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“Why would the Veritas send a vampyre?”
“Who better than a vampyre to outsmart other vampyres?” Dahlia waved a delicate hand in dismissal. “Many of us side with the human liberation movement. Or didn’t you know?” Moving past Cy, she seated herself upon Haven’s sprawling mattress.
“Vampyres siding with the Veritas? Prove it.”
Letting out a derisive snort, she rolled her eyes at him. “You’re so stubborn! And you’re wasting time questioning me! If I fail to attend the Council meeting, the others will notice.”
Cy squared his shoulders and glared at her down the tip of his nose. He wouldn’t give her anything. Not before he got something in return.
Sighing, Dahlia sat up. Withdrawing a slim, sharpened dagger from the scabbard at her belt, she slit her own wrist. They both watched as the blood pooled against her delicate porcelain skin. As she continued to bleed, she handed him the dagger, hilt first. “Here. I know what you can do with this.”
He took it in hand as she stood and moved closer, holding out her wrist to him.
He blinked, unmoving as she said, “Drink.”
A thrill shot through him. Her blood could make him stronger, could allow him to kill her if she moved falsely against him. Was she really arming him? Was this her trump card? Her way of proving herself? Surely, if she knew Z, if she knew who Cy was, she knew what he was capable of.
He put his lips on her wrist and drank. As her blood flowed through him, he felt a strength he hadn’t in months. It electrified all his nerves and set him on fire from the inside out. He was alive. He was himself again, full of deadly force and potential. He was a killer, a slayer, once again.
As she pulled away, Dahlia brought her wrist to her lips and sealed the wound with her tongue. “Now don’t get over-excited. It’s not the time or place. But hopefully with this, you can trust me. Because I have news and we must move quickly. You’re deep inside enemy territory, Cypress, and we have need of you.”
Flexing his newly engorged muscles and moving the dagger about in his hands, he cocked a brow. “Need of me?”
“The Veritas is close. Much closer than you might think. And we have plans for New Avalon. We intend to raid the slaughterhouses in two months’ time. Arm all the cattle and pets and take as many noble hostages as we can.”
Cy swallowed. “You want me to help you fight.”
“We want you to rally the troops. Get the pets on our side. Prepare them for battle.”
“Most of these humans have never dreamed of fighting a vampyre in their lives, much less actually done it. They’ll be killed immediately.”
“Not if we funnel them vampyre blood and weapons.”
“How do you intend to do that?”
“There are many vampyres in these walls that side with us. We have ways of getting contraband through. But the humans won’t take it from us. We need you. They’ll rally behind you, slayer.”
“You said there are other vampyres supporting the Veritas? How many?”
“More than you might guess. But it’s dangerous. It goes against the grain, and the vampyres who grow more and more powerful due to the subjugation become more and more afraid of losing that power. They won’t let the Dominion go easily. Thousands of humans will die before this is done. Perhaps thousands of vampyres as well.”
“It sounds like you’re planning a war.”
She paused. “We are.”
“You’d go to war for humans?” Cy’s heart pounded in his chest.
“It’s the right thing to do.”
“So, you’re doing this simply because it’sright?”Cy balked.
“Is that so hard to believe?”
“Yes...you’re a vampyre.”
She chuckled. “Again with stating the obvious.”
“Why? Why would you do all this? What do you get out of it?”
