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Chapters (68)
  1. Biding Time
  2. Dedication
  3. Table of Contents
  4. Prologue
  5. Chapter One
  6. Chapter One
  7. Chapter Two
  8. Chapter Three
  9. Chapter Four
  10. Chapter Five
  11. Chapter Six
  12. Chapter Seven
  13. Chapter Eight
  14. Chapter Nine
  15. Chapter Ten
  16. Chapter Eleven
  17. Chapter Twelve
  18. Chapter Thirteen
  19. Chapter Fourteen
  20. Chapter Fifteen
  21. Chapter Sixteen
  22. Chapter Seventeen
  23. Chapter Eighteen
  24. Chapter Nineteen
  25. Chapter Twenty
  26. Chapter Twenty-One
  27. Chapter Twenty-Two
  28. Chapter Twenty-Three
  29. Chapter Twenty-Four
  30. Chapter Twenty-Five
  31. Chapter Twenty-Six
  32. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  33. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  34. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  35. Chapter Thirty
  36. Chapter Thirty-One
  37. Chapter Thirty-Two
  38. Chapter Thirty-Three
  39. Chapter Thirty-Four
  40. Chapter Thirty-Five
  41. Chapter Thirty-Six
  42. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  43. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  44. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  45. Chapter Forty
  46. Chapter Forty-One
  47. Chapter Forty-Two
  48. Chapter Forty-Three
  49. Chapter Forty-Four
  50. Chapter Forty-Five
  51. Chapter Forty-Six
  52. Chapter Forty-Seven
  53. Chapter Forty-Eight
  54. Chapter Forty-Nine
  55. Chapter Fifty
  56. Chapter Fifty-One
  57. Chapter Fifty-Two
  58. Chapter Fifty-Three
  59. Chapter Fifty-Four
  60. Chapter Fifty-Five
  61. Chapter Fifty-Six
  62. Acknowledgments
  63. Other Titles by Lyn Gardner
  64. Going on Red
  65. Choices
  66. Born Out of Wedlock
  67. Give Me A Reason
  68. Mistletoe

Max came forward in his seat so quickly, the chair banged against the desk. “Tread lightly, Bennett. You have sat around the council table long enough to discern exactly how the others feel. Napoleon is Etienne’s son. We can reprimand. We can remind, and we can attempt to show him the error of his ways, but anything more than that and the council’s wrath will fall on your head.”

“I’d like to see them try.”

Max’s expression grew thunderous. “How dare you think that because you’re—”

“I’m bloody tired of this, Max,” Bennett said, raising her voice. “And what was the point of you and the others giving me a seat on the council if I can’t plead my case?”

“They gave you that seat to provide us peace of mind, of which you are well aware.”

“What about my peace of mind? Napoleon’s barbaric ways didn’t escalate to the point of a fucking feeding frenzy until I was given that chair, so the way I see, you and the others are as responsible for all these senseless murders as he is.”

“Don’t you think we know that?” Max said, slapping the desk. “Napoleon has been whining, badgering, and threatening everything under the sun long before you came along, my dear. When we voted against him inheriting his father’s chair, we did it because we recognized Napoleon’s penchant for bloodshed. His need for power, his greed, and his brutality are all the things we don’t stand for any longer, but—”

“Then, goddammit, do something about it,” Bennett shouted. “Whatever bloody loyalty you and the others have toward Napoleon’s father needs to end. I don’t know what could be so monumental about one man that you and the others would put our very existence in constant jeopardy, but your devotion to a ghost is going to kill us all.”

Max flew to his feet. “If it weren’t for that ghost, Bennett, none of us would be alive today. You have no idea what we went through. You have no idea at all!”

Chapter Eight

In the corner of Max’s study stood a longcase clock or, as some people would call it, a grandfather clock. Unlike those of the modern age, this one lacked the ornate swooping lines, the glass-fronted waist displaying a polished brass pendulum, and chimes tolling the bells of Westminster or St. Michael’s upon the quarter, half, and hour.