Page 102 of It All Started with a Bite

The chance to talk with Priscilla’s son ended up coming much sooner than I’d expected and from the most unlikely source.

Mindy floated toward me when we entered the open office.

“Samuel’s looking for you.”

I was still thinking about Nigel’s recent finding when I knocked and walked into Samuel’s office.

“You wanted to see—” I stopped and stared.

Victoria was sitting on the couch. “Hi, Abby.”

Hugh was perched beside her.

Unease danced through me at their troubled expressions. Now what?

I looked over to where Samuel was making coffee for everyone while Bo trotted over to greet Pearl.

“What’s wrong?” I asked warily.

“I’ll let Mother explain.” Samuel indicated the couch.

Victoria waited until I took the seat opposite her before removing a cream envelope that had been sealed with dark red wax from her handbag. The seal was engraved with a family crest I didn’t recognize. She placed it on the table and pushed it toward me.

I stared at the envelope like it might bite. “What’s this?”

“Priscilla’s hosting a ball this weekend. The representatives of every supernatural race as well as the leaders of all werewolf packs, vampire clans, and covens in Amberford are invited.”

A chill ran down my spine. This couldn’t be a coincidence.

I wasn’t sure if my dark sense of foreboding was coming from human Abby or werewolf Abby. I hesitated before reaching for the envelope and taking out the thick, gilded card inside.

The ball was taking place tomorrow night at seven p.m., at the Holt mansion.

I looked up into the Hawthornes’s perturbed faces. “Isn’t this a bit short notice?”

“It is.” Victoria’s face tightened. “But that’s not what concerns us.” She traded a worried glance with her sons. “It’s exceedingly rare for all the heads of the supernatural races in Amberford to be under one roof. The people who attended the function at Château Montmartre were carefully selected to represent their race and the prominent supernatural families among them. Even then, not every family was invited. Only those who hold the most power in Amberford get an invitation to the tea party.”

My stomach churned. I suspected I knew the answer to my next question, but I asked it anyway.

“What would happen if everyone important was under one roof?”

Pearl jumped on the table. “It would be the perfect scenario to spring an ambush.”

My knuckles whitened on my lap.

“Has that happened before?” I asked Samuel.

He nodded reluctantly. “In the past. But that’s only part of the problem.”

It sounded plenty enough to me.

“What else aren’t you telling me?” I said in a hard voice.

Samuel rubbed the back of his neck, his expression awkward. “The last time the Holts held a ball, Arthur Holt disappeared.”

My mouth went dry.

The situation had just officially gone from bad to diabolically bad.

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