Covet (Clann)

what she’d seen, lost as many loved ones as she had to vampires, maybe I would be just as filled with rage.
    I only hoped I could undo whatever damage she might cause this week. If I got the majority vote.
    I didn’t see much of Emily all week. Mostly she kept to her room. The few times I did see her emerge from her room, we didn’t have anything to say to each other. I wanted to forgive her for her “memory loss,” but I just couldn’t. Not yet. Every day that she couldn’t remember or wouldn’t tell the truth was one more day the trail of clues was allowed to fade away.
    The funeral Saturday morning was a total circus. I’d expected a pretty big turnout as hundreds of descendants from all over the world flew in to honor the loss of our leader. What I hadn’t prepared for was all the non-Clann people and media who showed up. People who had worked at Dad’s manufacturing plant, local politicians, and local media mixed with recognizable celebrities in the business world and national media.
    I’d had no idea Dad was so well known and loved outside the Clann. Realizing it made me miss him all the more.
    I had to read a speech, which had taken me days to try and get just right. Afterward, I couldn’t even remember giving it. All I remembered was the sight of that coffin with Dad closed up inside it, hidden from view so no one would see the supposed fang marks high on his neck.
    After the funeral, Mom held a Clann-only gathering at the country club, where descendant after descendant got up to talk about Dad. I didn’t remember much of it, either. I was too busy worrying.
    Because now that it was real, now that I had seen my father buried in the ground, the upcoming vote was also all too real. And so were the possible consequences.
    Savannah was right. I had to become the next Clann leader, for her sake, for her dad’s, for the safety of all these men, women and children gathered today in the banquet room.
    If the Williams family took control of the Clann, no one here would be safe. Once they started another war, it wouldn’t be just a single, organized battle. It would be ongoing and everywhere…in public places and private, spilling over into Clann homes and businesses. They would make sure it was as dirty a war as possible, and no one would be spared, not even the kids. And it wouldn’t just affect the Clann and the vamps. Ordinary humans would also get caught in the crossfire.
    I’d done my research this week, talking with Dr. Faulkner by phone so I could get caught up on the details of the Clann’s history with the vamps. The last war had been fought on and off for hundreds of years, with historians mistaking it for all kinds of world wars and plagues and mob-related violence. Thousands had died on both sides, including ordinary people recruited to help each side.
    We couldn’t let another war begin . I couldn’t, not if I could do something to stop it. Savannah was right. There was no way to run from my responsibilities. If I was selfish, if I turned away from the Clann, she and I would never be safe again anywhere on this planet.
    I had to become the next Clann leader.
    Maybe then, with enough time and effort and reasoning, I could bring the Clann around. I could help them see that we could coexist with the vamps, not just under an uneasy peace treaty, but with a better understanding for both sides. We didn’t have to live our lives in fear like this.
    Dad was right. Someone was behind the Clann killings, and there was no way it was just some rogue vamp. It couldn’t be a coincidence that both the Clann’s leader and extended family had been targeted. The obvious reason for the connection was that there was some kind of political agenda behind it.
    Someone wanted another war. But who? Who had the most to gain from such a war?
    Figuring that out would be my first and most important goal as Clann leader.
    Savannah’s dad had put me in touch with Caravass, the council leader for the vamps. I’d spoken to him several times this week, and though neither of us had any updates to share, we’d both agreed that someone must be trying to play off our groups’ fears and mistrust. I couldn’t be sure yet that Caravass was trustworthy, other than my instincts, which Dad had always told me to pay attention to. Only time would really tell. But for now, my gut said he was a necessary ally, and I was hopeful we could work together to put an end to the killings.
    I just had to secure the majority vote