“A few months is too long a wait, yeah,” the green-eyed gum chewer said. Her name was Stephanie, if he was reading Victoria’s thoughts correctly. “But I do agree waiting a little while before burning him is smart. We’ll let everyone get used to the idea of a human king. So why don’t we compromise, huh? Let’s wait, oh, I don’t know, a month. We can keep him in the crypt below us.”

“First, the crypt is for our deceased humans. Second, even a month is too long,” Victoria gritted out. “If we must wait—” she paused until they nodded “—then let’s wait…half a month.” She’d wanted to say a day, maybe two, but had known the suggestion would be met with resistance. And this way, Aden would have time to acclimate to the idea of being king.

The other sister ran her tongue over her very sharp, very white teeth. “Very well. Agreed. We’ll wait fourteen days. And we will keep him in the crypt. He’ll be sealed inside, preventing any lingering rebels from hurting him further.”

Victoria sighed. “Yes. All right. You agreed to my stipulation, so I’ll agree to yours.”

“Wow. No one had to throw a punch to win the argument. The changing of the guard is working in our favor already.” Stephanie popped another bubble. “So, anyway, back to Daddy Dearest. He’s lucky, you know. He died here, so he gets to stay here. Had he kicked it in Romania, the rest of the family would have spit on his crypt.”

There was a beat of stunned silence before gasps of outrage flooded the congregation.

“What?” Stephanie splayed her arms, all innocence. “You know you’re thinking the same thing.”

Thank God Victoria wouldn’t be heading off to her homeland for the funeral. Aden wouldn’t have been able to travel with her since he lived at the D and M Ranch, a halfway house for “wayward” teens, aka unwanted delinquents, where his every action was monitored.