Covet (Clann)

blood had allowed me to get past the vamp wards. But there was no way Gowin and his vamp buddies should be able to. Not unless a descendant in that clearing was consciously allowing them to.
    Maybe I was panicking for nothing. If the council said they were personally coming here, they must be. So either Gowin was just leading the advance team to scout out the area for the council or…
    Wait. Gowin was supposed to be investigating the descendant murders. Had he been invited here to reveal the identity of the killer to the entire Clann?
    Hopeful that he had come with good news, I focused on him, working to read his thoughts.
    He spread his hands palm out at his sides and thought, Vamp wards down now.
    Familiar pinpricks of pain exploded along my neck and arms, and I joined all the rest of the descendants in a gasp of shock.
    Oh my God. Gowin had just taken down the vamp wards. But how? He wasn’t a descendant. He shouldn’t have any Clann abilities.
    While the descendants looked among themselves for the source of the use of power, I focused harder on Gowin, working to block out all others’ thoughts. And when I succeeded, I almost wished I had failed.
    Gowin was the killer.
    He was preying on descendants because filling himself with their powerful blood also temporarily gave him Clann abilities. He was trying to turn himself into a hybrid like me. But why? The effects of drinking descendant blood was only temporary. Even if he drained every descendant alive, eventually he would run out of Clann blood. And unless the council had sanctioned his plan, they would kill him for this.
    I dug harder through his memories, seeing each like a random movie scene…the descendants he’d drained, the walk-in cooler full of vials of Clann blood he’d amassed. His “armory,” as he thought of it. I also saw shelves filled with the genealogy records he’d taken from Ron’s mother, which he’d covered by making it look like an act of vandalism on the genealogical society offices. Those records were going to help him locate future descendant victims all over the U.S.
    The shelves also contained numerous Clann spell books he’d stolen from his victims and studied to learn how to use power. He had been practicing spell after spell for days now. The fire spell was his favorite because it didn’t burn him for some reason no matter how close it got to his skin. He planned to use it tonight on Caravass after the fighting began so he could blame the leader’s death on the Clann and then take over the council with less resistance.
    It wasn’t the entire plan. Instinctively I knew I was missing a crucial part of it, but it was enough to warn the Clann with before the council showed up and the situation got out of control.
    But then several yards to the right of Gowin’s group, a larger second group of vamps, led by Caravass, approached the clearing. They moved in a more organized, almost military-like way, with more than a few hulking vamps in bulging suits within their force.
    I was too late to warn anyone.
    But I could at least reveal the truth and hopefully turn the spotlight on the real problem.
    I ran into the clearing ahead of the vamps. The descendants all turned toward me, saw the vamps behind me. Hands rose up to throw spells at me.
    “No, don’t!” Tristan yelled, his hands flying out. I felt his magic form a wall between me and the descendants seconds before the others’ spells flew. Fireballs bounced off Tristan’s shield in showers of sparks like rockets hitting an invisible force field.
    Everyone stopped throwing spells at their new leader’s command.
    “Please listen to me,” I called out. “I know what you believe, and the lies you’ve been told. But the real killer here isn’t all the vampires, and it’s not the council. It’s him.” I pointed at Gowin. “His name is Gowin. He may be on the council, but he has not been acting with their approval. He hasn’t been investigating the murders—he’s been causing them, gathering descendant blood to give him the ability to use magic, not just against the Clann, but against his own kind, too.”
    “She’s lying,” Gowin answered calmly. “Obviously the witch boy has pulled her over to the Clann’s side. Why would I want to act against my own kind? I’ve been a vampire and a council member for centuries.”
    “Because you’re trying to create an army of super vamps,” I said, picking the words out of his mind even as I spoke them.
    “Obviously a