“I’m not following.” She set down her mug, her fingernails clicking on the sides. “Is he trying to kill supers, or make them more powerful?”
“I think he’s doing both.”
“To what end, Emilio?”
“What else? Power. Control.” I rose from the table, pacing once again. “Talia can no longer be trusted. I’m not sure any of them can. I’m telling you, Elena. This goes all the way up to the top.”
“To the Council?”
I nodded, but the pit in my stomach told me it went even beyond that.
“You’re talking about a conspiracy,” she said.
“That’s exactly what I’m talking about. Think about it, Elena. If you wanted to weaken the supernatural communities, what’s the fastest way to go?”
“Humans,” she said without hesitation. “Reveal our existence, paint us as the enemy that wants to eat their children and destroy their way of life, then arm them.” She shrugged, casually sipping her coffee as if we reallyweredealing in hypotheticals. “Nothing excites and unifies angry, repressed humans with too much time on their hands like finding a common enemy.”
“Under normal circumstances, yes. But I asked about thefastestway.” I sat down again, pulling my chair closer to her. “Think about how long it would take to use humans. We’re talking about a mass scale here, not just some neighborhood punks taking out a few vampires or smashing up a fae club. Before they could roll out a widespread hate campaign against us, first they’d have to convince humans that we even exist at all. We’re talking months. Years.”
Elena opened her mouth to argue—her default response with me—but then closed it, nodding. I could practically hear the pieces clicking into place in her mind.
“Destroy us from the inside out,” she said suddenly. “That’s the fastest way. Turn all of us against each other, then sit back and watch us do the heavy lifting. Let us kill each other.”
“Bingo.”
“So how does a ragtag bunch of hunters and dark fae pull this off? Even with the Council looking the other way, they just don’t have the numbers for such a coordinated effort.”
“The witches are key,” I said, “because taking them out gives these guys several advantages. First of all, it immediately upsets the power balance. Witches are guardians of magic, so their mere presence in a community helps keep things in balance. Remove them from the equation, and things start to go downhill real fast.
“We’re already experiencing it in Blackmoon Bay. Soon after the murders, we got hit with a supernatural crime wave.” I told her about the vampire attacks, the vandalism, the arson, all the shit we were still trying to get a handle on back home.
“And that’s just in the Bay,” I continued. “Picture the same thing happening in cities across the country. Across the world, even.” I remembered what Gray had said about what she’d read in Sophie’s book of shadows. “Some of the Bay Coven witches have thought for a long time that the hunters were joining forces again, possibly planning a more coordinated attack.”
After doubting me for so long, minimizing this entire situation, Elena looked positively stricken.
“Now you’ve got utter global chaos,” I continued. “Everything is completely destabilized. The few humans whodidknow about us—those who lived and worked alongside us—are now fearing for their lives, and with good reason. From there, it wouldn’t take much to get the rest of the humans on board with the fear campaign, but that would just be the icing on the cake. The real damage would’ve been done already. Done by our own people.”
“You’re right,” she said. “God, Emilio. You’re right. So after all that, when everything is completely destabilized and the humans are hiding in fear from the big bad monsters, the Council and their chosen few will sweep in and offer a so-called better way. Stability. Safety. They re-establish the rule of law according to their own needs.”
“Not just the Council and the chosen few,” I said. “But the hybrids they themselves created through their partnership with the hunters. They’ll have an army, Elena. They’re using the witches’ magic to create these uber-powerful supernaturals that have the best and strongest powers from each of us. Vampires that can shift into wolves, impervious to both hawthorn and silver? Shifters that can cast spells and travel to alternate dimensions? Demons that can resurrect themselves?”
My sister gaped at me, fear flickering in her otherwise steely gaze. “Emilio, if Talia’s involved in all this, and you just made yourself her enemy—”
The buzz of the doorbell startled us both.
My sister took a deep breath, scenting the air.
“One of yours?” I asked.
“There’s no signature.”
We got up together, both unholstering our guns at the same time, slowly creeping toward the door.
“There’s no need for weapons,” a male voice said, so clear and refined it could only be fae. “I come as a friend from Blackmoon Bay.”
With Elena backing me up, I cracked open the door to find a figure standing on the porch in a black cape, his hands held up in surrender.
“I’m here on behalf of the few remaining fae who don’t wish to start an all-out war,” the visitor said. He lowered the hood on his cape, revealing his stark white hair and yellow eyes.
