Everafter Series 2 - Nevermore (29 page)

“Go, Liv. We can talk later.”

She turned just enough for me to see the grim resolve that had overtaken her relief. “I’ll hold you to that, Val.”

I watched her push through the crowd in front of the door, then pick up her pace once she was outside. It was strange to feel older than Olivia—strange to sense the envy and admiration I’d always felt toward her give way to pity. She wasn’t going to let sleeping dogs lie, and one of them—perhaps even Abby—would bite her.

I stood slowly, my muscles still a little sore from the events of the past few days. My throat was sore too, the thirst a constant ache that never fully abated. I needed Alexa again. Already. Was that normal for a blood prime? Or was the parasite responding in some way to my having drunk from Darren?

The knot of anxiety tightened between my shoulder blades, and I tried to shrug off my foreboding. Alexa was probably finished speaking with Constantine by now. She would let me have her again. Her blood, her body, her heart—I would reclaim them all until the memory of being parted was distant and dim.

Eager for the sanctuary of her embrace, I stepped out into the sunlight.

Epilogue

Alexa and I filed onto the stage behind Constantine and Clavier, and as we turned to face a room crowded with people and cameras, I felt an odd kind of empathy with my father. He often stood with the president during press conferences and occasionally even held his own. Now we were standing with Helen and Malcolm to demonstrate our support for them as the Consortium rallied in the face of Brenner’s unsuccessful coup. The conference would be encrypted and sent via satellite to key vampire and Were leaders throughout the world. They, in turn, would get the word out to their constituents.

Suddenly feeling very exposed, I scanned the room for any suspicious activity. The audience had purportedly been vetted, but without having been part of the process myself, I wasn’t about to trust it. When I cast a sidelong look at Alexa, I could tell she was doing the same thing.

In the next instant, the buzz of noise subsided as Helen stepped out from the wings and walked to the podium. She was joined there by Malcolm. Cameras flashed and my anxiety ratcheted up a notch.

“Good evening,” Helen said, her melodious voice bouncing off the close walls and ceiling. “As you are all aware, two days ago, Balthasar Brenner sought to dissolve this Consortium between wereshifters and vampires by threatening the release of a virus deadly to turned Weres. In so doing, Brenner hoped to create chaos in our organization, and a power vacuum into which he could step.

“I am here today to inform you that he has accomplished neither of his goals. Our medical team has produced a treatment for the virus that will be made available, first to Weres throughout the New York City metropolitan area and, soon, to shifters around the world. Anyone who wishes to receive this treatment must simply report to the medical wing at the Consortium headquarters in their respective nations.”

She paused, then, and I watched her grip on the podium tighten. “Anyone seeking to join the enemy and abandon the longstanding alliance that Malcolm and I have cultivated, however, will be prosecuted according to the fullest extent of our law. Already, we have ferreted out and executed a traitor in our midst. Balthasar Brenner has declared war on this institution, and we will answer in kind.

“To that end, I am announcing a task force dedicated to improving Consortium security and meeting this new threat to our livelihood.” Helen gestured toward each person in turn. “Constantine Bellande, Master of Telassar, will serve as chief of tactical operations. Leon Summers will continue in his role as chief intelligence officer.”

She paused again, and I felt Alexa turn beside me. I was still focused on the press of people in front of the stage, and I jumped when she squeezed my hand, hard.

“Oh my God, Val. Look!”

I spun in the direction she was facing and stifled an exclamation. The woman who was emerging from stage left to join the two members of the team was smartly dressed in a white blazer and slacks that accentuated, rather than hid, the impressive gun belt at her waist. She was thinner than I remembered. She was also alive. When last I’d seen her, she had been lying prone on the floor of the Missionary’s apartment. Dead, I had thought. How, then, was she walking across the stage toward Helen and Malcolm, shaking each of their hands before stepping into line next to Summers?

“What the hell is going on?” Alexa spoke so softly that only I could hear.

“I don’t know,” I said. “But Helen has a lot of explaining to do.”

“And finally,” Helen announced, “I would like to introduce our new chief of security—former NYPD detective Devon Foster.”

About the Author

Nell Stark
is an assistant professor of English and the director of the Writing Center at a small college in the SUNY system.
Trinity Tam
is a marketing executive in the music industry and an award-winning writer/producer of film and television. They live, write, and parent a rambunctious toddler just a stone’s throw from the historic Stonewall Inn in New York City.

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