Lina’s laugh was barking loud after my whisper. “I rather like my own freedom, thank you very much. I am not above the law and am not keen on breaking the treaty myself. I supported the laws against turning children. I just think it should go both ways.”

“Well, as far as I’m concerned, the Elders can take the Treaty of Annis and shove it up their own an—”

Lina stopped me with a disapproving look, but I could tell she was hiding a smile.

I put my hands up. “Okay, okay. I’m just surprised that an Ancient would be such a rule follower. You’re stronger, faster, and, let’s be honest, way more popular than the council.”

“Nobody loves a politician,” Lina conceded. “And I’m no fan of the current Elder Seat representatives or their actions, but I do respect the structure.”

She smiled at my questioning look. “You don’t know the chaos before the council. Why do you think humans have vampire lore? Before the Elder Seat was created, before we organized into clans and houses to help keep order, our kind were far too exposed, drunk on our own power. But even an immortal can’t survive a mob with torches and pitchforks.”

“It depends,” I argued, pretending to seriously consider it. “Are the pitchforks made of wood?”

“Joke while you can,” Lina said. “You may be back to avoiding wooden stakes soon enough.”

“Thanks to you,” I said in earnest.

“Dexter will be disappointed, you know. And your friends too.”

At the mention of my friends, I slapped my palm against my forehead. “I keep forgetting to ask you—will you run the coffee cart after the parade? I know it’s lame, but I promised the Halloween hillbilly committee I would ask.”

“Oh, so you need another favor now?”

I held up two pinched fingers in front of my sheepish expression. “Just a teeny one. Pretty please.”

Lina’s expression was a cross between an eye roll and a helpless grin. “This town and its silly traditions, I swear.”

“That’s a yes?”

“That’s a maybe. Let’s get you past the Elders in one piece, and then we’ll worry about a party, deal?”

I raised my now-empty mug. “Deal.”

Twenty-Four

Sample, Don’t Indulge

The next week had me tied up in knots, between waiting for word from the council and anticipating my first official date with Dex. Both were things I had wanted for so long, and both were making me a little nauseous. I should have wondered how I could feel excitement and dread at the same time, but I was starting to get used to all my conflicting human emotions.

Reg, meanwhile, apparently had no feelings about the appeal at all. When I’d told him Lina agreed to be our sponsor, he’d responded with casual surprise and a vague “How kind of her.”