Chapter 1 #3
The Fallen leader’s pain was a tangible force in the room. As he stood before the windows that overlooked Main Street in Raceport, Virginia, a town he’d built from the ground up, it appeared as if the weight of the world was on his shoulders.
It wasn’t just the problems they faced that pressed down on him.
He was in deep mourning, grieving the loss of his daughter after centuries of praying for her return.
And he was altered by that loss. No one else had noticed it yet, but Vash knew him too well.
Something had changed in him, a switch had been flipped.
He was harder, less flexible, and that was reflected in the decisions he made.
“I’m going to do the best I can,” she promised. “We all will. We’re fighters, Syre. No one will give up.”
He turned to face her, his beautiful face set in fierce lines. “I received an interesting call while you were with Grace.”
“Oh?” His tone and the glitter of his gaze set her on edge. She knew that look of his, knew it meant he was resolved to his course, but expected resistance.
“The lycans have revolted.”
Vash’s spine stiffened painfully, as it always did when discussing the Sentinels’ dogs. “How? When?”
“Within the last week. I assume Adrian’s distraction over my daughter was seen as a prime opportunity to break free.”
Adrian had first been attracted to Lindsay Gibson because she was the latest incarnation of Shadoe, Syre’s daughter and Adrian’s longtime love.
In the end, it was Lindsay who’d won both Adrian’s heart and the right to her own body, leaving Syre mired in grief over the loss of his child and Adrian knocked a bit off his game.
His arms crossed, his powerful biceps flexing with the movement. “The lycans will need us if they want to stay free, and it appears we need them just as badly.”
She pushed to her feet. “You can’t be serious.”
“I know what I’m asking of you.”
“Do you? This is akin to me asking you to work with Adrian, knowing he’s the reason your daughter is gone. Or me telling you to partner with the demon who killed your wife.”
His chest expanded on a slow, deep inhale. “If the fate of every vampire in the world was dependent on my doing so, I’d do it.”
“Fuck you and your guilt.” The words slipped out before she could hold them back. Whatever else Syre was to her, he was first and foremost her commanding officer. “I’m sorry, Commander.”
He dismissed her concern with an impatient flick of his wrist. “You’ll pay me back by finding whoever the lycan Alpha is and offering an alliance.”
“There are no lycan Alphas. The Sentinels have made sure of that.”
“There has to be one, or the revolt would never have happened.”
She began to pace, her heeled boots rapping out a quick staccato on the hardwood floor. “Send Raze or Salem,” she suggested, offering up her two best captains. “Or both of them.”
“It has to be you.”
“Why?”
“Because you hate lycans and your reluctance will hide our desperation.” He rounded the desk, then half sat on the front edge, his long legs crossing at the ankles.
“We can’t give them an advantage. They have to believe they need us more than we need them.
And you’re my second. Sending you delivers a powerful message as to how seriously I would take the proposed alliance. ”
The thought of working with lycans stirred a rage inside her that fogged her vision. What if she inadvertently worked alongside one of the lycans who’d ripped Charron to ribbons? What if she saved one of their lives, thinking they were an ally?
It was so perverted it made her stomach roil. “Give me some time to try to handle this on our own. If I don’t make sufficient progress within a couple of weeks, we can revisit.”
“Adrian could exterminate the lycans by then. The timing has to be now, while they’re still on uneven footing. Think about how quickly we could search with thousands of lycans at our disposal.”
She continued to traverse the length of the room at a pace that would make mortals dizzy to follow. “Tell me your request has nothing to do with your hatred for Adrian.”
Syre’s mouth curved on one side. “You know I can’t. I want to kick Adrian while he’s down. Of course I do. But that wouldn’t be enough to ask you to do this, knowing what it’s going to cost you. You mean far more to me than that.”
Coming to an abrupt halt, Vash approached him.
“I’ll do this because you’re ordering me to, but I won’t set aside the retribution I’m owed.
I’ll use this opportunity to find those responsible for Charron’s death.
When I act on that information, I won’t be held liable for the consequences.
If that’s not acceptable to you, I’ll present your offer of an alliance, then I’ll go my own way. ”
“You will not.” Syre’s low tone held a wealth of warning. “I’ll support you, Vashti. You know that. But at this moment, the exigency of the vampire nation must come first.”
“Fair enough.”
He nodded. “The revolt began at the Navajo Lake outpost. Start in Utah. They can’t have gone far.”