King slipped his hand from Tyler's, put them together at chest level as if he was about to say his prayers, and bowed slightly.The Council members sat in chairs forming a semicircle, and they seemed just as impressed as I was.King looked at Paul, who nodded before taking the empty seat next to Sasha."King, thank you for agreeing to speak to my Council," Paul said. "We have a big decision to make, and they have some questions for you before they can make that decision.""Okay," King said. "I am here to represent the un-living. They need your help—but you need theirs, too."Sasha frowned. "Why do you think we need the Neratomay?""Not just the Neratomay," King said. "My mama calls them Vampires. That includes the Golden ones, too." He looked over his shoulder at me, and I gave him an encouraging nod. "When I was a little boy…"One of the Council members smiled at that."I saw the world as it used to be," King said. "Do you know the symbol of the snake eating its tail?"The Co
Damn. That was pretty damn smart.I licked my lips. We had to do this together. It was the only way that it would work. If the Wolves got rid of only the Elders and the Councils that they presided over, then that still left the OG's and the demons that controlled them."We're taking out the Rectors, and you're taking out the Elders," I said calmly. "All we need to do is coordinate. There's no reason why we can't at least do that."They talked internally, and I waited anxiously. If their prejudice didn't allow them to see that we needed to work together, then we would have to do the most damage that we could alone.Paul sighed. "The Pack agrees to coordinate our attacks with yours.""But we don't agree to align ourselves with the Vampires," Sasha said with a cold glint to her eyes. "Fair enough." I sensed what she was really saying: "After we each clean house, we will be coming for you." I gestured for King. "Let's go, son."King frowned at the Council. "Thank you for listenin
Well, Ran said. We cornered the Rector that had Mr. Wolf, and it turned into the Werewolf right in front of humans! We started fighting. Monica was holding it down. She's a damn good fighter. She spoke directly to the Rector inside of Mr. Wolf. She started telling it about King, that you and Alexis had figured out a way to overthrow them while you were in Limbo and were planning to kill them all.My mouth fell open. Monica was a traitor…No. It was probably the only thing that would entice the OG to leave Mr. Wolf and to enter Monica so that it could, you know…Look into her memories!Right! Ran laughed. Those black smoke ribbons that they turn into? Well, she exhaled it out of her nose just like it was no more than tobacco smoke! The damned thing was probably sitting on its throne with its head blown clear of it's body!This means that the war has begun, I said anxiously. Alexis doesn't think so and neither do I. There's no chatter about it. So either the Rectors are keeping th
"I don't know about that," Alexis said."Alexis. I have my entire Council and my Angel of Death. The Rectors won't have an opportunity to implode me because I'm going to implode them.""You'll have to fight Ferris," Alexis said. "He's formidable.""We will deal with Ferris. I'm sending King to the Underworld to stay with Bassma. He'll be okay.""Yes he will," Alexis said."So are we in agreement?" I asked."Yes," he replied. "I won't tell you the obvious: to take care of yourself and that I love you. These things you already know."I didn't want to answer because I didn't want him to hear that my words were much braver than I was.~*~I contacted my Council and told them exactly how we needed to play this. Tonight we were going to change the world. I didn't tell Paul because I didn't want the Wolves attacking and causing us to lose the element of surprise with our attacks on the Rectors.I gave King a hug and kiss goodbye. I tried not to worry him by clinging to him.Lov
Frank jumped to his feet. "Kim has a kid! She's working in collusion with that…that…abomination over there!"Tony stood. "What the hell, Frank!"Everyone faced me now."Kim and Alexis had a baby while they were in the Underworld!" Frank shouted. "They have a demon-kid! And they came back to get revenge on all of you and they're forcing us to help!"Isla's face transformed from beautiful to demonic. "Alexis, sell us out?""You sold him out!" I snapped.All twelve ribbons of smoke flew at me, bowling me over. It didn't hurt because they had no substance, but I felt their force. I thought about Oni and the tangible quality of her smoky form. It was similar here. I felt full of their presence.The Elders watched with various expressions from anger and curiosity to disbelief."She should have never been allowed to survive the punishment by silver!" a male Elder shouted.Ferris glowered at him. "You wanted her power just as much as anyone else!"My body began to feel lighter. I exh
Since becoming a Vampire, there were times I didn't like Kaniji. She persecuted me out of jealousy and was the epitome of the mean girl. But seeing her broken like a cartoon caricature was a terrible sight. Despite being my sworn enemy, Kaniji had come to my aid every time I needed her.I knelt beside her. "Is she…going to make it?""These are not mortal wounds," Tony said."We need to feed her," I said. "She's going to need our blood."Tony sliced through his wrist and bled into her parted lips. Frank and Cyrene quickly did the same. Some of Kaniji's pain seemed to recede, and she began to moan in agony. I raised my wrist to feed her, but Tony stopped me."You've lost too much already," Tony said. "You both need to feed and rest."I gnawed my lip. "We'll get her home. We did well today, but we need to do better. I knew the Elders didn't know how to fight, but what they throw at us and how they bend us could wipe us out in seconds.""No shit," Frank said while looking at Kaniji
I'm not sure if the Bolivian Council understood what had happened. They obviously felt the absence of the Rectors—but it was a certainty that Ignacio got it."Please don't, Ignacio," I said softly. "Please." What stopped Ignacio from killing first and asking questions later was most likely the knowledge that he could only focus on killing one of us at a time, and that would have left him open to attack from the rest of us. He seemed to know we knew this, and we still hadn't killed him, which we could have done the same way we had taken out the Rectors."You killed the Rectors?" Ignacio's eyes weren't red. He was angry, but he was under control."Indirectly," I replied. "But yes."Tony helped me to my feet and undid my cuffs."What the hell is going on here!" a male Elder asked. Ignacio raised his hand without taking his focus from us. The Council behind him quieted."Each of us have a secret that is so huge that to know it would be instant death, Ignacio," I said. "You unders
Ignacio, King, the rest of my Council, and I were sitting outside. No one else in the Bolivian Council had been able to get up off the floor.Frank, Tony, and Cyrene tried to be involved in the conversation that Ignacio and I were having, but they were too preoccupied with the sun and their own return to being human—or nearly being human—to pay much attention.King had never seen the desert and was examining the packed sandy dirt and digging up small rocks."I take it that your Elder Council have all met their final deaths," Ignacio said.I met his eyes. "Yes. But they had already proven that they couldn't be trusted.""And their deaths had nothing to do with them decreeing your punishment by metal or that they imprisoned you for so many years in Limbo?""Would my answer change what you intend to do next?" I asked."No.""Will you fight with us?""How do you intend to fight?" he asked.He wasn't committing one way or another. I took a chance and told him about the Wolfpack, b