The males in the group were just as diverse, some so young they appeared to be teenagers and one was old enough to have been my father. The older man shook hands enthusiastically with me, explaining he’d been a doctor as well. “Well, a doctor of psychology,” he’d said, in the early 1920s. “We’ll have a lot to talk about,” he’d promised, and when he’d patted my hand, I couldn’t help but think he might be coming on to me.

When the meeting came to order, only one person voiced concern at my attending, and that was Alex. He was overruled by the tall, slender female who seemed to be in charge.

The tall, slender female Nathan couldn’t keep his eyes off of.

“I asked her to let you stay, as a personal favor,” Nathan whispered, never tearing his rapt gaze from her willowy body.

“Try to keep your tongue in your mouth,” I snapped quietly.

Ms. Gorgeous paced back and forth in front of us, and I tried hard not to hate her. She had legs that seemed to go to her neck, and a fashion sense I could never hope to cultivate. With a sad smile, she began to speak. “Thanks for coming tonight, guys. I know a lot of you have planes and buses to catch, so I’ll keep this as brief as possible. As you know, we lost two members in our fight with the Soul Eater.”

I looked around at all the grave faces.

The speaker continued. “And Nathan Grant lost someone very special.”

She smiled tenderly at him, and I realized I was glaring at her. Behind me I heard quiet chuckling, and I turned to see a blond man with a friendly—not to mention adorable—face wink at me. I doubted it was Nathan’s tragedy the man found amusing.

Nathan had heard the laughing as well. “Max, do you have something to share?”

Max sobered instantly. “No, man. We’re cool. Sorry about the kid.”

With a grumpy nod, Nathan turned in his seat.

“If we can all get back to the meeting,” the alpha female said, frowning so sternly at Max I almost reminded her that Nathan had been talking, too. God, petty jealousy was turning me into a deranged tattletale. I wondered if it was a trait I’d inherited from Cyrus, or one that I’d had all along but never had a chance to use.

“While our raid on Cyrus’s mansion was successful in that we eliminated a fair number of vampires, some of you were a bit kill-happy. Three Lupins and a half-demon were mistakenly killed. I don’t think any of us wishes to increase the tension between the Movement and the Lupin council.” She waited as if to let her remark sink in. “And we didn’t achieve either of our goals.”

“What does that mean?” I whispered to Nathan.

“It means we didn’t kill Cyrus. Or the Soul Eater.”

The blond vampire behind me leaned forward, his cold breath tickling my neck. “But some of us got damned close.”