After a while, Abel ended the silence, giving me what was on his mind.
“They’re gonna be pissed that we got Serena.”
I closed my eyes.
“Yeah,” I whispered, pushing closer and holding him tight.
“They’re gonna retaliate.”
“Yeah,” I repeated, moving in to press my lips to the column of his throat.
“A lotta them still got concubines.”
I gave him a squeeze.
“This shit is gonna explode, Lilah, and soon,” he said.
“Probably,” I agreed.
“I hope like fuck we’re ready,” he muttered.
I did too.
But I did it to myself.
Out loud, I stated firmly, “We’re ready.”
“And I hope like fuck you’re right.”
“Shh, baby, clear your head. Sleep.”
“Need your hands and mouth on me.” He pulled me up so we were facing each other and dropped his voice low. “Need your wild. Need your brand of alive. Need to feel free the way only you can give to me even when we’re cooped up.”
“Whatever you need, honey,” I whispered, moving my hands on him.
“Love you, Lilah,” he whispered back, moving his hands on me.
“Love you too, Abel,” I replied before he dipped his head and kissed me.
Then I gave him my hands. My mouth. My wild. My brand of alive. And I did the best I could to make him feel free.
I guess I did all right, because after the third round, he cuddled us close again and fell asleep.
But I lay awake, hoping. Doing lots and lots of hoping. Sending my positivity into the universe with more hope that it would reach the fates that tied me to Abel, handing me beauty, making them decide on the side of right.
Only after I’d tired myself out hoping, I fell asleep.
* * * * *
They were dead.
All of them.
Every one.
Blood dripped in the gutters as I stood in the street amongst the results of pure evil, staring at the blond vampire. Taking in his arrogant grin. But also taking in the malevolence in his eyes.
Yes.
Pure evil.
And also fury.
My body was locked, frozen, but I still felt the chill race up my spine as terror took hold of my heart.
“Tell them,” he hissed. “Tell them to give us The Three. Tell them there will be more of this,” he snarled as he swung out an arm, “if they do not capitulate.”
His chin came up an inch and he stared down his nose at me.
“We’re prepared to face a death of hunger and completely annihilate the weaker species, if they do not yield. We will lose our lives and they will lose theirs—an end to the earth as we know it, opening the chance for a new beginning. Tell them. Tell them we’re prepared to wipe the earth clean. Tell them to give us The Three.”
* * * * *
“Goddamn it, Lilah, baby, wake up!” Abel roared, and I jerked awake.
The instant I did, a sharp knock came at the door.
Abel, looming over me and looking freaked out, whipped his head that way.
“Downstairs!” a voice I didn’t recognize shouted. “Immediately! Library!”
“Fuck,” Abel snarled, rolling over me and taking me with him when he exited the bed.
I wasn’t exactly awake so he guided me to my clothes, bent, nabbed my panties, and handed them to me.
I had them on, and he had his jeans on, when I asked, “Was I dreaming?”
“Yep,” he replied, bending to snag my jeans.
“Do you know what’s going on?” I asked.
He handed me my jeans, and when I took them, he cupped my jaw in his hands, leaning in close.
“No clue, pussycat. Now, do me a favor and dress. Quick.”
I nodded and did the best I could, shaking off sleep as I did it.
The minute I was dressed, though both of us were still barefoot, Abel grabbed my upper arm, pulled me into his hold, and whoosh, we were out of the room and in the library.
Gregor was there, his hand to his ear on the phone. Lucien and Leah were there. No one else had arrived yet.
They all had their eyes glued to one location in the room.
I looked that way as Abel put me to my feet and I saw that the media cabinet, which usually shut the large, flat-screen TV from sight, was open. It was playing the news, a newscaster reporting, a scrolling bulletin going across the bottom of the screen, pictures inset to the top left.
“…carnage today. Current reports state a small town in northeast Iowa, a village in the highlands of Scotland, another village just outside Sofia in Bulgaria, and a hamlet in eastern China were all decimated. In each instance, only one survivor, a witness, was left alive. The attacks were timed, occurring precisely across the globe. When the first reports came in of the slaughter, this video was sent to the press.”
The newscaster disappeared and the head of a handsome, clearly uppity, blond man came on. Just his head. A black background.
Etienne.
“Today, The True successfully carried out our first mission. It was important to do so to make our intentions clear. However, now, we wish no further bloodshed. Therefore, we urge the leaders of the world to submit their populations to us without delay. The True immortals, the vampires, werewolves, and golem amongst you, demand your capitulation.”
I felt Callum and Sonia join us, but I didn’t move my eyes from the screen as the blond vampire continued talking.
“We will no longer hide our supremacy. We will no longer live in the shadows. We will no longer tolerate the efforts of our brethren to protect our human slaves from their rightful bondage.”
His eyes went scary and I felt my throat get tight.