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Monroe and Knox turn in our direction while Sawyer keeps his gaze on the next wave of security, showering them with bullets and slowing them down.
I roll my window down. “Narcisa! I know you can hear me! We’re going to surrender. Call them off.”
The security doesn’t back down.
Neither do we.
Cooper barrels into several vampires, running over them and making the car jump. Two of the men remain gripping our hood, and we smash into one of the walls, and jerking me in the seat. Cooper manages to keep me pinned in place, his strength saving me from flying forward and through the windshield.
I don’t even get a chance to open the door before Monroe flings it open and grabs me, yanking me away from Cooper.
Knox grabs Cooper and hauls him out. “You were supposed to get out of here! What were you thinking?”
“Knox, I made him. We’re going to surrender. I have a deal with Narcisa.” I shout my words, hoping that the security will back off with them. “Narcisa! Call them back. I surrender.”
The security guards fall back and vanish, leaving us standing amid a bloody massacre with dozens of dead vampires torn apart and splayed across the ground.
It triggers my dhampir senses, and I inhale a deep breath, flaring my nostrils at the collection of scents. I’m hungrier than ever, Cooper’s venom awakening the dangerous, deadly beast inside me.
“Hold her tight, Monroe. Don’t let them see her reaction. They think she is just a vampire now.” Sawyer whispers his words, his voice deep and growly, and so sexy. I wish he would talk to me like that more often even though he’s talking to Monroe.
“Drop your weapons and put your hands up,” Narcisa says, materializing in the doorway of the building with half a dozen security guards. “You have my word that you will not be harmed.”
“Your word means nothing. You either face us here in front of everyone or you allow us to protect ourselves. We don’t trust you or the rest of the leadership. We’ve heard what you have planned for the donor population.” Knox steps forward besides Sawyer, clutching his knife tighter.
Narcisa closes to space to him, abandoning her security personnel. He growls at her, and I tense, preparing to launch from Monroe’s arms to protect my guy.
“Listen very carefully. I don’t agree with the rest of the leadership, so this is your one chance to do something about it. I will not intervene, but I will not help either.” Narcisa turns her back on Knox. “Now follow me or you will all be executed on spot. This has to do with Hayley and your lawbreaking. Someone has to pay.”
I blink my eyes a few times, confusion getting the best of me. Is she helping us? No. She’s helping herself. There’s no way that woman would just allow us to come in and flex our power without a good reason, and I don’t believe that her disagreement with the others of the leadership is enough. I know she wants me as a blood slave or something.
“Call the rest of the Bella Crew. Call on all our allies. They need to be ready.” Sawyer glances at me. “I know what you’re planning to do, Hayley, and I want you to know that I support your decision. The Bella Crew will stand by your side no matter what. We’ve been far too nervous to even consider telling the truth, but I think now is better than ever. The masses need to know.”
It’s as if he can read my mind. I’m tired of hiding. I think the only reason why I have been is because Alexander and Lawrence and basically every fucker in my existence has warned me of what will happen when word gets out that I’m a dhampir and that I survive on vampire blood. But they’re wrong. What they don’t realize is that telling the truth and letting everyone know what I am only empowers me. No one will stop me.
I hold my hand out to Sawyer, and Monroe sets me on my feet. Knox takes my other hand while Cooper, Walcott, and Tatum trail behind us. We’re going together as a coven. We will not back down.
The leadership will see. So will Alexander and Narcisa.
Dhampirs can’t be tamed.
But it’s in my wild strength and power that I manage to summon the best parts of me. The parts of me cared for by my guys. The parts of me that will help us survive.
We will save the world.
Chapter eleven
Hayley
Wild Dhampir
Isthisatrap?Maybe. Do I care? Fuck no. I have more to fight for than ever despite everything I have to lose. But what choice do I have? After hearing what the leadership has planned for the donors of La Vega once they get the crews and rebels in control freaks me the fuck out. I don’t want my child or any other child or woman donor to be put through that. It’s torture. That’s like being at The Whiskey all over again. Humans are not meant to be farmed for their blood. We’re not animals. We’re not food sources. We are donors. We donate blood, not just sit around allowing people to strip our freedom away.
And even the thought of someone else going through what I had when Alexander tried to have the doctor inseminate me? I shiver. I can’t think about it. It was one of the worst moments in my life. All these terrible moments that keep adding up don’t break me, though. They just keep piling on like new armor, hardening me toward whatever the world has to throw at me.
“Where are the leaders? They have to know that you are meeting us. Don’t you think they will be suspicious?” Sawyer stands in front of me, facing Narcisa straight on, towering over her by at least two feet. She’s a bit shorter than me, even with heels.
“They believe I’m escorting you to them.” Narcisa tightens her jaw, unfazed by Sawyer’s attempt to intimidate her. “Now we both know that Hayley cannot change into a vampire, but the leadership believes you have broken the law and turned her. Do you know what happens to donors involved in an unauthorized human transformation? They’re executed. The others want the luxury of denying your application and killing your mate. I, on the other hand, find that to be quite...wasteful.” Stepping sideways, Narcisa peeks at me. “Alexander has told me quite a bit about you, Hayley. His thoughts might be flawed, but his information sounds promising.”
