I frowned, biting back a comment. It was very likely that Michelle wasn’t still alive if she had disappeared more than a month ago. Nightwalkers didn’t just disappear. There was always the chance that she had run from Stefan and was hiding somewhere in the East, where things were a little wilder and less closely monitored by the coven and its keepers. In the East, it was easier to slip in and become lost among the other nightwalkers, creating a new identity for yourself.

However, I was reluctant to accept this theory. Stefan seemed to truly care for Michelle, and I assumed he’d know if there was a possibly that she would run. Of course, love can make us all blind at times.

“If she was in town a month ago, you may consider contacting Ferko,” Veyron suggested, scratching his chin with his right hand. “He’s the alpha for the local pack. Sometimes the lycans can get a little rough when it’s close to the full moon. I hate to think it, but there is a small chance that she may have fallen in with a rough crowd while she was in town.”

“Is that a problem in Budapest?” I asked, raising one eyebrow at him. “Locals harassed and potentially killed by the lycans?”

“Not really.” The nightwalker shrugged, looking for all the world as if none of this conversation truly mattered to him, and in truth it shouldn’t if he didn’t consider himself the keeper of Budapest. “Of course, the time of the full moon for the shifters is always a dangerous time of the month. Sometimes people go missing. I’m sure it happens everywhere.”

“Actually, it doesn’t.” My voice grew colder, losing its congenial softness and warm invitation. “The alpha for the pack in my own domain keeps a tight control over his people. Humans and nightwalkers do not go missing in my domain.” Sitting back, I tapped my finger on my lips in thought. “Macaire, please correct me if I’m wrong, being as I am new to the Elder position,” I began, pausing to smile over at him.

“Of course,” he replied with a stiff smile of his own. “What is on your mind?”

“I don’t think the coven is comfortable with this current arrangement.”

“How do you mean?” Macaire said, sitting up a little straighter in his chair as he slid closer to the edge of his seat.

“As a member of the coven, I have to admit that I’m not comfortable with the regular disappearance of humans and nightwalkers within the city,” I said, dropping my hand back into my lap. “And if I’m not comfortable, the rest of the coven couldn’t possibly be comfortable.”

“Macaire has never expressed any concern about the arrangement for the city,” Veyron admitted thoughtlessly as he started to squirm in his own chair.

“Correct me if I am wrong, fellow Elder, but I don’t think you are fully aware of the situation, considering that you spend the majority of your time in Italy,” I said. “Speaking of which,” I added, turning my attention back to Veyron, “why are the fledglings of Budapest not making an appearance before the coven, as is tradition?”

“It was my impression that we were no longer following that old tradition.”

I gave a little snort and shook my head as I looked over at Macaire. “Could you ever see us giving up such a time-tested tradition as breaking in the fledglings in Venice? It’s positively absurd!”

“It is the only way to teach them where the true power of our people lie,” Macaire said through clenched teeth.

“Respect,” Valerio said. “The young nightwalkers here have no respect for the coven, the Elders, or even when they see a true Ancient,” he added as he picked a piece of lint off his dark slacks. He couldn’t resist putting another nail in Veyron’s coffin. I had no doubt that he knew where I was going with this and was now simply egging me on.

I heaved a heavy sigh and looked down at my hands folded in my lap. “This can’t continue.”

“It can’t be!” Veyron said, nearly coming out of his chair.

“But it is. Shifters are killing nightwalkers and humans, endangering the secret. Nightwalkers are not appearing before the coven, which is the only place they can properly learn what it means to be a nightwalker and understand their place in the world. This is unacceptable, and I know I speak for the rest of the coven when I say this cannot continue.”

“What are you planning to do?” Macaire demanded in a slow, deceptively even voice.

“The only thing I can do,” I said, before sucking in a deep, weary breath. “I will take over as the keeper of Budapest.”

“But you can’t!” Veyron cried, jumping out of his chair.

“Why not?” I asked, one corner of my mouth lifting in a smile as I settled back in my own chair.

Veyron squirmed in silence for several seconds before he finally found his voice and a viable excuse for his objection. “You’re already the keeper of a city in the New World. How would you manage to be in two places at once?”

“I would spend an extended period of time here, remaining until I felt that the city was on the right track before I returned to Savannah,” I stated. “And in truth, now that I am an Elder on the coven, it is probably best that I remain in Europe so I can be close at hand to Venice. I may actually hand over Savannah to my assistant. He would do an adequate job at managing the city.”

Veyron slumped back in his chair, his hands balled into loose fists on his knees. He was trapped, and it was all I could do to swallow laughter. If he didn’t want me to claim the keeper position for the city, he would have to step forward and claim it himself. Of course, considering the poor job he was currently doing, there was a good chance I would steal it from him anyway.

“Do you have an objection?” I asked oh so sweetly, flashing my fangs at him as I smiled. I looked down at Macaire, who could only nod stiffly at me as he settled back in his chair.

“No, of course not,” he said, a bit too quickly to be considered believable. “Your presence would be a welcome addition to the city.”

“Yes, this will help keep you close at hand for when you are needed at the coven,” Macaire said. “We were recently discussing that it may be time for you to take a domain within Europe,” he added, making it sound like it all had his stamp of approval, when I had little doubt that he wanted me nowhere near Budapest.

“Excellent. Then I claim the position of keeper of Budapest. See to it the word is spread throughout the nightwalkers of my new domain,” I declared.

“Is there anything else you wish?” Veyron said through clenched teeth as he bowed his head to me.

I glanced over at my companions, and Valerio shook his head, looking completely amused by the entire proceeding. Stefan, on the other hand, continued to glare at Veyron, as he held the nightwalker responsible for the disappearance of his assistant. “Yes, spread the word that we are looking for a nightwalker named Michelle. I demand that she be found, or at least it must be discovered what happened to her. We will speak with Ferko and his pack tomorrow night.”

“Tomorrow night is the full moon,” Veyron reminded me.

I smiled at him again and leaned forward a bit. “I can’t think of a better time. I like to make an impact on those I meet.”

Veyron pushed back, his hands gripping the arms of his comfortable chair, almost mirroring the same posture as Stefan. Neither he nor Stefan was particularly happy, but at least only one of them wanted my head at the moment. Stefan was content to wait until a more opportune time, when it would most benefit him.

“Since you are now the keeper of Budapest, I am assuming that you are going to take care of our current naturi infestation,” Veyron said in a low voice.

“I have already started. Danaus and I hunted down five naturi last night at Szobor Park,” I informed him, taking exquisite pleasure in watching his frown grow deeper. Unfortunately, my joy was short-lived as I continued to speak. “However, we discovered that one extremely dangerous naturi is in the region. His name is Rowe and he’s something of a zealot among the naturi race. Now that he knows I’m here, he could increase his slaughter of both nightwalkers and humans as he hunts me down.”