“Why do you call them traitors?” I asked, and her attention turned to me.
“They know we’ll not feed on negativity and therefore will perish. To ally with those who would wipe all goodness from humanity would mean vast amounts of wraiths and phantoms would cease to be. And this is the same for vampires. There are those who don’t like fear and desolation to sour the blood of humans, but they’re resigning their brothers and sisters to that fate. In the end, we are all of this world. We all must find a way to live together in harmony, and anyone who doesn’t agree is a traitor to the way things need to be.”
“Amen to that, sister,” I said.
“Yes, amen to that…sister,” she agreed on another smile.
“Something else you need to know,” Lucien began, and I looked to him. “Abel, you saw it back in Serpentine Bay, but Lilah, it’s doubtful you did. Wraiths can appear and disappear. When they’re invisible, they have less ability to manipulate their surroundings. They can move things…adjust a chair, knock a vase off a table. But this is limited. When they appear, their power increases exponentially.”
“Uh, yeah. Ripping a head off with your bare hands is pretty powerful,” Abel murmured.
I pressed my lips together and gave Leah big eyes.
She mouthed, “I know,” in return.
“Our ability to be invisible, although it weakens us in the earthly world, allows us to appear unannounced. As we can move through solid things both in our invisible bodies as well as our visible ones, this is an added strategic advantage,” Serena went on.
“Not if we’re dealing with your sisters who are against us,” Abel replied.
“Yes, this is why you need to know that there are physical manifestations even when we’re invisible. An unusual coolness to the air in a room could mean a wraith or phantom is close. A chill could mean they’re very close. A shiver could mean they’re sliding through your actual person,” she explained.
“Whoa,” I whispered, not liking the idea of a ghost sliding through my body.
She nodded to me but kept explaining.
“We can’t overtake your bodies. We can’t possess you. And prior to transformation into a visible being, the air will shimmer. As our attack was completely a surprise, the vampires and wolves you were fighting with didn’t have the attention to sense our presence or see the shimmer. However, in the future, just in case, you need to know all of that.”
Abel nodded to her and Callum spoke, asking Abel and me, “Do you have any questions for Serena?”
Abel looked back to the wraith. “Not to put too fine a point on it, but still gotta know. How do you die?”
She tipped her head to the side again and answered, “An extreme blast of electricity can sap us of all of our energy and we’ll blink out of existence immediately.”
“That’s it?” Abel asked.
“Well, no.” She shook her head. “When we’re visible, not only do we have the power to navigate the world like a human or other immortals…touch things, move them, do battle…we can also be touched. And harmed. It’s difficult and requires a great deal of strength, but if any of our limbs were removed forcibly or by a weapon, unless we receive attention from a fellow wraith or phantom or absorb a large amount of mortal energy, all the energy we have will escape and we’ll eventually die. This, obviously, hastens if our heads are removed from our bodies.”
Ugh.
“‘Thanks’ seems like a fucked-up thing to say, but thanks,” Abel said quietly.
She inclined her head.
“Uh,” I butted in, “if you guys can float through walls, or float at all, doesn’t that make us vulnerable here, even in this compound?”
Serena didn’t answer. Gregor did.
“There’s an invisible electric net over the entirety of the land the compound is on, Lilah,” he told me. “And the walls surrounding the compound have a slim chamber the length of them situated between the inner and outer walls which contains an electrical charge. Another net runs from the beach up the cliffside. If a wraith or phantom were to try to breach any of these, a surge of electricity would occur. A surge that would be noted by our security and we’d be aware that an attempt was being made. In other words, wraiths and phantoms must enter the compound like any other being…through the front gate.”
Well, that was good.
“Any other questions?” Callum asked.
Abel shook his head at Callum. So did I.
Callum dipped his chin sharply in response and turned to Gregor.
“Right, that’s out there. Now where’s your Council with the president?”
“The president?” I asked, and Callum looked to me.
“Of the United States.”
I blinked.
Gregor spoke. “It would be good if you sent Ryon or one of your brothers as an emissary to our delegation.”
“I’m happy to go,” Ryon stated immediately and I had to stop myself from shrinking back in my chair when Callum’s expression changed at his words.
“Regan is en route to the compound. She’ll be here today,” Callum replied. “And no member of my family will be sent to join the delegation since any of them, if captured, could be used against me. All of them will be safe from that here, with Sonia and me. So this is where you all will be.”
“Regan is Callum’s mother,” Sonia told Abel and me quietly.
“Cal, wolves don’t hide,” Ryon stated at this point and did it impatiently. I got the feeling they’d had this conversation before.