Just like my parents had been for years before Mom couldn't handle the stress of a life spent on the run.
Tristan read my mind. He turned to his sister and rested his hands on her trembling shoulders. "Sis, I've got to go." She opened her mouth to protest. "I've got to get everything cleared up with the council. We can't be enemies of both sides, especially if war breaks out."
Tears spilled down Emily's cheeks as she stared at him for a long moment. Finally she nodded and stepped away.
"I will drive us to the airport," Dad said as he exited the trailer.
TRISTAN
Sav's dad coordinated everything by phone while driving us to the nearest airport. I didn't know where we were or which airport we'd be f lying out of, and I really didn't care.
All I could think about was the terrified look frozen by death on my mother's face...the same look of terror that had twisted Dylan's face, too, just before I'd thrown him across the living room of what had once been my home...the sound his spine had made as he crashed into the fireplace.
We all stayed in the trailer in silence during the fast and bumpy ride to the airport, then waited in the RV until Michael came back to the trailer to tell us it was time to go. I gave my sister one last hug. Her growing tummy bumped into me, a silent reminder of how vulnerable she was now. I hoped I would return in a couple of days to look out for her. Her words about how I was the only family she had left kept echoing inside my head.
Savannah hugged her mother in silence. Her mother was sobbing loudly and making no effort to hide her fear.
"Joan, we must not delay any longer," Michael murmured, and she reluctantly released their daughter. "Get as far north as fast as you can then find a state park or RV park somewhere to hide in." He pressed a credit card into Joan's hand. She scowled and opened her mouth to protest. "No, no arguments this time. At least give me this one small reassurance that you will have enough funds for anything you need in my absence. Do not let that foolish Evans pride further endanger yourself or Emily and her unborn child."
He stared hard into her eyes until Joan finally nodded.
I followed Savannah out of the trailer, Michael right on my heels until we were all down the metal steps. Then he took the lead toward a jet on the runway. A man at a side gate frantically waved at us to hurry over to him, then he slid the gate open just enough for us to slip through before shutting and locking it behind us. We jogged at a human pace behind the man in gray coveralls, across the tarmac and up to the jet's long line of white metal stairs.
Savannah paused for just a second to wave to her mother, wishing she could take away her mother's fear, wishing she wasn't afraid, too.
Then we boarded the plane and braced ourselves for the trial to come.
The last time we had walked through the maze of underground tunnels that led to the council's headquarters beneath the famed City of Love, I had been handcuffed and blindfolded. So I was looking forward to finally getting to see exactly what we'd been led through. Unfortunately, the council was still cautious as always, insisting we wear black blindfolds from the time we were picked up in a black sedan at the airport and later while we were led through the winding maze of tunnels, until Mr. Colbert stopped us outside the council's meeting room. Only then were we allowed to remove the blindfolds, which was pretty disappointing but understandable.
Then we stepped inside the meeting room and I was even more confused.
The cement block walls had been painted red and covered with old-fashioned-looking tapestries in an apparent attempt to spruce up the joint. But not much else had been done to hide the fact that this room was built primarily for security from outside attack. I'd expected something a little more lavish and a lot less fortress.
Then I looked at the long table draped with a red cloth. Behind it sat a line of nine very old, very ticked-off vampires.
The air became tinged with a bitter f lavor I could almost taste on my tongue, like some kind of mixture of crushed herbs and weeds.
Fear, Savannah thought, her gaze unwavering from the council. You are sensing their fear.
Of what? I thought.
Fear that the peace treaty with the Clann has failed. Fear of what is to come. But most of all, probably fear of us.
Huh. So the council was afraid of us. That seemed a good bit of info to store away for possible use later.
"Tristan Coleman and Savannah Colbert," the vampire in the middle greeted us with a somber tone. "You stand before the council today in order to report what has recently transpired within the Clann."
I decided to take the lead, because Savannah's heart was hammering so loudly I was sure the council could hear it even if they couldn't hear our thoughts. "Yes. We came here of our own free will to tell you about the death of..." Suddenly my throat choked shut.
"Of Nancy Coleman," Savannah finished, reaching out to take and squeeze my hand.
Quickly she related how my mother had invited us to dinner at her house, how we'd showed up to find the security gate and front door open and the house filled with smoke and descendants already attacking my family, and how we'd battled them in order to save Emily, though my mother had been beyond saving.
I worked to keep my face impassive and my breathing steady. But it was a challenge, because as she told them what had happened, I could see it all again within my mind...how the smoke had clawed at my eyes and throat and lungs, making it hard to see the descendants. And yet the adrenaline rush had made everything seem to move in slow motion, giving me far too much time to think and fear.
And then Savannah's scream from downstairs, running down with Emily to find her and Mom there in the living room...
Realizing that Mom was dead, that we were too late to save her...
Dylan hunched over her...
The crack of his bones when he hit the fireplace...
Tristan! Savannah thought so loudly it was practically a shout, shaking me from the memories. Did you hear them? They asked what happened to Dylan.
I cleared my throat. "Yes, Dylan Williams. He helped his father and several other descendants attack my family. When I first saw him in my-that is, my family's house-he was bent over my mother's body."
"And then?" the vampire in the middle prompted. He looked familiar. Then I recognized him. Of course. He was Caravass, the leader of the council, the vampire who had come with his council members to the Circle last year because another council member, Gowin, had led them there with lies meant to create a war.