Page 22 of The Shadows of the Dawn

Excluding Katsuki, the room was suddenly full of hybrids.

The God and Goddess had answered Asher’s prayers.

Moss and Trish sprinted to Liam. Asher stood up and jumped away as the two crowded Liam, hugging him, and showering him with tear-flooded kisses. Liam laughed weakly, barely able to keep his head up.

“A generation anew,” breathed the Moon Goddess’s voice. The trio of newly realized hybrids froze, glancing between each other as they all heard her voice. “Brought back to its city of origins by you.”

Asher’s jaw pulsed, sharing a hard scowl with Nikola without needing to say a word. Was he also wondering if the patrons had this planned all along? Or had the divine twins recently turned their eyes on the newborns?

“The world needs Balance,” came the Horned One’s rumble. Trish whimpered in fright while Moss grimaced with familiarity. “But my Followers will rise again once equilibrium is found.”

Nikola was unsure if he should take that as a threat or a beacon of hope. Asher shrugged, shaking his head in frustrated confusion. Nikola could sympathize.

“Dear God,” Trish said, perhaps too literally, before slumping over Liam, her Conversion taking root. Liam struggled to keep awake, Moss hovering helplessly over the two of them.

Ding.

Nikola and Asher spun around, facing the elevator, claws out. Moss jumped up, clumsily holding the gun, signaling to the entire world that they had no clue how to use it. With Trish unconscious, this was going to be one hell of a fight.

It was Queen Morrigan who stepped through, four lackeys behind her. Her red eyes swept the room filled with unconscious Blood Followers. Casually, she said, “Oh, splendid. I was hoping that you two were going to handle that little problem of mine.”

CHAPTER TEN

Asher

“You were here the whole time and didn’t think to help out?” Asher snarled across the table in Conference Room B. Liam and Trish were nodding awake, both somber and quiet as they digested whatever the hell they had seen in the dream world. Asher was far more concerned with the Queen of Grander.

“My love,” Nikola whispered.

Morrigan replied, “I did not wish to risk the few remaining Followers still under my command. If you lot couldn’t reclaim my fortress, then what chances do we have of reclaiming all of Grander?” She paused, Asher winding up to tear her a new one. In a softer tone, she added, “And let’s just say a voice was urging me to stay back and observe.”

A voice. Like the Horned One? What, had the God wanted to push the newborns to their limits so they could get their chances to Convert to hybrids? Could be that Morrigan was lying about hearing a god’s voice to manipulate them. Shit, considering human history, it wouldn’t be the first time someone played that card.

Asher’s eyes skipped to the three new hybrids, sitting closely together like a litter of kittens seeking out each other’s warmth. That shit about a new generation of hybrids implied that there were going to be more. How many of them would lie or contradict what the God or Goddess were saying to them?

Well, Asher supposed, Malkolm and the High King had tried that exact same thing, and the Horned God had retaliated with their demise by leading Asher and Nikola to them. Didn’t seem like vampires lasted very long once they started ignoring their gods.

Guess it was a good thing Asher and Nikola came back here. But now what? Morrigan picked up the thread. “So, these are the ones you mentioned in passing on the phone call. Pray tell, what use do I have of newborns?”

“Use?” Trish snapped.

Nikola held up a hand to her. “Just like most of us in this room, these three children did not choose the path of immortality. It was thrust upon them. But it is no coincidence that five of a new subspecies of vampires currently breathe the same air. The God and Goddess brought us together for a reason. Now, what is that reason? I have some theories.”

Asher admired how Nikola paced and talked, taking command. He could tell that he was enjoying being able to speak so directly and openly to the woman he had once bowed.

“I originally believed that we could somehow... prevent the next Purging. But after what we witnessed on the road, I no longer think that possible. It has begun, and we cannot stop it.”

Morrigan, sensing the power imbalance, interrupted him. “Do you propose we fight fire with fire? That would require me replenishing my own court’s population.” Asher could not tell if she was seeking his advice or challenging him.

Nikola laughed sharply. “No. In fact, the opposite. The High King allowed Purgings to happen in the past, akin to natural forest fires resetting an ecosystem. Such measures have gone obsolete. Let’s compare it more accurately to manmade fires that have destroyed entire coastlines. We must lay low and allow humanity to believe that they successfully conquered us. That cannot be done if we replenish Blood numbers.”

Morrigan’s anger swelled so hotly it threatened to consume the entire room. If she were a cat, every single hair would be raised. “You think it wise to roll over and do nothing as humans kill us off one-by-one? That is not the way of the Horned One!”

Each word was a rougher growl than the last. It was time to step in. “Your Majesty, if you would please,” Asher said, stepping up to the table. When she turned her eyes on him, it was like throwing daggers. But he braced against it. “I knew Lord Malkolm better than anyone else here—if that wasn’t obvious. And what you’re saying is exactly what he would’ve said. Trust me on this: You do not want to be Lord Malkolm. The fact you aren’t Lord Malkolm is exactly why the divine steered everything in your direction. Do not make the Horned One regret his decision.”

Asher felt the brush of Katsuki’s calming balm as they directed it at Morrigan. She shook her head, pushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear as she composed herself. She flicked her gaze at the Moon Child and said, “I can hold myself together on my own, thank you.” Katsuki chuckled with a one-shoulder shrug.

“It was my impatience that triggered the failure of my last invasion,” she said. “I will heed your words and be patient, but only because I can sense the Blood God’s approval. So, you propose we go into hiding just as we did when we first landed in America. I can see the logic, but where would we go? I imagine it wouldn’t be quite so simple as digging underground with modern-day surveillance and population.”

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