Page 163 of Hunters and Prey

Looking at him, at that eerily-still stare, I shook my head.

“No,” I said. “He didn’t know. He found out when some vampires took him hostage. Neither of us knew they even existed before then.”

I grunted, thinking about this with a frown.

When I glanced up again, the woman nodded, her eyes understanding.

“And this war your uncle is starting?” she prompted. “Did it start because of this? Because your husband was kidnapped?”

I let out a short laugh, shaking my head.

“No,” I said, smiling, in spite of myself. “No. Not even close. Hell, we almost thought my uncle paid them to do that.”

The male next to her let out a grunt.

I heard the flicker of amusement in it, and gave him a faint smile.

“No,” I repeated, glancing back at the woman. “Remaking the Earth is my uncle’s obsession. Not simply to wipe out vampires, although that’s clearly step one. Step two is to create a world where seers control everything. Where they run all of the governments, they control all of the humans, they make all the laws. He’s already taken over most of the government of the United States.”

Again, I saw the two of them exchange dense looks.

Neither of them spoke, however.

At least not to me.

Not out loud.

Exhaling, I clasped my hands, glancing out that long window, watching a brightly colored animal fly by.

A bird?my mind wondered.

The thought whispered away.

“Brick, the leader of the vampires,” I continued, clearing my throat. “He’s seeking an alliance with us. Well, really, with Black. He desperately needs allies to fight Charles, and Black is his only option in the seer world. He also knows neither of us, meaning Black or I, want to see Charles get his dream of a totalitarian seer state, where humans are basically slaves.”

Glancing up at the two of them, watching them exchange looks again, I exhaled.

“My husband has resources,” I explained. “To put it bluntly… he’s rich. He’s also highly connected. He was, anyway, before Charles more or less took over the government. Pretty much every seer who doesn’t want any part of Charles’ cult of fanatics has come to Black for protection from my uncle. Black is basically running a full-blown refugee camp at this point… several of them, really.”

Combing my fingers through my hair, I frowned, thinking out loud.

“Brick massively screwed up with us, though,” I said, frowning down at the woven carpets on their polished wooden floors. “Especially with Black, but really with both of us. He turned my best human friend, Nick, into a vampire…”

I paused, feeling the woman flinch.

“…and Nick, as a newborn vampire, attacked a bunch of Black’s friends.” I swallowed. “And me. The me part is what bothered Black the most.”

Hesitating, I shrugged, feeling my face warm when I added,

“It was more personal with me. Nick didn’t just hurt me. It was a sexual assault, and Black saw it. While it was happening, I mean.”

I heard a faint growl from the male across from me and glanced up.

I saw the empathy in his eyes, even as he glanced at the woman next to him, his expression briefly fierce, those pale eyes turning cold as ice.

He was definitely siding with Black.

I wasn’t surprised.

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