Covet (Clann)

death.”
    “Or worse.”
    I stared at him, my mind refusing to even go down that road. “She’s my sister . She loved our father. She never would have—”
    “I’m not saying she did. I’ve known that child since she was born. I’m her godfather, for heaven’s sake. I know she had nothing to do with it. But not everyone knows her as well as we do, and you’ve got to consider how others might view it. The facts are that you saw her and a stranger with your father just before his death, and everyone can see your memories and verify this. But Emily claims to have no memory of it yet either she can’t or won’t let anyone read her mind to see if she’s telling the truth.”
    “Can’t? What do you mean?”
    “Well, there have been cases where a descendant has practiced blocking their thoughts so much that they actually forget how to lower the barrier again.”
    That was possible. “I can’t remember a time when she wasn’t blocking her thoughts, even from me,” I admitted.
    “Okay, then let’s assume she is telling the truth and doesn’t remember. Then we’ve got a situation where something’s going on with her mind to make it unstable. And no one’s going to want someone like that for their leader.”
    I sighed. “She could get her memory back.”
    “Sure she could. But until then, Emily is not a viable candidate as Clann leader. Which brings us back to you. Now ordinarily the Clann would overlook the next few months until you come of age, allowing your mother to serve as temporary leader until your eighteenth birthday, at which time she could step down from the role. But this time, there is the added issue of an actual contender for the vote—Jim Williams.”
    Dylan’s father. Of course.
    If Dylan’s father took over the Clann, not only would we be at war with the vamps in no time, but Mr. Williams wouldn’t rest until every single vampire was staked or burned out of existence.
    “Dad always acted like it was a done deal that I would be the next leader,” I murmured. Now that the shock and anger were wearing off, I was starting to have a tough time staying upright and on my feet. I didn’t want to deal with all this political crap right now. I just wanted to fall into bed.
    “If he’d lived even one more year, it probably would have been.”
    But he hadn’t. And now everything Grandpa and Dad had believed in and worked so hard for was about to fall apart.
    “Do you really think a vampire killed my dad?”
    Dr. Faulkner paused, considering. “Well, it’s certainly possible to fake a vampire bite with prosthetic fangs or even those plastic fangs you see everywhere at Halloween time. And he could have been drained elsewhere then brought back to the clearing. I’d have to do some tests to be sure, though, like checking the wound for saliva and running a pretty covert DNA test on whatever I find. I couldn’t go through the normal channels, of course, so it would take longer to get the results.”
    “I’d appreciate it if you would.” Maybe a DNA test would prove it wasn’t a vamp bite at all. Or at least it could help match Dad’s killer with whoever had killed my aunt and uncle and cousins.
    “Do you think the vamp council keeps DNA records on all the known vamps?” I asked.
    “I highly doubt it. The security risk in maintaining such a database would be astronomical. But it couldn’t hurt to ask them. You know, your dad wasn’t lying to everyone when he said he was working with the vamp council to investigate the descendant murders. Now that he’s gone, and especially with the Clann reaction that’s sure to come, maintaining contact with the council is going to become more crucial than ever. If you were to reach out to the council personally, that could help preserve the peace treaty a little longer until we can catch the killer. Not to mention adding some important credibility to your bid for Clann leadership.”
    I opened my mouth to tell him the truth, that I’d never really wanted to be Clann leader. That it was my parents’ dream, a dream that wasn’t ever going to take place because my dad was going to live forever. And that I would probably fail miserably at trying to lead a bunch of people spread out all over the world, most of whom I didn’t even know.
    But then I thought about what would happen if I didn’t step into Dad’s shoes… How disappointed Dad and Grandpa would have been, not to mention Mom… What the Clann could turn into with vampire haters