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“Baron won’t be allowed to live through the initial invasion,” Sophie pipes up, answering my unspoken question. “He’s too dangerous. Last time the Blackmores fought the Shadowbanes, Baron slaughtered Erik’s wife and all twelve of her guards.”
The evil Viking—Erik, apparently—chuckles in response to that horrific trip down memory lane.
I cut a shocked glance his way, which he answers with a shrug. “It was a long time ago and Mercy was a lot of fun. I look forward to seeing her on the other side of my final sunset. Some of us have faith, witch. We know we serve a higher purpose and that great rewards await us on the other side of the veil.”
“The Goddess doesn’t do that reward in the afterlife shit, but even if she did, she wouldn’t reward the murder of innocent people.” I curl my upper lip. “Did you miss the whole ‘do no harm to the interconnected web of life’ part? It’s basically the only rule in Goddess worshiping religions, dumbass.”
“Watch your mouth witch,” the man with the ugly little moustache on Erik’s left snaps. “There’s nothing innocent about you or any other woman. You’re the ones who opened Pandora’s box and let wickedness into the world. That’s why the Goddess gave women into the keeping of men. Because you can’t be trusted. You’re devils with angel faces, every last one of you.”
“Wow.” I stare blankly at the idiot for a beat. “Tell me you never get laid without telling me you never get laid.”
Moustache lunges for me, but Erik lifts a hand, stopping him in his tracks. “Enough. Clearly, Cassandra doesn’t share her husband’s knack for winning friends and influencing people.”
“Clearly I don’t share your weirdo views on religion, either,” I say. “Who honestly believes Pandora was a real person? It’s a fucking metaphor, dude.”
Erik’s thin lips press into an even tighter, thinner line. “I’ve always admired Edmond’s ability to bring people together. Too bad there’s no common ground to be found between our clan and yours.” His hand falls to his side with a sigh. “But there are times when compromise is impossible. Times when a clan must fight for the very survival of their race against the relentless onslaught of the diluting forces of mediocrity, impurity, and disease.”
I would try arguing my point again, but it would be a waste of breath. The Shadowbanes have been radicalized by a mixture of greed, fear, and some totally off base sect of Goddess worship. And once people are that far gone, it isn’t easy to pull them back from the edge. I’m certainly not going to change anyone’s mind in the next few minutes, which means Sophie is probably my only hope.
If she was lying about being on my side, these might be my last few hours on earth. I might never see Amy again. Or, even worse, my daughter might be forced to watch my execution along with the rest of the Blackmore clan.
“Please,” I beg, all my courage leaving me in a rush. “I have a daughter. She’s just a baby. Don’t do this. Don’t make me leave her alone.”
Erik hums softly, “Never fear, witch. She won’t be alone. All the town’s children will be transported to camps for reeducation in the ways of our clan. We’re not monsters, Cassandra. We don’t hurt little ones.” He smiles, as if I should be overjoyed by this news and nods toward my traitor of a half-sister, “You may open the portal, Sophie. Team Alpha, in position. Team Beta, right behind them, but hold on entry until you hear the ram’s horn.” He points toward the guards on either side of me. “You two, stay here with the women. We’ll come for you when the estate is secured.”
Sophie crosses to the waterfall. “It’s just here. Walk through the water toward that sliver of green light at the back. You’ll emerge in the basement of the main house, near the bowling alley, but I doubt anyone will be playing tonight. They’re too busy with battle plans.”
“Excellent,” Erik says, striding over to the first of a group of ten men, who’ve arranged themselves two by two in front of the water. “If we do encounter residents in the basement, I’ll take care of them. I know which Blackmores we’ve promised to keep. Push ahead to the main floors with operation stun and subdue. I’ll sort the wheat from the chaff before we start filling the cells.”
He glances back toward the entrance to the cave, his eyes narrowing. “It’s a shame about Priscilla, but if she hasn’t survived whatever happened to her yacht, it will make the culling process easier. She’s the one who insisted we spare the stubborn ones at the top.” He locks eyes with Moustache, sharing an ugly chuckle. “I personally wouldn’t mind seeing Darcy and Colin walk into the sun tomorrow morning. Arrogant bastards.”
“That would probably be best,” Sophie says, coming to stand beside the man on my right. “If you let them live, they’ll be no end of trouble. Same with Blaire, I’m sad to say. She’s my sister and I would like a future with her, but some people won’t ever see the light, no matter how brightly it shines.”
“Well said,” Erik says.
“Thank you,” Sophie says, her voice louder than it was before. “Light is important. Light, light, and more light!”
By the last “light,” she’s practically shouting, and I smell a rat. Erik and Moustache seem to smell it too, as well as a few of the more astute members of the infantry, but before anyone can make a move, the faint green light behind the waterfall becomes a blinding glare and all hell breaks loose.
Unholy screams fill the air, shrieks so piercing the men holding my arms release me to cover their ears.
I’m turning to run when Sophie grabs my arm and jerks hard. “Get down! Hurry!”
I hit the cold, damp cavern floor seconds before my guards begin to scream and look up to see bright green light vibrating around the vampires’ heads. They stagger back a step, but it’s too late to escape. The light snatches at them with invisible fingers, dragging them across the cave toward the now brightly gleaming waterfall. Ahead of them, the other vampires are already disappearing into the portal, each one letting out one final, agonizing wail before falling suddenly, profoundly silent.
The guards kick and thrash, but their efforts do nothing to slow their progress. They disappear into the glow with twin screams, leaving the cave in buzzing silence.
A beat later, the light blinks off and Sophie exhales beside me.
“Thank the Goddess,” she says, releasing my arm. “It’s safe to get up now.”
“What happened to them? Where are they?” I ask, rising onto my knees. “What was that?”
“It was a catch and release portal to the Wyvern wood in Sussex. Opened by one of my teammates in the U.K.” She shifts to sit on her bottom, dragging a trembling hand through her hair. “The sun is already up there.”
I blink. “You mean…”
“They’re dead. All of them.” She looks up, wincing as our eyes meet. “I know, it’s a bloody awful business, but we didn’t know what else to do. We’ve been trying to reason with the Shadowbanes for years, but they just wouldn’t listen. They were set on destroying the Blackmores and every other mixed blood supernatural in Nightfall so…” She waves a shaky hand toward the waterfall. “We made a very difficult, slightly illegal call.”
