Covet (Clann)

my confused look, he added, “Stake them.”
    Oh.
    We turned and headed back toward my truck, walking a little faster now that he’d seen it all. “So the council sent you to…what, make sure Dad’s teaching me correctly?”
    He nodded. “We want to be sure he isn’t getting confused by the fact that you’re his biological daughter and neglecting his duty as your sire to train you properly.”
    “Any other reason the council sent you?”
    He glanced around us as if to be sure we wouldn’t be overheard. “There have been…stirrings of unrest in cities that are shared by both the Clann and vamps. The council wanted to be sure that unrest isn’t spreading all the way to Clann headquarters, too.”
    I frowned at him. “What do you mean, unrest? I thought there was a peace treaty.”
    “Peace treaties are broken all the time, Savannah.” He said it kindly, like a history teacher correcting his student. “The council needs to know if that is happening here.”
    “And how are you supposed to figure that out today?”
    “Oh, I’m not going to be here for just a day. Your father needs help finding a long list of historically accurate items for his latest renovation project. Who better than me to find and deliver them in person?”
    “And while you’re making these deliveries, you’ll be checking out the situation around here.” Great. Just what we needed, council members dropping by Jacksonville on a regular basis. The Clann was going to love that. “You know if any of the Clann see you and learn you’re a council member, they’re going to have a hissy fit.”
    He grinned. “Then I guess you and your dad better not tell them who I am, huh?”
    I scowled. “Trust me, telling them would only make my life around here way harder.”
    “Oh yeah? So I take it they’re still none too pleased about your dating Tristan?”
    “Yeah, they really loved that. Not that they liked me all that much before.”
    “And now that you two are broken up?”
    I shrugged. “They’re leaving me alone, at least.”
    “But they were bothering you before.” He made it a statement not a question.
    Uh-oh. I might have already said too much. “Not all of them, and nothing too serious. Mainly just calling me names.”
    Gowin hummed. “Sounds like the Clann could definitely use some supervision around here. Though I’ll admit I’m a little surprised. Seems like they would be working harder to get you to side with them against us.”
    “They kicked my family out of the Clann before I was even born. I doubt they’re all that interested in having me join their ranks now.” We reached my truck, and I yanked open the driver’s side door.
    “Maybe.” He opened the passenger’s side door and got in. “But all the same, the council thinks they need to be watched a little more closely. Your father’s not delivering the intel we need.”
    I froze in the act of inserting the key into the ignition. “You’re saying the reason we’re here is so he can spy on the Clann for you?”
    He shrugged. “Spying. Checking in on them. You say tomato, I say tomahto. Whatever you want to call it, it’s past time the council started keeping a better eye on things.”
    Scowling, I started the truck. “Well, I guess you and Dad have to do whatever you’ve got to do to keep the council happy. But I’d appreciate it if you could leave me out of it, all right? I kept my promise to the council. I broke up with Tristan. And that’s the last of my involvement with the Clann from now on. All this political stuff is just messing with trouble.”
    Gowin stretched out in his seat as much as his long legs would allow. “Politics is the vampire’s way of life. We’ve been at war with the Clann for centuries. It’s only a matter of time before the current era of peace ends. Of course, with a super vamp like you on our side, perhaps the next go-round won’t last so long.”
    “I never said I was on anyone’s side.”
    “So you would remain neutral?” he continued. “Even though your vamp side is growing stronger by the day?”
    “I don’t see why there has to be any fighting in the first place. Both vamps and witches have to hide what they are from the world. Seems like that would give you a good reason to work together instead of against each other.”
    Gowin chuckled. “That is a unique point of view. Not sure anyone shares it, though, on either side. Ever heard that song ‘Everybody Wants to Rule the World’?”
    I clamped my