Page 107 of Death and Donuts

Shepard moved to dislodge Effora’s hand from his shoulder, but she caught his hand and turned it toward her, laying it on her hip so she could inch closer. One step more and she’d be straddling him.

“Queen Effora,” I said, drawing her attention to me again. I couldn’t keep quiet any longer. What she needed was Vena’s spray bottle, but I knew I couldn’t pull a stunt like that without repercussions.

This wasn’t the time or place for her feeding needs, and Shepard had already expressed his desire for me, not her. I had to set boundaries now.

“Shepard is too much of a gentleman to tell you that you’re making him uncomfortable, but you are. Please release him and take a seat so we can focus on why we’re really here. King Curran and Princess Indri have a long drive home.”

Effora narrowed her eyes at me, but Hugh said, “You promised your cooperation in this meeting.”

With the barest eye roll, she left Shepard’s side and sat at her chair opposite of him.

“All right. I’m seated. Now what?”

“Now we discuss the problem at hand,” Hugh said. “The discovery of the mass graves does not only affect humans.

“The vampire population is out of control and needs immediate mitigation. And the werewolf efforts alone are no longer enough. All the races need to cooperate in the resolution of this problem.”

“And how do you expect my people to help?” the queen asked. “We are not the fighters the werewolves are. And we neither have the strength or fortitude of the dwarves.”

Curran’s face grew progressively redder with each word she spoke.

“Are you suggesting that the fae race is useless?” I asked, angry that she still took a passive stance when there had been so many deaths. “I’m not sure your people would agree.”

She shot me a disdainful look. “Not at all. We definitely have our uses.”

Vena snorted. “Not the use anyone here is interested in.”

“You wish to speak, human?” Effora asked, a small smile tugging at her mouth as she looked at Vena.

“I do.” My best friend stood and approached the table to set her scrying crystal on it. “This is the kind of help we need.”

The queen picked up the crystal and arched a brow at it. “A crystal to find cats? No wonder you have a vampire problem.”

She tossed the crystal to the table again.

“Wehave a problem,” Shepard said to Effora. “Unless you suddenly live in a different city.”

Her gaze was like a caress as it skimmed over Shepard. The woman seriously needed a cold shower.

Vena snatched her crystal and shook her head at the queen. “Stupid isn’t a good look on you, so stop pretending. This crystal isn’t just for black cats but for Adriel, the only vampire some fae gifted with the ability to shift. Wonder who that fae could be?”

The queen’s gaze turned truly cold as it shifted to Vena. “Take care how you speak to me, human. You have no place at this table.”

“Vena might not be at the table, but you invited her to speak, and she’s not wrong,” I said. “We know that a powerful fae granted Adriel’s ability to shift. And because of his ability, Adriel snuck into the mountain to kill Prince Hakon. Doesn’t that mean that the fae are then partially to blame for what also happened?”

Effora’s gaze lingered on me as Curran’s fist slammed down on the table, making the china rattle.

“We are owed answers,” he said. The princess put her hand on his arm, trying to calm him.

“Much is owed at this table,” Hugh said. “Humans were promised safety in return for welcoming otherworlders here, and now, many have died. Things have progressed too far for those who I represent to remain quiet. Any who do not wish to contribute to correcting this situation will no longer be welcomed by my kind.

“Now, how do each of you propose to contribute to the removal of the vampires?”

Effora opened her mouth to respond, but the door opened again, cutting her off.

A woman almost as pretty as the queen walked in and smiled as her gaze swept the room. In the hallway behind her, Iglimpsed the two guards kissing passionately. It was so shocking it took a few seconds for me to understand what was happening.

The woman was a fae who’d bespelled the guards to win her way into the room.

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