Page 3 of Snips, Snails and Werewolf Tails

"Actually," I growl at him, "I got into a brawl with one ofyourmen last night. But before you flatter yourself, you should know that he's in a lot worse shape than me. At least my limbs are all still attached."

It's a lie said both to kick Mickael off his high horse and to explain my healing cuts. I hope everyone believes my story, especially Mickael. It gives me pleasure to think he'll leave this meeting and go looking for a dismembered vampire he'll never be able to find.

"Gentlemen," Sybil says. "Let's try to keep the focus of this meeting on the conflict at hand."

Everyone else seems to have bought my lie except Elspeth. I can see her eyeing me skeptically from the corner of my eye. She's the one who I most hoped to fool, since I don't want her thinking it wasmein her garden last night.

The meeting begins in earnest and the vampire clan leader does exactly what I expected him to do: helies. Mickael sits there straight-faced and tells the witches that he and his people have never crossed over into my pack's territory without an invitation.

"That's not true," I say. "I have several witnesses who can vouch that they've seen vampires prowling around on our territory and feeding on humans there, despite the fact that no vampire haseverbeen given an invitation to do so."

Tension escalates and the meeting grows heated, since neither of us will concede. Mickael continues to lie, and I continue to point out his dishonesty.

"I don't see the point in this anymore," Blair says. So far, all of the witchesexceptElspeth have interjected with their thoughts on the heightening disagreement between me and Mickael. "We can't tell whose account is true. Therefore, I think new territory lines should be drawn."

"New territory lines?" I ask in surprise. I'm not willing to concede any territory to the vampires, and I will stand firm on that. As it is, my pack doesn't have enough territory lining Back Bay and South End, and the vampires are much too enamored of their Beacon Hill neighborhood to cede any of it to my pack.

"Yes, that's a good idea," Sybil concurs.

She pulls out a map of Boston's neighborhoods and draws new territory boundaries that give us equal space but include what she calls "padding" between the borders so there aren't any moreaccidentalincidents of trespassing. Boston is, of course, a public city and therefore open to anyone, but we supernaturals play by our own set of rules. I take territory boundaries very seriously. It's the only way that I can ensure the safety of my pack members.

The new boundaries look fine to me, so I agree to it, and surprisingly so does Mickael.

"Now that that's done, your factions shouldn't have any more wrath," Isla remarks as she rises from her seat at the table.

Blair laughs and shakes her head. "Obviously you're forgetting who we're dealing with," she says, as if Mickael and I aren't still sitting in the room with her. "The vampires and werewolves willalwayshave issues with each other. It's in their blood."

Mickael scoffs, clearly offended by the comparison between his clan and my pack, and I can't help but chuckle. I like to see things get under his very thin skin.

But hopefully this meeting will help solve our problems, at least temporarily.

I can't help but notice that Elspeth still hasn't said a single word, and it doesn't go unnoticed by her coven either.

"Elspeth, you really need to get more sleep so you don't tune out during these meetings," Sybil scolds.

I immediately feel bad because I know I'm probably the reason Elspeth didn't get any sleep last night. Even after I left, she was probably still too freaked out to fall back asleep.

"I slept fine," she lies with ease. "I just didn't see the need to intervene since the issue was resolved so quickly."

I try not to look at her while she speaks because I'm afraid I will become transfixed if I do, just like I did the other night in the garden.

Mickael stands up and I follow suit. But as I'm walking out, Elspeth comes up to me. The other witches aren't paying attention; they're too busy pouring over the city maps and talking about whether it might be a good idea to adjust some of the other factions' territory boundaries too. She hands me a small potion bottle that she pulls out of the top of her bodice, and though I try not to look at where she pulled it out from, I can't help but let my eyes wander down to her chest.

"What is this?" I ask as I take the bottle.

"It's an oil made from some of the special plants in my garden. I imbued it with an old healing spell," she answers. Her voice shakes, as if she's full of nervous energy. "I always carry a small amount of it with me in case anyone needs healing. It will help with your cuts."

"Thank you," I say as I peer at the golden liquid. I inhale her scent; she smells sweet and earthy, like fresh moss after a hard rain. It's so enticing that I find it difficult to pull myself away from her.

But I can tell by the sideways glances that the other witches are giving me that I've lingered too long. I thank Elspeth again without looking into her crystalline eyes and leave as quickly as I can.

When I get back to my pack, and explain the newly drawn territory, the pack members arenotpleased.

"Why do we even need this?" one of the younger members calls out. "Our territory was fine the way it was, and since we weren't the ones trespassing,weshouldn't need a buffer zone."

"I agree," another says. "I'm sick of the vampires thinking they run this city. They're always a ruining things for us. Why should we have to make changes when we're playing by the rules and they aren't?"

"Look, I understand your frustrations," I say wearily. "But I think this padding between our territories is a good thing. It's another small barrier between the vamps and us, and thatiswhat we want—to keep them away from our pack."

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