The decision to expand into continental Europe came during breakfast three days after Eleanor's miraculous transformation. She looked radiant—like a woman in her early sixties rather than someone who'd seen nine decades—as she sipped her morning tea and flipped through intelligence reports with the sharp focus of someone half her age.
"The healing's got everyone talking," she said, tapping a report from their Paris contact. "Three major European families want meetings. The French Dubois, the Weber pack in Germany, the Rossis in Italy—they're all suddenly very interested in our friendship."
I studied the carefully worded requests. Between the polite language, I could read desperation. "They're scared."
"More than scared," Damon said, joining us with his coffee and a stack of overnight communications. "They need someone who can actually stand up to the vampire councils. Someone with real power, not just old money and good manners."
