Thanks to everyone for the lovely reviews and all your support. Also, thanks to those who still write Moonlight stories, I love to read other authors.

After Sofia's party, our vampires get some answers from Josef~~~~~~

Chapter 2

Sofia leaned into Ewan after they left the party. She had a good time, but was happy it was over. She appreciated Simone's desire to introduce her to the community, and she knew it would be good for their law practice to make contacts. She was relieved that Beth won the costume contest, even with the incident that had occurred during the judging. Ewan talked to Josef and told her what happened and that everything was safe. She relaxed and they stayed until it was almost dawn.

Now she stirred in the protective arm he had around her. "Okay, what happened back there?"

"What do you mean?"

"Don't give me that. I know someone shot at us while we were on the stage. I saw you rush out on the terrace."

Ewan sighed. Sofia was sharp, and wouldn't let him evade the question. "Someone had a gun, probably shooting at Josef. Mick got him in the head and we don't know who he was."

"Why is someone after Josef?"

"He has enemies and they tried to kill him."

Sofia snorted and sat up. "Don't try to con me, Ewan."

He sighed. When had he lost control of his fledgling? "Someone tried to kill Josef a couple of weeks ago, the day Beth was attacked. Josef thinks it was Coraline's family."

Sofia reigned in her fury. Since becoming a vampire, she found her emotions were raw, and the thought of her friends in danger brought out her baser self. "I wish Beth had killed that bitch," she hissed.

"I agree," Ewan said mildly, "but in the long view, we don't know what that would stir up with the Duvalls. They have powerful contacts and they know the Paris Council."

She felt her sire's concern, and tried to calm down. "I suppose so." She thought a few moments. "The guy tonight was after Josef?"

"He thinks so."

"What will Josef do?"

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out. Since I'm the oldest vampire in the region besides Megan, I need to know what's going on."

Sofia felt a prick of fear. "You—I mean, you're older than Josef. Would you want to be Elder?"

The tremulous tone of her voice gave him pause, and he looked at her. "My beloved, I have no desire to be Elder. I could have had that anytime in Europe, but I didn't want it." Ewan thought that sounded rather cowardly and tried to make Sofia understand. "I could have taken over as Elder of several regions, but I never wanted to mix in politics. I find no joy in it, as I do with academics."

Sofia nodded. She knew her sire was dedicated to learning and was, at heart, a gentle soul. As for Josef, she'd known him all her live and now that she was a vampire, she found out the things Josef had to do to keep the vampire secret from the humans. Josef made hard decisions and even ordered deaths, but she understood that. She didn't want Ewan to have to make such choices. Even though she was his childe, she wanted to shield him.

Sofia took Ewan's hand. "I know you would protect me and other vampires to your last drop of blood. If you don't want to govern, that's fine. Your strengths lie elsewhere, and your knowledge is crucial to keep the vampire culture alive. I wouldn't want you to be any different."

Ewan took her hand and kissed it. She understood him so well. "Thank you, my love," he said. He could feel her belief and approval washing over him. "But I must help Josef if I can, and it might mean fighting his enemies."

"I know. You have the ear of the Council here, as well as in Europe. You can be a mediator and help Josef that way."

Ewan thought a moment and realized she was right. His long years gave him the gravitas to possibly avert any problems between the vampires. He smiled at her, drawing her closer to kiss her neck, feeling her shudder in delight.

His lustful designs were brought up short by his cell phone ringing. Sofia pushed him away and gestured for him to answer the call. He saw it was from Josef. He grimaced, and answered,

"Yes?"

"Ewan, I'm glad you are still up. Listen, we've got some problems, and I want to get together tomorrow night."

"What's wrong?"

"I don't want to go into it on the phone. Can you meet tomorrow at midnight? There are some things I need to tell you about."

"I'm bringing Sofia."

"Of course. Come up to the house. And tell Sofia I thought she looked great at the party."

Ewan chuckled. "I thought so, too."

"You're a lucky bastard," Josef responded and hung up.

Sofia heard the conversation, and smirked at her sire. She hadn't changed from her slinky black dress, and she walked toward the door, swing her hips. She looked at him over her shoulder. "I think I'll get ready for bed. Care to join me?"

Ewan's fangs came down, and he followed his mate out of the room.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Simone directed Hale to have fresh blood in the lounge. She was a bit distracted. It was the night after the party, and she couldn't have the freshies donate for their vampire guests, they were still recovering from the night before. Instead, she contacted Guillermo and ordered extra blood for the meeting.

Josef had told her a little about what was going on, but Simone was more concerned that another assassin would try to kill her husband. The security was good at both the Kostan home and office, but neither of them wanted to live in an armed camp on a permanent basis.

Josef came into the room, and gave her a smile. Simone went to him, and he wrapped his arms around her, feeling her disquiet. "What's wrong, babe?"

"I'm concerned about you."

Josef gave her a little grin, "Don't worry, I'm on top of it."

Simone narrowed her eyes. "What are you up to, Josef?"

"You'll hear when everyone gets here."

Feeling a little better by Josef's show of confidence, Simone relaxed. She returned to his arms, giving him a nuzzle on the ear. "Sure you won't tell me?" she whispered.

Josef growled, and was about to respond when he picked up the sound of the doorbell with his vampire hearing. Simone heard too, and she reluctantly freed herself.

They waited and in a moment Hale showed in their guests, Megan, Ben, Ewan and Sofia as well as Mick and Beth. Josef gestured for them to sit down, and Hale passed drinks for those who wanted them, then withdrew.

Josef swirled the single malt in his glass and took a large sip and looked at his friends. He knew he had their loyalty and was grateful for it. He stood, and looked at them. "Thank you for coming. I'm afraid I have some news that isn't good."

The group waited, and Josef continued. "You know that someone tried to assassinate me at Sofia's party. There was also another attempt a couple of weeks ago."

A few of them sat up, but were stilled by Josef's demeanor. He continued, "I talked to the Council in New York. There are some renegade vampire factions in Europe that want to attack the humans and take control."

Beth looked at Mick's grim visage. She knew some of what Josef was saying, but didn't know it was that bad. Never one to hold back, Beth said, "But Josef, that's crazy. There are more of them than us—how would vampires be able to win against all the humans?"

Josef nodded at Beth. "You're right, Blondie. We can't win."

Josef took in all the frowns from the assembled group. "Emmaline in New York told me she'd heard some things filtering out of France. She sent someone over, but all he could find was the French Council was recruiting younger vamps."

Mick spoke for the first time. "Do you think they're trying to gather an army?"

"That's what we need to find out," Josef replied. "I'm taking steps to deal with the Duvalls, but I need to find out who might be supporting the radicals so I can go after them, too."

"What are you doing?" Ewan asked.

Josef gave them a wicked grin. "I'm destroying their wealth. I warned them to leave us alone and the gunman tried again at the party. Now the Duvalls won't have a franc to rub together. I also have their compound wired with cameras so I can see who's coming and going."

Ben shifted in his chair. His legal mind ran through the options. He wasn't a warrior, but he knew strategy. "It sounds like you need someone to infiltrate their organization and find out what these vampires are doing."

"Yes, and not only what they're up to, but also who's behind it," Josef mused.

Ben glanced at Megan. "I could do it."

Megan looked at Ben in alarm. All her love as well as her sire's instinct came to the surface. "No, Ben! You're too young."

He stiffened. He knew Megan would object because she feared for his safety, but he wasn't going to stand down because he was a new vampire. He took a moment to answer calmly. "I know I'm young, but I have years of experience as a lawyer. I can read people and situations. I've been in court when new evidence was thrown at me, and I know how to dissemble."

Beth nodded, "Yeah, I've seen Ben do some amazing things in court. Just like any good lawyer, he's great at lying—I mean disinformation," Beth smiled at her former boss. "No offence."

He smiled graciously, "None taken."

"I think it's too dangerous," Megan said, not looking at her lover. She knew he wanted to help, but her terror at putting him at risk outweighed her senses.

Now Ben took her hand. "Honey, I can do this."

Megan bit her lip, and looked into his dark eyes. "I don't want you in danger."

"We're all in danger from these people. We have to stop them. Josef can't do it without intel, and I can get it."

Ewan commented, "They might not believe you. After all, it will be known you're from LA, and they might be suspicious."

Ben nodded. "I've thought of that. I can say I'm used to running my own life, and I was turned emergently. I can pretend that I don't like the restrictions my sire has placed on me, and I'm looking to make my own way in the vampire world."

Sofia asked, "Can you do that Ben? The vampires you'll be dealing with will be older, and can feel what you're thinking." Her wider experience with vampires made her say the hard truth. "They will grill you, especially if you get into their inner circle. Can you make them believe you?"

The room went silent as Ben considered her question.

"I'll need to practice hiding my emotions. You guys can help me." He glanced at all of them. "Anyone you send will have to fool them. I think I can do it." He took Megan's hand, trying to reassure her.

Megan's heart broke as she knew she couldn't hold Ben back. He had been his own man as a human, and now he was willing to take on a risky mission. "I believe you can," she said.

Relief washed over him, as well as his undying love for his sire. "When I get back from this, I want to marry you," he blurted.

Megan gasped, and her eyes filled with tears. The others smiled and Simone clapped her hands together. The tension in the room dissipated and Josef poured them all a drink. "I should call for some champagne, but this will do. Nice proposal, Ben," Josef added.

Megan and Ben still held hands, and she smiled. She felt Ben's ambivalence. "What's wrong?"

"You didn't answer me. Will you marry me?"

She gave him a brilliant smile, "Of course, you silly man."

"Oh, good. I want to do the wedding," Simone exclaimed.

Both Ben and Megan looked at her and laughed, soon joined by hearty chuckles from everyone else.

"What?" Simone said.

"You never met a party you didn't like," Beth said, jokingly.

"Hey, I'm good at it," Simone sniffed.

Josef put his arm around her waist. "Of course you are, babe. Your parties are the best."

She smiled, mollified, and kissed him on the cheek.

Ewan spoke, bringing them back to the issue, "If Ben's going, we need to find out who he needs to see, and get him the best information we can."

"Perhaps when Ben gets involved with these vampires, he can convince them he's talked me into their plan," Megan said. "That way I could go over and be with him." She didn't want Ben to think he couldn't handle himself.

Josef stood, nodding. "That's a good idea. If they think that my friends are deserting me, it might make them more willing to talk."

Megan looked at Ben. "It's not that I think you can't do this, but I want to help."

"I know," Ben took her hand and kissed it. "I want you to be there with me."

Josef said, "Ben, do you speak French?"

Ben grimaced, "I used to, in high school, but I'm afraid I'm not an expert."

"We can get you up to speed with some DVDs."

"I speak French fluently," Megan said. "I'll work with Ben so he doesn't have an accent. I'm sure these vampires are old, and they won't take him seriously if he can't communicate on their level."

Ben was overwhelmed at his sire's selflessness. He knew she was worried about him, but she was willing to help him in this mission.

Mick stood up and paced a bit. "I want to go. The Duvall's wouldn't have come after anyone if not for Coraline."

Beth's heart went out to him. She knew he felt responsible for Coraline bringing down her family on Josef.

Josef went up to Mick, and clapped him on the shoulder. "Sorry, buddy, but you can't. The Duvalls know you and wouldn't believe you would turn on me."

Frustrated, Mick pulled away from Josef's friendly hand. "I have to do something. It's my fault the Duvalls are after you."

"I know you'd like to take them on personally, so would I. But we have others to consider. You can't leave Beth by herself, and wouldn't want her involved in a fight," Josef said earnestly. He knew where Mick's soft spots were, and Beth was one of them.

Beth also didn't want Mick charging off to France to confront the Duvall's and said, "I wouldn't let you go alone, Mick."

Mick sighed and Beth felt his capitulation.

"Besides, you have some cases you're working on that you can't abandon," she reminded him.

Her husband nodded, and sat down. "Okay, you guys are right."

"If Ben finds out what's going on, we can revisit our options," Josef said.

"Have you told Bella and the Cleaners about this?" Ewan asked.

"No, not yet. I don't want anyone outside our circle to know what we're doing. Right now, we know next to nothing and there isn't any threat to the region," Josef responded.

Ben stood up. "It looks like I need to get busy and improve my French."

Josef came over and shook his hand. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"I think I'm the logical choice. I'll tell them the truth—up to a certain point," Ben smiled. He glanced at Megan and Ewan. "I'm counting on you both to help me so they can't easily read me."

Ewan nodded.

Josef said, "I'm going to send one of my security guys over with you. He'll stay out of sight but be around in case you need help. If you can convince them Megan is on your side that will make things easier."

Ben nodded, and Megan got up and took his hand. "You won't be alone, Ben."

TBC

Well, Josef let everyone know what was going on, and Ben will try to take on the Paris Council. Will he be able to do it? This was an informational chapter, but next, what are the Duvall's doing and will Ben be able to infiltrate the enemy?

Thanks for reading and reviewing!