by Aileen Erin
Donovan nodded. “I was just thanking Tessa for offering her help.”
At first I was thrilled to see Dad. I knew he’d get me out of this. I just knew it.
Then he grinned. “That’s my girl.”
I couldn’t help the wince of betrayal. He knew I didn’t like being in the spotlight. “You want me to do it?” I said the words slowly, so as not to be misunderstood.
“I know it’s not what you want, but I think this is the best way to go about it. Believe me, I want to protect you from this, but it’s already happened and the media knows who you are. The phone at the house has been ringing non-stop. Your mother finally unplugged it.”
“Shit.” The word slipped out before I could stop it. “No one’s called my cell phone.”
“It’s unlisted, but that won’t stop them for long.” He took a breath. “The other option would be to hide, but this isn’t some Hollywood scandal that will blow over in a week. This is a major upheaval in society and we don’t want people to panic.”
“Agreed,” Donovan said.
“Agreed,” Mr. Dawson echoed.
I bit down on my lip to keep from trying to argue my way out of this. I just made our life so much harder.
Dastien squeezed my hand. We’re never going to have a quiet life. There’s always going to be something. But remember what I said. You and me—together—forever. We can get through it. As long as we’re a team. You might be the spokesperson, but I’ll be there with you. Whatever you need, I’m here for you.
I nodded. I can’t believe I’m agreeing to this.
I think you’ll do great at it.
I shot a look at Dastien. The boy had lost his mind. Clearly. “So, Dad. You got a speech for me?” If I knew my father, he had this all planned out, and the notecards to prove it.
“Of course.” He patted his suit coat pocket.
Good thing. I had no plans to go off the cuff announcing to the world that werewolves were real.
“About this speech.” Cosette lifted a hand.
“Finally speaking up, eh?” Donovan’s brows rose. “You weren’t half as eager to answer our questions earlier.”
She shrugged. “I don’t like questions. I do have a statement though.”
Really? I leaned forward in my chair and I wasn’t the only one. Cosette had been helping us much more than expected, but she still wasn’t very big on volunteering information.
“You’re not to mention the word fey in this speech or any other contact with the humans.”
That seemed extreme. I knew now that the fey had more magic than I’d thought, but they couldn’t hide from the humans forever.
“Is that a threat?” Mr. Dawson’s voice held a hint of a growl.
“Not mine.” Cosette flattened her hands on the table. “I’m to tell you that the fey have no plans to announce themselves and if they’re outed without their consent…” She wrinkled her nose. “Let’s just not go there.”
“What if they ask what you are?” I could lie to the reporters, but I wasn’t sure what I’d say.
“I can go back to playing a witch if that’s easier for you.” Cosette glanced at Claudia, who hadn’t said a word this whole meeting. I needed to talk to her again and check how she was getting through all this. “But my advice is that you speak for the Weres and only the Weres. Anything else is asking for trouble.”
I nodded. “That seems reasonable.” I barely felt right speaking at all, let alone trying to talk about witches or fey, or anyone else. Just to be sure, I turned to my cousin. “Is there anything you want me to say, Claudia?”
She jumped, grabbing her hands to her chest. “No… I…” Lucas squeezed her shoulder and they shared a look, him projecting confidence and love, before she continued. “I wouldn’t feel comfortable speaking for the other covens, but Luciana was my coven leader…” Pain flashed across her features, but determination quickly replaced the hurt. “I trust you to speak for the few of us who are left. I know you’ll make this about her without trying to paint the rest of us as villains. We can’t have this ending in witch hunts.”
My throat suddenly went dry. This was a lot of responsibility. But as I glanced around the table…
Cosette couldn’t speak for us. She could barely speak for herself. The members of the Seven I trusted most had all been caught on film, and I definitely didn’t trust Lisabetta to talk about the witches in a positive light.
It had to be me. The realization made my heart pound, but it seemed too late to turn back. “Are we doing this now?” My voice only cracked a little.
“After you change.” Dad gave a pointed look at my clothes.
I glanced down at my outfit—skinny jeans and an old Nine Inch Nails T-shirt. It was one of the first ones I’d screen-printed. It had the downward spiral image on it. I figured after this morning, it was pretty apt. “What’s wrong with this?” I felt comfortable, and if I was going to do this, I should feel comfortable. Right?
“Teresa. A dress.”
“Yes, sir.” I gave him a little salute.
Donovan walked around the table to clasp my shoulder. “You’re going to do great. I know you will.”
Yup. Everyone had lost their minds today.
I turned to the other alphas. “It was nice meeting you all.”
“I’ll go with her, if that’s okay,” Dastien said.
Mr. Dawson gave a small nod. “Probably best. Otherwise, I think she might run off.”
“Pretty valid thought,” I muttered, but all the Weres heard me and laughed.
On that note, I headed back to the dorm with Dastien. I dug out my one sundress, which had little yellow flowers on it, and slipped on a pair of sandals. Good enough.
I quickly put my hair up in a ponytail. I hadn’t used any make-up since I’d gotten to St. Ailbe’s, but I put on a little concealer, mascara, and lipgloss. If I was going to be on camera, I might as well look nice.
I exited the bathroom and held my arms out. “Well? How do I look?”
“Beautiful,” Dastien said.
“Good answer. Otherwise, I’d have to hide under my bed for the rest of my life.”
“Let’s go. Get this done.”
I nodded. “Yep. Rip this whole situation off. Like a Band-Aid. ‘Cause it’s gonna suck.”
Dad was waiting for us in the dorm’s common room. A few people were hanging out, watching the TV and snacking, but the talking stopped when I came in.
I really, really hated when that happened. And after today, I was pretty sure that would happen everywhere I went for a long time. “Please tell me there’s time to practice this little speech?”
“Of course. Let’s go back to the conference room.”
“How’s Mom taking all of this?” I asked as we headed outside.
He blew out a breath. “She’s upset. She knew a lot of the people who died, even if she’d been out of contact with them for a long time. It still hurt her.”
I hadn’t even considered that. “I’m sorry.”
“She’ll be okay. Your brother wanted to come today, though. I told him it was probably best if he stayed away.”
“Why should he stay away?”
“I know that you can do this, that you’re strong and can handle it. But this is going to be a circus, and I can’t promise that some of these people won’t act out. Your brother wouldn’t handle that so well. He’s spent his childhood protecting you, but he can’t do that anymore. Not from this.”
“I guess that’s true. Sometimes I wish I could hide from all of this. Go home—” I looked back at Dastien, walking behind us, and then back at my dad. He worked hard to stay fit, but the worry lines were there. “But I can’t. I’m different, and officially an adult.”
“No. You’ll always be my baby girl. You never get too old for that. And you’re only a few weeks past eighteen. I’d hardly call that adult.”
It was weird, him not knowing about last night. That I’d basically gotten married without him there. Without any of m
y family around.
Do you regret it?
Not for a second.
We can always have a more traditional human ceremony.
That would be nice, but it seems silly now.
We’ll do it, but you have to tell Meredith.
Crap. I hadn’t even thought of that. When I’d gotten ready for the ceremony last time, she’d helped. She’d been so excited. I should’ve told her what we were doing, but there hadn’t been time. Hopefully she wouldn’t be too upset.
When we got to the conference room, Mr. Dawson, Donovan, Sebastian, and Lucas were having a hushed conversation in the corner. The rest of the alphas were gone, but Meredith, Chris, Adrian, Shane, Raphael, and Claudia were huddled together reading a newspaper.
“What’s going on?”
Chris moved over so I could read the headline. Eight Families Murdered By Monsters.
Why had no one mentioned this?
Mr. Dawson separated from the group in the corner. “It just hit the news. There were a few gruesome murders around three in the morning last night. They weren’t far from here—about thirty minutes away—in the outskirts of San Antonio.” He paused, and his jaw ticked. “They’re being blamed on werewolves.”
That was stupid. Werewolves wouldn’t hurt humans. Not unless they were defending themselves. “But they’re not—”
“No.” Donovan cut in. “These remains look like the policemen’s.”
The truth hit, and I sat down hard in one of the chairs. “Demons.” Luciana wouldn’t… But obviously she had. I couldn’t be totally surprised, but what did she stand to gain from that? Was she letting innocent people die just to make the Weres look worse?
“The crowd outside has grown. We’ve set up a podium and lectern just inside the gate. We’ll let them in, you read the speech, and then there’ll be time for questions. I’ll be there with you, in case you’re unsure how to answer. And if things get too heated, we’ll cut it off.”
This was getting better and better.
Dad handed me a small stack of notecards. I skimmed the words, and then looked up. “You can’t be serious.”
“It’s okay,” Mr. Dawson said. “Everyone has agreed on the content. It’s time.”
I blew out a breath. “If you say so…”
I spent the next hour going over the words. It wasn’t a long speech, so I had it almost memorized by the time Dad called. In a daze, I walked to the gates with Dastien. The alphas and everyone else trailed behind us, but my thoughts were distant.
Whatever happened next, everything was about to change.
Chapter Seventeen
As soon as I stepped onto the podium, cameras started flashing. I could see through the flashes, but they still startled me. I nearly froze, but pushed myself to keep moving. I placed the now slightly crumpled piece of paper on the lectern. No less than ten microphones were taped to it, and I had to suppress the urge to tap on them while saying something like is this thing on?
I set my notecards down, spreading out the first few across the surface. Dad had said to focus on something above their heads, but all I saw were signs. Some were nice. Things like “We <3 Weres!” Others said some things that were not so nice about wolves and hellspawn.
A group of people stood behind me. Classmates. Cazadores. My friends. And Dastien.
You can do this, he said through the bond.
I took a breath in and prayed I didn’t fuck up too badly. “Thank you for coming today.” My voice wobbled and I cleared my throat. “I know the footage you all saw was shocking.” My hands shook, so I gripped the sides of the lectern. “You might also be shocked to know that werewolves have been around nearly as long as humans.” I couldn’t believe I was here, telling the world these things. I forced myself to look up, over the crowd. “And, since they’re a long-lived race, most of the people you see here—the ones all in black, and those behind me—have fought in many American wars. Including the one for our independence.”
The silence among the crowd was eerie. Only the sound of photographers’ flashes competed with my voice. “Werewolves have been protecting humans for centuries. Name a monster, and it most likely exists. Vampires. Demons.” The card said pause, so I took a moment, and then started again. The words were coming easier now. “Our leaders have been planning to come forward, but we’re extremely sorry that our presence had come to light in these circumstances.” I paused again, preparing for the hardest part. “Not everything that happened that night made it onto the video. The compound you saw is where the local coven of witches has made their home for the past fifty years. They lived peacefully within our community until their leader, Luciana Alvarez, turned to dark magic. Now Luciana has committed an unforgivable crime by murdering her coven and summoning demons into the world.”
Some people shouted questions.
“I know this might sound crazy. Believe me, I didn’t know that any of this existed until a few months ago. That’s why I’m the one speaking to you today. I was a normal human girl until a few months ago when I became a werewolf. I’ve been where you are, and I know more than anyone what an adjustment this knowledge can be, but the pack is trustworthy. They’ve been protecting you without hope or desire of recognition or fortune. They would’ve stayed in the background, content to protect us from afar, but this time, the evil is great. If you saw the recent news from San Antonio, you know about the attacks. Those were not werewolf attacks. Those were demons. Luciana Alvarez is out there somewhere, and she’s extremely dangerous. We’re working with the police to bring her to justice, but we are coming forward to warn you and make sure that you have the facts. For your safety, please stay indoors after dark. If you see one of these monsters—” I held up the drawing Chris had sketched. “Run. Do not engage. The officers who responded to the compound shot the demon many times, but bullets won’t harm this type of monster. We’ve found that you’ll smell demons before you see them. If you catch the rotten egg smell of sulfur, take that as your warning to leave wherever you are and call the authorities.”
I paused again. “It is our only wish to continue a peaceful existence, protecting you from monsters such as these. It is the pack’s dearest hope that you will welcome us as part of your, as we’ve already lived among you for a very long time.”
I folded up the piece of paper, and turned to Mr. Dawson. He gave me a little nod. “I’ll now answer some questions.”
Everyone started yelling questions at once, and I had no idea who to call on. Dad came to stand next to me. “You, first.” He pointed to a reporter in the front.
“You said you didn’t know any of this existed until a few months ago. What happened?”
Thank God Dad had prepared me for the likely questions. “I met my mate.” The reporter waited for me to say more, but I wasn’t going to volunteer anything more personal than that.
Dad pointed to someone else before the guy could think of a follow-up.
“How exactly did you become a werewolf?”
I’d been hoping for more questions about Luciana, but I guessed that wasn’t happening. “My mate changed me into one.” We’d agreed that any mention of biting would open up a can of worms we didn’t need right now, and I was technically telling the truth. Dastien had changed me.
After that, the questions came fast.
“Do you like being a werewolf?”
“Yes.”
“Can you change forms?”
“Yes.” From the way everyone waited after I said the word, I knew they wanted more from me than just ‘yes,’ but I wasn’t sure what else to say. They were going to be really disappointed if they were waiting for a demonstration.
“Can you think like a human when you’re in wolf form, or do you truly become a wolf?”
“I can think.”
“Would you ever attack a human?”
This was a tough one. I thought for a moment before speaking. “No. Not unless I was defending myself. We can all think and process information no matter what form
we’re in.”
“Who was the girl with the sword?”
I wasn’t touching that one. “She’s a friend of the pack.”
“But—”
“I can’t speak for her. She enjoys her privacy.” And any lie I gave could get me in just as much trouble as telling the truth.
“Do you have sex with wolves?”
What the hell kind of question was that? “No. I’m not into bestiality. Are you asking because you are?”
Dad cleared his throat. “My daughter is still in high school. Let’s try and keep the questions appropriate to that age.”
There was some tittering from the crowd.
“You said there were demons on the loose? Do you know how many? And what do we do to protect ourselves?”
Finally. Someone with a question I could deal with. “I don’t know how many, and until Luciana is apprehended, it’s safe to say she can keep calling them up. So, stay at home after dark. Keep your doors locked. And pray.”
“That’s not very reassuring.”
“I wish I had something better to say, but I can only hope that she’s found quickly.”
“Why is Luciana doing these things? What’s her motivation?”
I shrugged. Like I knew. The best I could come up with was her wanting more power, but she had plenty of that now. The latest attacks seemed like a plot to make the Weres look like villains, but beyond that, I kept wondering what her grand plan was. The destruction of all Weres? A world run by witches? Who knew at this point? “Why does anyone do anything bad? Why do rapists rape? Why do murderers kill people? I don’t know.”
Dad gripped my shoulder, and moved me gently out of the way. “That’s all we have time for right now. Thank you.”
The shouting drowned the rest of my thoughts as I stepped down from the podium. The reporters all pressed toward the barrier we’d set up. Only one person moved the opposite direction. Raphael pushed through the crowd on his way back to campus. I reached out to Claudia, and pulled her close so she’d hear me over the roar of the crowd. “Did I upset him?”
“I don’t know. I wouldn’t think so, but he’s… He’s not himself. He’s been through a lot.”