Moon Shimmers(9)

He laughed as he set me down. “You always stand on your own two feet, love. No matter who might be holding you at the moment, you’re always there on your own terms. And regardless of the situation, regardless of whether I—or anybody else—is there to help, you’ll always take the helm. As for the crown, you may have not been given a choice, but you’ve told me time and again that you are your father’s daughter. A soldier’s daughter. I know you well enough by now to know that you’ll carry through with your duties, and you’ll perform them better than anybody else could. Your sense of honor is one of your best qualities, my love.”

I stared up at him, mulling over his words. I could continue griping, continue letting my nerves get the better of me, or I could suck it up, move on, and make the best of the situation. I could let myself enjoy it and kick fear to the door.

Vanzir let out a faint noise and I turned. The troll spirit was fading from view, and within the next moment, he was gone. I exhaled, feeling the fear that had been coiled in my heart vanish with my breath.

Menolly was still trying to calm people, but they weren’t listening. We were dealing with a conservative group, led by someone who hated our kind and actively worked against us. And he wasn’t letting the opportunity go by.

Steven Trentallon, the new star reporter of the Seattle Tattler—a yellow rag if there ever was one—was taking pictures of Menolly. I laughed. If he expected those photos to do him any good, he’d be mighty surprised. Vampires couldn’t be photographed, but apparently he had forgotten that little fact.

Delilah was talking to Brandon Rigal, who was flailing his arms around. She was trying to calm him down, but it obviously wasn’t working. Fry joined her, but Rigal wasn’t listening to her either.

“Come on,” I said. “We’d better get over there and sort out what’s going on. Rigal is the lawyer who defends the Freedom’s Angels and the Guardian Watchdogs. He’s not going to let this one pass and he’ll find some way to turn it back onto us that his daughter’s wedding day was ruined.”

“We saved their lives,” Smoky said, straightening his duster. He was spiffy clean—and he never got dirty. Dirt vanished off him faster than rats deserting a sinking ship.

“Be that as it may, Rigal’s going to find some way to pin the blame on us.” I headed across the grass. Smoky and Vanzir followed.

Delilah was fuming. “Listen to me. We saved your asses tonight. How can you be such an idiot?”

Uh-oh. When Delilah called someone an idiot to his face, I knew it was bad. She was the gentlest of the three of us, and she never went off half-cocked. Well…seldom.

“Your kind is the reason this happened in the first place. Nobody ever had a problem till you came through the portals and stirred up all this crap. The Supes who were already here knew better than to make waves or show themselves. You brought everything to the surface. You made it acceptable for the demons of this world to step out into the light. It’s past time someone did something about this. Time to send you home where you belong.” Rigal’s voice was filled with veiled threats. He wasn’t shouting, he wasn’t railing against the wind…just speaking with calm, cold precision.

I stared at him for a moment. He wasn’t a tiger, ready to pounce. No, this man was more of a snake, coiling back, watching for just the right moment to strike. Brandon Rigal was dangerous and he was going to make waves. That much I could foresee.

“Delilah, don’t bother.” I stepped up beside her, and Smoky followed. Menolly had joined Vanzir, standing a few yards away. The cops were reassuring people and making sure nobody had been injured. I turned to the lawyer.

“We saved your life. We could have just let the creature rampage through your daughter’s wedding. And for your information, as best as we can figure, the vroll woke up because of humans—probably teenagers, screwing around. So put your blame where it belongs and be grateful your daughter’s alive and in one piece and can go on with her wedding. You could have easily found yourself at a funeral tonight.”

And with that, I took Delilah’s arm and turned away. The others followed us.

“You’ll be getting the bill for the damage!” Rigal called from behind us.

“Good luck with that.” Keeping my voice just low enough for the others to hear, I added, “He can kiss my ass.”

Delilah let out a snort. “I bet he’d like to. Men like that usually hate what they can’t have. But do you think he’ll really sue us?”

“He can try but I doubt if he’s got much of a leg to stand on. But don’t underestimate him. He’s a good lawyer. Doesn’t matter, though. I doubt if the damage adds up to much and nobody was hurt, so they can’t claim injury.”