by Lily Webb
“Nope, nothin’.”
“Good, then I’ll call him back and tell him we’re on,” I said and reached for the phone.
Luna hopped back up on my desk. “Zoe Duncan has a nice ring to it.”
“Go away, both of you,” I hissed and swatted Luna down.
“Beau and Zoe sittin’ in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g,” Luna sang over the phone’s rings as she trotted after Grandma into her office.
I couldn’t be bothered by it though, because meeting Beau’s parents would be a cakewalk compared to what waited for me on Monday.
Chapter Three
The week passed in a tense blur, and before I knew it, Thursday evening rolled around. Since Julien’s unexpected visit, none of the council members seemed to want to speak if they could avoid it. Instead, each of us retreated to our corners like scared animals, afraid we might give away how we planned to vote if we opened our mouths.
Meanwhile, Julien and his friends hadn’t made a peep — a smart play on their part. Every time I thought about it, my frustration and helplessness grew, but thankfully, I had dinner with Beau and his parents to take my mind off it all.
Sighing, I turned off my office computer and gathered my things. I’d planned to go home and change into something nicer before meeting the Duncans at the restaurant, but the day hadn’t worked out that way.
“Obax?” I called, and in a flash the gargoyle stood before me, ready and waiting.
“Yes?”
“I’m going to dinner with my boyfriend and his parents tonight. I assume you have to come with me, right?” I still haven’t gotten used to being tailed by a gargoyle everywhere I went.
“That’s correct,” Obax said.
“Are any of your friends tagging along with us?”
“They don’t have to, though that increases your risk.”
“I’m nervous enough as it is. I don’t need a gang of gargoyles breathing down my neck to make things worse. Honestly, I’m not even sure I want you there, but I know you have to be.”
“Wherever you go, Obax goes,” the gargoyle said, her arms crossed over her chest. I’d doubted I could talk her into letting me go out alone, but it was worth a shot.
“Suit yourself, though I think it’ll bore you stiff.”
“Obax stands as still as a stone outside your office all day, every day. Boredom is nothing new,” she said and stepped aside to allow me to exit the office. Grandma had already gone home and taken Luna with her, so I flipped off the lights and strolled out into the hallway, Obax’s thunderous footsteps echoing out from behind me.
We passed Heath’s office on the way, but his door was closed, so I knew better than to disturb him. Besides, once he realized Obax wasn’t there, he’d know I’d left for the night.
As I stepped outside, the cool evening air washed over me, and for a second I dared believe everything would be okay — both the dinner with Beau’s parents and the upcoming vote. Comparatively, I was much more afraid of the political fallout than anything that might happen tonight.
I held my head high and strolled out onto Crescent Street, the busiest in all of Moon Grove, trying to look as regal as my new job demanded. Passersby eyed us and whispered to each other behind covered mouths, though I wasn’t sure if it was because of me or my medieval-looking gargoyle companion. Probably both. I smiled and waved at everyone who noticed me in some naïve hope it might foster goodwill between us — and that they’d remember the gesture after the vote on Monday.
“Where is this restaurant, anyway?” Obax asked, and I stopped to face her. She rarely spoke to me unless I spoke first.
“It’s called Nouvelle Lune,” I said, smiling at the memories it conjured. The restaurant was the same one where Beau and I had had our first formal date, and it would always hold a special place in my heart — despite its vampire ownership.
“In the Vampire’s Quarter? Is that safe, Councilwoman?”
I shrugged. “As safe as safe can be, I guess.” Obax grumbled but didn’t raise any further objections, so I continued south on Crescent toward Cartier Street.
The people we passed gradually grew paler, and by the time we reached the doors of Nouvelle Lune, vampires surrounded us, shooting suspicious looks our way. Obax growled and moved as close to me as she could, though I didn’t imagine she could fend off a gang of vampires if it came to that. I shuddered at the thought. Maybe I should have given in and let her bring more gargoyles with us.
Warm light spilled from the restaurant’s windows, bathing us and the street outside it. Obax pulled open the heavy glass door and held it for me, and I moved in as quickly as I could, grateful for the embrace of the light, even if it didn’t provide any real security.
Obax followed, and watching her try to force her massive, broad-shouldered body and unwieldy wings through the relatively narrow entrance might’ve been funny if everyone seated at the front of the restaurant weren’t staring at us. Finally, she pulled it off and ruffled her wings, daring anyone to say anything to her. Thankfully, no one did.
A smiling vampire maître d’ appeared seemingly from thin air. Recognition flashed across his face and he beamed. “Bonsoir, Madame Clarke. It’s an honor to have you. Will it just be the two of you this evening?”
Despite myself, I blushed. “Er, thanks. No, I’m supposed to meet a group of three shifters. Maybe you’ve already seated them?”
“Ah, yes, the Duncan party. This way, please,” the vampire said and drifted away toward the back of the restaurant. All paranormal species were welcome at Nouvelle Lune but given its location it was most frequently visited by vampires, and judging from all the pairs of bloody eyes that followed us as we passed, tonight appeared to be no different.
With each step I took, my heart rate increased — but it went into overdrive when I caught sight of Beau sitting with the man I’d seen at the Council meeting earlier in the week and a woman that could only have been his mother. They’d all dressed in their best clothes, looking like a wealthy family from a TV show, and a tingle of shame tickled the back of my throat when I realized that I probably looked like a street urchin by comparison. Hopefully, my status as Head Witch would grant me a free pass.
Beau bounced in his seat like a giddy child and motioned for me to join them, but his face fell when Obax stomped into the room behind me. He exchanged looks with his parents and grimaced before leaning over to mutter something in his dad’s ear.
I reached the table, and Beau jumped up to pull out the chair opposite him for me. We hugged and I sat down, unsure what to say to his parents. I wasn’t even sure of their names.
Beau sank into his seat, his face flushed, and cleared his throat. “Mom, Dad, this is my girlfriend, Zoe Clarke.”
“It’s so nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Duncan,” I said and reached out to offer my hand to both of them. They took turns shaking it, excited grins splitting their faces like star-struck fans.
“The pleasure is all ours, Councilwoman,” Mrs. Duncan said. She had the same warm brown eyes and welcoming presence as her son, and even the luscious brown locks of hair that draped down her back and shoulders looked similar to Beau’s. She was beautiful, and now that I’d met her and Mr. Duncan, I understood where Beau got his good looks.
“Please, call me Zoe. The whole Councilwoman thing is still a little weird for me.”
Mr. Duncan chuckled. “I can imagine. I’m Sam, and this is my wife, Michelle.”
Well, that confirmed I’d already met Beau’s dad; I just didn’t realize it at the time. Though I immediately wanted to ask him about his association with Julien, and how it came to be that the vampire chose him as a leader for the shifter community, I bit my tongue. The last thing I wanted was to make things more awkward.
“Oh, since I’m sure you’re wondering, my gargoyle friend here is my guard, Obax. She won’t be having dinner with us, but she’s not allowed to leave me on my own for security reasons. Don’t worry; eventually her presence will fade away into the background.”
<
br /> Mr. Duncan laughed, regarding Obax with wary eyes. “We’ll see about that.”
“Well, now that we’ve gotten all the uncomfortable introductions out of the way, how was work today, Zoe?” Beau asked.
“Tense. But I guess that’s not anything new. How could running a magical town be anything else?”
“Good point. That reminds me, I heard you gave an interview to someone over at the Messenger. I have to say, I’m a little hurt you didn’t give me the exclusive scoop, but I’m sure you had your reasons,” Beau said. My face tingled — I hadn’t even considered talking to Beau on his Channel 666 PV show, Moon Grove Tonight.
“Sorry, it was an impromptu thing, you know how it goes. Anyway, it was cool because the reporter I talked to is my replacement.”
“Oh, you mean that young kid from Starfall Valley?”
“Yeah, do you know him?”
“No, I just heard that the Messenger hired him and thought it was interesting.”
So Beau knew about my replacement before I did? I wasn’t sure how to feel about that, but maybe it just meant he was more plugged into the reporting world than I was, especially now that I wasn’t part of it anymore.
“Anyway, there’s plenty of time for talking shop later,” Beau said. “Sorry, guys.”
Mr. Duncan shook his head. “I don’t mind.”
I’d bet he didn’t. As an aspiring representative for the shifter community, it would benefit him to know about the inner workings of the political world he was trying to enter. Though I knew I should have kept quiet and let the conversation go, I couldn’t help myself.
“That reminds me, you were at the Council meeting a few days ago, weren’t you, Mr. Duncan?”
“Yes, I was. That was, well, lively, wasn’t it?”
Lively didn’t begin to cover it, but I chose not to say so. “It was. You know, Beau’s never told me you’re in politics.” Sam exchanged uncomfortable looks with Michelle.
Beau shrugged. “I wasn’t avoiding it or anything. I just never had a reason to bring it up,” he said.
“It’s a relatively recent development, anyway,” Sam said. “Actually, I didn’t want it, but there was no one better suited for the job.”
“I see. What exactly is the job, anyway?”
“Zoe, we don’t really have to talk about this, do we?” Beau asked, but his dad shushed him.
“I don’t mind. Really, I don’t. Zoe’s our Head Witch, so I think that entitles her to know,” he said. “Besides, if this vote goes the way we think it will on Monday, she and I might be colleagues soon.”
Though I felt guilty for even thinking it, I couldn’t help wondering if Beau had known about Sam’s involvement with Julien and kept it from me. Then again, Sam said it was a new development, and Beau and I hadn’t seen each other much lately, so it was possible he hadn’t had the chance.
“Okay, if you insist,” Beau said, shrugging.
“The job wouldn’t be all that different from yours, Zoe,” Sam said. “I would reach out to members of my community, seek their feedback on various issues, and do my best to present those issues to the Council.”
“You said there was no one better suited for that than you. Why’s that?”
“Dad’s a successful media guy in his own right. He started Channel 666 and helped build it into what it is today. I wouldn’t have my career now if it weren’t for him,” Beau said, and Sam blushed. “He doesn’t like to admit it or even talk about it, but it’s true. He’s the one with all the media contacts, not me.”
Was that why Beau had been nervous about me meeting his parents all along?
“So I take it most of the shifters already know who you are, Sam?”
“Well, they don’t know my face, but they know my name and that Beau is my son. So when Julien asked me to join his coalition, it made sense.”
“Interesting,” I said, and silence fell over the table as I considered what to say next. More than anything, I wanted to pry into Sam’s connection to Julien, but I knew I was pushing my luck with Beau. He probably hadn’t imagined the evening would go this way, but how couldn’t it? Eventually, I waffled. If I didn’t ask Sam now, I might not get another chance.
“How did you and Julien meet? I’m very curious to learn more about him.”
“Honestly, he’s a bit of an enigma to us too. Before he announced his run for the presidency, I hadn’t heard of him.”
“Neither had I, and I’m paid to be on top of all this stuff,” Beau said. That caught my ear. Had Julien planned to exploit the Duncans’ media connections to advance his own political purposes? If so, I had to hand it to him; it was a brilliant move. If Sam was anything like his son, he was probably agreeable and moldable to a fault, which coupled with his connections would make him a great ally.
“Julien and I met on the night of his election,” Sam said. “We’d heard some rumblings around town that the vampires were up to something big politically, but no one knew what it might be. I wanted to make sure we were there to cover the vote, but I also didn’t want to draw undue attention by sending Beau, so I went instead. The vampires running Julien’s campaign brought me back to his room where he and his team were waiting for the results and, amazingly, Julien recognized me.”
“Wow, how serendipitous,” I said without meaning it. Beau prodded my leg with his foot under the table and flashed me a warning look. Luckily, his dad didn’t seem to have noticed my sarcasm. Whatever Sam thought of it, meeting Julien that night wasn’t an accident; far from it. Julien knew exactly what he was doing, but to what end?
“Right?” Sam asked, shaking his head. “He told me he had big things in mind for all of Moon Grove if he won, and that that night was just the start of it. I hung around until the results came out and couldn’t believe that the vampires had voted to both throw out their system of monarchy and elect their first president.”
“It was quite an evening, wasn’t it?” a vampire in waiter’s clothes asked with a bright smile as he sidled up to our table. He pulled a pad of paper and a pen from the belt around his waist. “I apologize for eavesdropping, I was just on my way to introduce myself. My name is Jean and I will be your server,” he said with a small bow, one arm tucked behind his back. “May I bring you all something to drink?”
“Yes, I think we can all agree that a bottle of wine is in order,” Michelle said. “We’ll start with the best red you have, please.”
“Of course,” the vampire said and disappeared.
“Sorry, where were we?” Sam asked.
“Maybe we’d better save the work chat for some other time, dear,” Michelle said before I could continue my line of questioning. She patted her husband’s hand resting on the table beside her. “Let’s figure out what we’d like to order before Jean comes back. I’d hate to keep him waiting.”
Sam chuckled. “Right, yeah, sorry. I get carried away sometimes.”
“It’s okay. Beau shares that trait,” I said and smiled at the blush deepening on Beau’s face. “Don’t be embarrassed, it’s endearing.”
Beau cleared his throat and hid his face behind his menu. The table fell silent again as we browsed, but no matter how many times I tried to focus on the words in front of me, all I could think about was Julien. What “big things” did he have in mind for Moon Grove, and why had he told Sam about them, even vaguely?
Jean returned with a tray of four glasses of water and four more empty ones that surrounded a fancy looking bottle in the center of the tray. He set one of each at our places and uncorked the wine. Obax growled from behind me at the popping sound, reminding me of her presence.
“Someone’s jumpy,” I said for laughs. Jean dribbled a small amount of wine for Michelle to taste. She sniffed it, took a tiny sip, and nodded her approval, so Jean filled all our glasses.
“I’ll be back in a moment for your order,” he said and vanished. Vampires really did make the most efficient servers.
I reached for my glass. “So, Mrs. Duncan, what do
you do for work?”
“I work at Channel 666 as well, but I’m not involved in production. I’m in the advertising department,” she answered. So the Duncans were truly a media family. No wonder Julien wanted them on his side.
“Oh, cool. It must be nice to have your whole family working together.” The three of them exchanged dubious looks and shared a laugh.
“Yes, and no,” Michelle said. “Things have gotten better since I moved to advertising and Sam took a more hands-off approach to the network. When we were first getting started, it tested our bonds.”
“But it all worked out in the end,” Beau said. “Anyway, I’d like to make a toast, if that’s okay with everyone?”
His mother eyed him, a smirk curling one corner of her mouth. “Of course.”
Beau nodded nervously and lifted his glass, his face nearly as red as his wine. “To new beginnings, and better, brighter futures for all,” he said and extended his glass for us to clink ours against, but Michelle glared at him. “Oh yeah, and to me and Zoe too.”
He smiled at me and I decided to set my reporter’s brain aside. It wasn’t fair to Beau or his family for me to keep asking questions about Julien. After all, I’d come to dinner with the Duncans to avoid thinking about the vampire, but so far he’d dominated our discussion, just like he’d barged into and taken over the Council meeting.
“To us, and to the health and safety of all of Moon Grove,” I agreed, and tapped my glass against each of the Duncans’ in turn, silently hoping it came true.
Chapter Four
“It’s time, Zoe,” Heath said, standing before my desk wearing a grim expression.
My breath caught in my throat and for a moment I worried my heart had stopped beating, but everything came rushing back into focus all at once as I took a deep breath and exhaled.
“Is everyone ready?” I asked, hearing my voice as if outside myself.
Heath nodded. “Mostly, yes. But they can’t vote without us.”