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“Cane was right about The Church,” Syn says. “There’s a nest there, and we witnessed a feeding frenzy.”
“Mortals,” Thorn says. “Some of them are just kids.”
“What?” I gasp.
“We recognized some of the street kids,” Eros says, his tone strained. “Two dead vampires too. We saw them at Lair earlier tonight.”
“We heard them talking,” Midnight says. “It’s not good, Yves.”
“Tell me what you heard.”
“We think maybe your maker is tied up with the Mafia,” Midnight says.
“Or maybe is the Mafia,” Raphael adds. “A group of vampires were talking about getting the next shipment to the Admiral.”
I pull my head back. “The Admiral.”
“What does this mean?” Damiano asks.
“The Admiral is this piece of shit Mafia boss,” Thorn says, clearly trying to contain his rage. “We heard he was out of Chicago, but there’ve been signs he’s making moves on New Onyx, grabbing kids from here for trafficking.”
“But now we’re not sure that’s it,” Syn says. “If the Admiral and Hadrian are working together, it doesn’t make sense for it to be about sex trafficking.”
“Unless Hadrian has learned how to use modern crime to his advantage,” Dami says.
“Like we have,” I reply. “Adapting is how we survive. It’s not completely unwise of him to hook up with organized crime. Small minded though, which doesn’t seem like him.”
“A lot of time has passed,” Damiano says. “Who knows how he views the world anymore.”
“True. Any sign of Paolo?”
“No,” Syn answers. “We caught his scent, but he wasn’t there anymore. We think he was delivered either to the Admiral or Hadrian.”
“Can we go back now?” Thorn says. “Can we fuck them up? They have innocent mortals in there.” He scowls, his energy darker than I’ve ever known. “I won’t sit back and let them do this to our city.”
“I understand that, Thorn, but we have to be strategic. Viv and Viper have some information too. We need to start there and then we can make a plan to infiltrate the nest. They didn’t detect you at all?”
Eros shakes his head. “They seem to be…” He pauses, shaking his head. “How would you describe it?”
“Under the influence of something,” Raphael says.
“Brainwashing,” I say. “What Cane told us. Hadrian must be manipulating them.”
Thorn huffs. “How is Greer?”
“Doing well,” Damiano answers. “Healing.”
That seems to calm Thorn slightly. “I have to do something, Yves. I can’t sit here and do nothing.”
“I won’t have you killed or harmed, brother.” I walk to him, cupping his cheek and gazing into his eyes. “Please trust me to guide us through this.”
His eyes soften and he nods. “Of course.”
Kyson wraps his arms around Thorn, who bends his head and nuzzles his mate’s neck.
“We’ll start with the protection ward so we have safe places to go. We’ll meet at Lair, invite the council members, and any allies we have in the area. We’ll make a plan, and we’ll figure out how to free the mortals, find Paolo, and destroy the most powerful vampire in existence. Patience, while difficult, is our friend right now. He’s hoping we react impulsively. He hopes we’re too proud, too bold, too blinded by our rage to anticipate the threat he truly is. It saddens me that we may lose some innocent people during this, some of our friends too, but I would sooner burn this world down than lose any of you.” I grip Damiano’s hand. “So please don’t go rogue. Unity is how we defeat him.”
“I won’t go rogue,” Thorn says. “You know I won’t.”
