Taken by Moonlight (31 page)

“Shit, I’m
ready to find out what this thing is about so I can be on the next flight out
of this cold-ass place.” Santiago rubbed his arms once and turned in the direction
of the building.

“For once,
I agree with you, Santiago. Let’s get this over with, gentlemen,” Drako stated,
indicating the building with a jut of his head.

Conall was
already moving to the entrance. Max’s disappearance, coupled with the fact that
Evelyn’s mother had been in Maximilian’s covenant and the timing of the
meeting, convinced him even more that the Grand Wizard was behind it all. He
just needed it confirmed.

There was a
rule of “sacred ground” that applied to every building that housed a Council
meeting. Conall took a deep breath as he approached the door that would take
him into the building. He prayed he would maintain enough control not to break
that rule by killing Maximilian Cronin tonight.

Maximilian
barely resisted the urge to snarl at the fact that werewolves controlled the
majority on the Council. There were ten seats in total, but four of them
belonged to the wolves, while the witches and vampires had three each. It was
another reason for his repulsion for the Council.

He turned
to his right, then left, where Tiberius Carlyle and Wilhem Blackstone sat. He
knew instinctively that Tiberius would support anything he did. The Grand
Wizard owed him much. It was Wilhem who would have a harder time falling in
line. He was younger than both Maximilian and Tiberius and likely the youngest
member at the table, but Maximilian had heard of his exploits. Wilhem hadn’t
become Grand Wizard of one of the largest covenants in the state by being weak.

A slight
murmur went around the room when the door opened and the vampire Elder stepped
through. Agar. He’d been appointed to lead the Council meetings for the year.
Agar took a seat and opened the folder he held. He briefly scanned the papers
before him using his thin, pale fingers to trace the writing. Seconds later, he
lifted his gaze and surveyed them.

“Good
evening, all. Before we begin, I will briefly go over the rules of sacred
ground so that there are no misconceptions of what the violations entail.” He
quickly ran through the rules, citing any type of physical confrontation as a
breach, and the member who breached it could and would be replaced on the
Council. “Is that understood?”

Ten heads
nodded at once, and Agar nodded in approval. “I declare this meeting open.” He
turned and looked directly at Maximilian. “Maximilian?”

There was a
ripple around the room and every head turned to him. The reasons for the
meeting had been kept secret up until now, and everyone, including Agar, was
anxious to know why a third meeting had been called.

Leaning his
body forward, Maximilian began, “I called this meeting because something of
import has been taken from my community.”

Another
ripple went around the room as some shifted in their seats.

Conall
tensed. It was as he’d suspected. Maximilian was going to try to claim kinship
over his mate and her twin.
Try
being the operative word.

“Two girls,
both belonging to my covenant, have been kidnapped by Conall Athelwulf’s pack.”

A murmur
resounded around the table as witches, vampires, and werewolves began to speak.
Conall’s blood heated; his breathing came fast and shallow. He picked up on the
sound of the blood pumping through Maximilian’s jugular, and his head lowered.
The wolf was surfacing, and he couldn’t control it, didn’t know if he wanted to
control it.

Agar
slapped his hand against the table, causing it to vibrate under the power.
“Silence!”

The murmur
faded slowly, until a tense silence prevailed.

“Explain
yourself, Maximilian,” Agar demanded. Santiago, seated to Conall’s right, and
Dominic, seated to his direct left, had their eyes on Conall as well, while
Drako alternated between looking at Conall and watching Maximilian.

“Of course,
Elder. Vivienne and Cassandre Bordeaux are two witches who have been living as
humans for the past years. They are the grand-daughters of Annabel, my
covenant-sister, whom I loved as my own blood.” It was a lie, but he was so
practiced in the art that even the most trained of creatures would be unable to
tell. “Five years ago, I learned of their existence, and searched them out. It
was one of my reasons for relocating my covenant to New York. I owed Annabel
that much.” Agar’s expression softened, and Maximilian continued. “A few days
past, I learned of their locations, and sent my most trusted trackers to bring
them home.” He turned from Agar and looked accusingly at Conall.

The wolf
looked ready to jump across the table at him, and Maximilian hoped he would. It
would start a fight that would transcend this meeting, and if he could
manipulate it, things would go back to the way they were before these useless
laws were implemented. “My people were attacked by Conall Athelwulf and his
pack, and the girls were taken.” He looked around the table once more. “I
appeal this Council on the grounds of kinship to demand that Athelwulf return
both Vivienne and Cassandre Bordeaux to my covenant, where they belong.”
Leaning back, he nodded once to indicate he’d said his part.

Agar, and
the rest of the Council members, shifted their gazes to Conall. “What have you
to say?”

Conall
called on every higher power for control, and almost sighed when the beast
retreated slightly and he could put together coherent words in his head.
Maximilian obviously didn’t want the Council knowing that Vivienne and
Cassandre were actually druids, not witches, and he didn’t care to find out how
the Council would react to the existence of two druids, particularly when one
was his mate.

Cracking
his neck, he leveled his eyes on Maximilian and spoke. “Maximilian Cronin
cannot claim kinship over Vivienne or Cassandre as their mother is still alive,
and has already claimed it herself—”

“I claim
kinship over Evelyn as well. She is always welcome to return to her covenant,”
Maximilian interjected quickly.

Conall held
onto his control, reminding himself that outside of the Council meeting, he
could kill Maximilian Cronin as he wished, but right now, his only recourse was
to persuade the Council that Maximilian had no grounds for kinship.

He relaxed
his voice, leaned back, although his back was still ramrod straight, and looked
around the room. “The last I checked, gentlemen, it was not mandatory to join a
pack,” he looked to the werewolves, “a covenant,” he looked directly at the
witches, “or a clan,” his gaze lingered on the vampires. “Evelyn was never
inducted into Maximilian Cronin’s covenant. In fact, her mother, Annabel, left
the covenant years before Evelyn was born. Neither Evelyn, Vivienne, nor
Cassandre have met Cronin.” Conall paused for that to sink in. Kinship was an
old but fickle law. “And Vivienne and Cassandre, despite being referred to as
girls, are both adults and capable of deciding for themselves if they wish to
join a covenant. They do not.”

Another
round of murmurs went around the room and Maximilian pressed his lips together tightly.
“They are unaware of the dangers that exist outside of a covenant—”

Agar
slammed his hand against the table once more and gave Maximilian a pointed
stare. Conall continued as if he hadn’t been interrupted. “I counter Cronin’s
claim of kinship over Vivienne—”

Maximilian
pushed forward in his chair and shook his head. “You have no grounds for that.”

“—as her
mate.” He snapped his teeth together and pressed his body forward. Santiago shifted closer, getting into position to haul him back if there was need, and
Conall forced himself to relax. Relaxation was getting to be something he
remembered vaguely, like a vacation he’d taken hundreds of years ago. “Vivienne
is my mate, and I will challenge anyone who tries to take her from me.”

Maximilian
shot from the chair, sending the piece of furniture flying. Immediately, Conall
stood. Agar brought his hand down on the table, and when that didn’t work, he
stood and said in a loud, commanding voice, “Gentlemen! Please take your seats.
This matter will be discussed and resolved. Remember that you are on sacred
ground.”

Conall sat
slowly. The chair behind Maximilian righted and moved forward until it was
directly behind him. Scowling all the while, Maximilian did the same.

When he was
seated, he turned to Agar and said, “It is forbidden.” In a louder voice, he
repeated, “It is
forbidden
for a witch to mate a werewolf.”

Tiberius
nodded briskly. “I agree. Our laws strictly forbid witches from mating outside
of our species.”

Before
Conall could reply, Verenus spoke. “One has to wonder how the warlocks came
about then, no?”

Eyes
narrowing, Tiberius glared at Verenus. “
Few
choose to break our sacred
laws, and you know as well as we do,
vampire
, that the creation of the
warlocks was based on the cruelty of your race more than anything else.”

“Do not
speak of things you do not know,
witch
.” Keitaro Matsumoto, the third
vampire coven leader, leaned forward menacingly, his eyes shifting red as his
bared his teeth. The vampires followed suit, tensing.

“We know
well that your ancestors, some of your own blood, brutally raped hundreds of
our kin,” Tiberius snarled. His irises faded to black in anger.

Agar
prepared to slap his hand against the table once more. He found he didn’t need
to.

“Should I
be surprised that in the twenty-first century, despite the Council, the
International Council, and numerous hybrids that currently exist in all of our
communities, the laws of segregation are still being invoked?” That question
came from Drako, who stared from Tiberius to Maximilian and back.

“Are you
presuming to tell us,
wolf
, how to run our covenants?” Maximilian
demanded.

Drako
remained still for a few seconds before shrugging and shaking his head. “Of
course not. You’ll run your community as you choose, as will we, but there are
two communities involved in this particular dilemma: yours and ours.”

“I agree,”
Dominic interjected, followed by Santiago’s thump and growl of approval.

Maximilian
stared at the three of them before turning to Agar and saying in a low but
forceful voice, “When the Council was established, we agreed to adhere to the
laws of the individual communities. I claim kinship over Vivienne and
Cassandre, two witches belonging to my covenant, as their Grand Wizard. I
refuse to acknowledge any joining between Vivienne and an
animal
.”
Conall growled, and Santiago’s eyes flashed yellow at the insult. “I petition
this Council to give me
kinship
as is my right.”

Agar looked
to the various faces at the table before swinging his gaze back to Maximilian.
“The law of kinship remains one of our oldest because this Council recognizes
the importance of family and family ties. Family is why we have survived
turbulent times, have made successful places for ourselves across the globe.”
He paused and looked to Conall, who had tensed. “With that said, Council laws
account kinship by rank. A mate’s claim of kinship outranks all others,
regardless of lineage and race, but a Grand Wizard’s claim of kinship over a
descendant from his covenant outranks that of an outsider.”

Maximilian’s
lips tightened. This was not going as he’d planned. He barely resisted the urge
to unleash his powers on Conall Athelwulf. How could that
dog
mate her?
This was definitely a blow he had neither expected nor anticipated. So he would
have to find another way to get Vivienne, but Cassandre…his claim still
outranked Conall’s. Plus, with Cassandre in his possession, he was certain he
could lure the other twin.

“We shall
put it to a vote. Gentlemen?”

Heads
nodded in agreement. “On the matter of Vivienne, who of you thinks that
Maximilian, Grand Wizard and ancestor to Vivienne, has more of a right to
kinship than Conall?”

Maximilian
and Tiberius raised their hands. Every other hand remained where it was.
Maximilian expected that. He wasn’t happy about it, but he expected it. He
passed a glare to Wilhem. The witch obviously had no loyalty.

“Who of you
thinks that Conall, Pack Alpha and mate to Vivienne, has more of a right to
kinship than Maximilian?”

Everyone
else raised their hands.

“The
Council has voted. Vivienne is Conall’s kin, and as such, protected under his
pack. This matter is hereby declared resolved.”

Agar turned
to Maximilian, who looked as if he was going to interrupt, but didn’t.

“On that
matter of Cassandre, which of you thinks that Maximilian has more right to
kinship than Conall?”

Maximilian,
Tiberius, and Wilhem lifted their hands. Maximilian glared at the vampires, who
stared steadily back at him. Keitaro, the smug bastard, even flashed white
teeth in the semblance of a smile.