrance this morning and they still think you’re the best choice for the job. We’ll need to convene a special meeting as soon as possible to vest you with the circlet and sword, and pick another member for the coven council. I’m leaning toward Tanith, if you want my opinion.”
I nodded. Tanith would be a good choice. She was experienced, level headed, and best of all, she liked me, so I wouldn’t get a lot of static from her.
“We also should add someone to the Inner Court from the Outer, and then open the Outer Court to applications. I am thinking Kyle. He’s grown so much over the past couple of years.”
“Well, we have our game plan. Let’s get you in there and make it official.” Sandy swung out of the car. I followed suit, more slowly.
As we passed one of the city workers who was shoveling snow and sprinkling rock salt over the steps, I realized that nothing would ever be the same. I had moved to Bedlam on a lark. Within two months I not only was deeply immersed in a relationship, but I was now High Priestess of my coven. The responsibilities of both hit home, pointing out to me just how much I had been drifting for years.
Oh, I had been a member of the coven for a long, long time, but even though I was on the Inner Court Council, there hadn’t been many decisions for me to make. And I had played with relationships—all of them failing. The last failed due to his emotional abuse and my lack of will to disentangle myself from it, but none of them had worked out for long. I realized that I didn’t want that to happen with Aegis. As scared as it made me, he meant more to me than any man in a long time. Vampire or not, he had a heart. I didn’t want to hurt him. And I didn’t want to be hurt again.
“What are you thinking about?” Sandy asked as we passed through the doors.
“Life. The Universe.”
“Forty-two?”
I laughed. “Not quite. No, I’m thinking about relationships and Aegis and how I’ve managed to sabotage myself over the years. I don’t want to do that anymore.”
“When was the last time you were seriously involved with someone where it worked out?” She consulted her phone. “We’re looking for room 432. Down this hall and to the left, I think.”
We wove through the bustle of clerks hurrying about their work. The smell of business was in the air, a crisp, get-things-done scent that burned into my brain.
“Honestly? Tom. After he was turned I guess I never fully had the heart to make things work. You know I’ve drifted in and out of relationships but none ever stuck. I’m just starting to realize how lonely I’ve been.” I froze, turning to her. “Sandy, I’m falling in love with Aegis and it scares the hell out of me. Not just because he’s a vampire.”
“You’re afraid of being hurt again.”
“Tom—he was a part of my soul. When I lost him, I lost a part of myself. I’m afraid to chance that again, but the more time I spend around Aegis, the more I realize he’s everything I’ve missed. He’s everything Tom was, without that little spark of crazypants that Tom had. And that scares me too. What if it doesn’t work out? What if some wanna-be vampire hunter goes full-Buffy on him and stakes him?”
“What if you get everything you want and live happily ever after?” She put her hand on mine. “Maddy, you deserve so much more than you’ve allowed yourself to have. You deserve love and happiness. I know there’s more there blocking you—I can tell that some part of you is holding yourself back from fully committing. What’s going on?”
I shook my head. I had an idea of what my block was, but truth was, I didn’t know if I was ready to explore those feelings yet. When I ripped the bandage off, it was going to open an old, old wound and the prospect of revisiting that pain was more than I could think about now.
“We’ll talk about it later. I need to focus on the present. We have too much to worry about without me diving into all those old feelings right now.”
“You’re going to have to face whatever it is soon or it will interfere with your relationship with Aegis.” Sandy motioned to the next door to the right. “We’re here. Are you ready?”
I wasn’t ready to face my fears about love, and I wasn’t ready to face my fears about taking on the responsibility of the entire coven. But the fact was, I didn’t have much of a choice. I could either cut and run, which had been my modus operandi for most of my life, or I could finally plant my feet on the ground, dig in, and fight for what was right. And the thought of Essie reaching out her bony, clammy hand to grab the throat of Bedlam and hold it hostage was about as wrong as it could get.
I summoned up my courage and straightened my shoulders. “I’m ready.”
Sandy opened the door, standing back to allow me to enter first. Head held high, I let out a long, slow breath and entered the room. There, the leaders of the city council were waiting. They looked up expectantly. I met Delia’s gaze and realized she was as scared as I was. She was about to step into Linda’s shoes as mayor of the city. I just had to lead the coven. And with that thought, I felt more secure.
Delia motioned for me to sit down. “Maudlin, I’m so glad you could make it. Members of the council, meet the new High Priestess of the Moonrise Coven—Maudlin Gallowglass.”
And with that, I committed myself to Bedlam, to my bed and breakfast, and to growing up after years of running wild through the world. As I took my chair, I felt something shift inside, and realized that I no longer felt afraid. Even though we were facing a threat that I wasn’t sure we co
uld win against, I was feeling relieved. I had made my choice.
Chapter 15
I WAITED FOR Delia to take the lead, but got one hell of a surprise when she turned to me and said, “Linda was mayor of Bedlam for twenty-six years. Because the Moonrise Coven has been around for almost seventy years, your organization has had an active role in shaping the nature of this community as Bedlam has evolved. The question is, are you interested in taking on the role of mayor as well as that of High Priestess? I’m acting in that capacity in the interim, but it isn’t my intention to continue as such.”
I stared at her. “Me? Mayor? Oh, hell no!” Clapping my hand over my mouth, I winced as everybody broke out into laughter. But the laughs were strained and I realized that nobody really knew what was going on yet. “Don’t you think we’d better bring everybody up to speed before we discuss the position of mayor?”
Delia gave me a satisfied nod. “I think you’re right. This is new to us both. I think I speak for both Maudlin and me when I ask the council to be patient with us. We’ve got a lot to sort through and so much of this is still a tangle of confusion.”
“Then we untangle it one knot at a time,” Leonard Wolfbrane said. He was leader of the Alpha-Pack and represented the werewolves who lived on Bedlam. Each of the major shifter groups had a member on the town council. Two members belonged to the Fae world—one from the Summer Court, one from the Winter Court. Ralph Greyhoof, who represented the satyrs and centaurs, was noticeably absent. I was the representative of the magical community—the witches.
Goblins, ogres, and their ilk weren’t allowed to sit on the council. Technically, they weren’t allowed to live in Bedlam but more than once, a grungy little nest of goblins had been found and ousted, and the occasional ogre or troll ended up hiding out on the island and had to be deported the hard way.
Delia cleared her throat. “By now, you all know Linda Realmwood has left her post as mayor and vacated the leadership of the Moonrise Coven. The coven has voted Maddy in as their new High Priestess. Therefore, she’s takes her place on the town council. I’m acting as the interim mayor until we figure out what to do about the position.”
“Can you elucidate as to what’s brought on these changes?” Elsa Liftwing, the Avian shifter representative, asked.
“Yes. Over the last couple of days we have discovered that Linda was being blackmailed by Essie, Pacific Northwest Queen of the Vampires. Essie had been threatening a daughter whom no one knew about to tighten her hold over Bedlam. We have reason to believe that Essie has been making a power play for control over the town.”
The room erupted then, everybody talking at once. Delia glanced at me and I shook my head. We knew this was going to happen. Sandy jumped up and, two fingers in her mouth, let loose with a whistle that almost pierced my ears. As the room fell silent, she stood on her chair, hands on her hips.
“Yo! Hold it down. Let Delia and Maddy talk.”
“Thank you, Sandy.” Delia shuffled some papers and I realized she was trying to figure out where to go with this.
“We’ll be launching an investigation as to how far this goes. I strongly suggest that if any of you have made similar deals, you stand up now and walk out of here before we find out. Because we aren’t going to be lenient on anybody who’s been selling Bedlam over to the vamps.” I sounded more confident than I was, but the first rule is always: fake it till you make it.
Delia picked up the thread immediately. “Maudlin is correct. We will be starting our investigation as soon as this meeting is adjourned. Leave now if you have something to hide. Essie’s going to know the jig is up by tonight, if she doesn’t already know, so you have one day to figure out what to do.”
I glanced around. Blackthorn, a werebear, was shifting uncomfortably in his seat, tugging at his collar. “Anything you want to tell us?” I asked.
He slid down in his chair a little, then gave an impatient shrug. “No. I—I’ve got nothing to say.” But then, he jumped out of his chair and headed for the door, the scent of his anger filling the room. As he slammed the door behind him, more chatter broke out.
Delia slammed her gavel on the table. “Come to order! Now!”
One by one, people quieted down.
“Anybody else need to leave?” She looked around the room, her eyes narrow. “We will discuss what to do about the vampires in a bit, but if anybody else has been colluding with Essie, then let them leave now.”
“What about Ralph?” Ateria, the representative from the Winter Fae Court, spoke up. “Is he off the council, considering he’s being held for murder?”
Delia shook her head. “No, we’ve found evidence that Ralph is innocent. He’s being held right now for his own protection until we can sort out exactly what happened.”
“Who’s responsible for Rose Williams’s murder, then?” Brentwood, a rabbit shifter, asked.
I jumped on that one. “We’re not sure, but it wasn’t Ralph. We are fairly certain that I was the target, and that the killer mistook Rose for me.”
“Will Linda ever be coming back?” Ateria asked. It struck me that I needed to make some contact with the Fae courts if I was going to be the coven’s new High Priestess. There was a long-standing tradition of the Fae and witches uniting for various magical purposes, but Linda had kept relatively clear of them. I wasn’t ever sure why, but I decided that isolation would come to an end.
“No.” I debated on how much to tell them, then finally added, “The Aunties smuggled her and her daughter to safety. Linda sold us out, but you have to understand the predicament she was in. Her daughter’s life was being held forfeit. Now, they’re together and safe. While I totally disagree with the choices Linda made, I do understand the stress under which she was working, and why she made the choices she did. I may not have children, but I’ll bet any one of you who do can see that she was between a rock and a hard place.”
“That’s probably why Blackthorn left. His family has been under a lot of economic stress the past few years. Want to make a bet that Essie bought him off? I do know his business recently made a drastic turnaround and he was making money hand over fist.” Brentwood shrugged. “I have a huge family. I can see the appeal if things aren’t going well. It would be easy at first to say—Oh, I’ll just give in a little. And then a little more.”
“What does Blackthorn do?” I couldn’t help but wonder just what Essie had found useful in a werebear.
Brentwood leaned forward, frowning. He shoved his coffee cup back on the table. “Blackthorn trained as a general contractor and structural engineer. But there hasn’t been a lot of building going on here on the island, and we’re too far away from the mainland and Seattle area for him to commute down there. He’s been focusing on odd jobs for the past year or so, and I know that he was trying to take out a second mortgage on his house so they could pay off some sort of medical debt they incurred when their eldest was in a car wreck and needed surgery.”
That would do it, all right. Medical bills? Fear of losing one’s home? Not knowing how to get out from under a mountain of debt? Those were all grim prospects facing too many people and when a parent was desperate to protect their family, options that seemed unthinkable suddenly became viable.
“I empathize, but we can’t have anybody on this council sneaking around with the vampires. If we deal with Essie, we do it aboveboard and in general agreement.”
“What about your boyfriend?” Ateria asked.
“I’m very open about Aegis. He’s not in collusion with Essie and she’s been trying to lure him into joining her court, but he wants nothing to do with her. He’ll come talk to the council if that makes you more comfortable, though obviously it will have to be a meeting called after sunset.” I knew this was going to come up.
Apparently, Delia was thinking along the same route because she suddenly stood and clapped for attention. “As the interim mayor, I’m going to make a suggestion that we include two representatives on this counc
il from the vampires. One unaligned—Aegis would be a good choice for that. And the other from Essie’s court. Then they couldn’t argue that they weren’t being fairly represented and we could keep an eye on what they were up to.”
Even I hadn’t been prepared for that one. I stared at Delia, open-mouthed, along with everybody else.
“But don’t you think they’d just go right along working against us? It would be so much easier to lull us into a false sense of security by pretending that everything was all peachy while behind the scenes they were making plans for taking control of the island.” I wasn’t sure of where Delia’s head was, but the idea seemed ludicrous to me.
“Listen, one of the problems is that vampires have no real rights. They’re still not included under the Pretcom Equal Rights Treaty, and they are always shunted to the side.”
“That’s because they kill people!” Ateria snorted, as did her Summer counterpart.
“Not all vampires are like that. Aegis isn’t.” I hadn’t intended to defend the idea, but Delia’s comment made a lot of sense. “If we start the movement here, maybe then vampire–human interactions will mellow out some. Granted, we can’t give rights to those who go out foraging for victims, but if we allow bloodwhores here—make them legal—then maybe the vamps will stop preying on the rest of the community. And once the movement begins, it can spread.”
Visions danced in my head. What if we could loosen up the yoke of fear that ran rampant between vampire–Pretcom–human relations? Perhaps my visions weren’t sugarplums, but the concept seemed seductively simple. “Sometimes you have to start with the outer branches and prune your way into the tree before you can make any significant changes.”