“Khalid.”
I sighed. Hazel was one of the few beings on earth I’d accept that admonishing tone from. Emine would be on that short list, too.
“I’m concerned about the lycans, Hazel,” I told her quietly. “They’re up to something.”
“Can you blame them?” Cedric asked, his imperious eyebrow arching. “They’ve been pawns for over a century. And hearing that Cane orchestrated their fallout with humankind can’t have helped matters.”
“I’m sure it didn’t,” I admitted. “Which is why I’m concerned. I’m waiting to see what they will do.”
“You think they might breach the compound without us?” Hazel asked.
“Yes.” Because it was what I would do in their position. “While we may not be at fault here, our brethren are. They’re within their rights to retaliate, and I wouldn’t blame them if they didn’t trust us to be part of that retaliation.”
Which was precisely my concern.
Lycans were prone to emotional reactions. They were animals at heart, their feelings passionate and aggressive.
And Cane had hit them right in the fucking heart.
He’d orchestrated all this madness, ensured lycans were discovered by humans, all but facilitated their temporary enslavement in the mortal armies, and had been experimenting on them for well over a century.
The fact that the lycans in Deirdre Tower didn’t seem all that keen on discussing any of this with us only made matters worse.
“I would offer to surveil them, but I suspect that would worsen the problem,” Hazel said.
“Yes, it very much would,” I agreed. “At this point, all we can do is wait for them to come to us and hope they include us in their plans.”
“We could try to talk to them,” Cedric offered. “Reinforce our supportive stance.”
“They already know we’re not like Cane,” I replied. “But the fact of the matter is, all we’ve done is look out for ourselves. Blood City is proof of that.” At least in terms of what the lycans here knew.
Oh, I had a few wolves in my territory. But they were all lone wolves who would have no interest in coming forward to discuss their current living situations. As far as the lycans in this tower were concerned, I’d built my city for vampires only.
Just as Jace and the others had really only ever focused on a revolution with vampires in mind. Blood rations. Protecting their food source. Never any true discussions about lycans and their needs.
It wasn’t that they wanted to exclude the wolves; it was just natural to do so.
And that sort of divide was coming to a head now.
It had been for days.
Ever since the vampires arrived first, just to invite the wolves along later. Almost as though they were an afterthought, not a primary partner in this initiative.
I had no idea if Jace had run the revolutionary side like this all along or not, as I hadn’t paid much attention to their movements. While I’d been aware of some of it via Cedric’s spying, I hadn’t been privy to all of it.
“What happens if they move on the compound without us?” Lily asked softly, her gaze on Cedric while she spoke.
“They’ll probably kill every vampire inside,” Emine answered, her blue-gray eyes meeting mine. “Right?”
I nodded. “Yes. And that will very likely initiate a war between vampire and lycan kind.”
“Or end it before it can even begin,” Cedric murmured, drawing my focus to him. “I think we need to discuss a secondaryplan, one that factors on the very real possibility of a lycan-led attack, and how we need to respond to it.”
I cocked my head to the side. “It sounds like you already have a suggestion.”
“I do,” he replied, making me grin.
When Cedric had proved to be bored with the current world regime, I’d offered him a place in Blood City.
