Page 64 of After Darkness Falls

That was either a warning or a reminder for Cat, Chloe guessed. She shot a glare at Mikar. She'd never judge someone because of their family—not after what had happened with her father.

"Wait a minute," Jack called to Mikar as he retreated. "Bounty hunters, witches, and now feral vamps all going for Chloe? And you guys, the upper crust of vampire society, watching her back? If we hadn't been here, she would have been dead by the time you arrived. If we're her first line of defense, we need to know what's going on. So we can be prepared."

Chloe already knew Mikar's answer before he said it. "I don't have the clearance to get into it. Let's just get through this trip. Then I will personally ask Levi to bring you up to speed." He swept all of them in one glance. "All of you."

Her included, then.

She held on to that.

The night wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been, partially because Blair was traveling with the entirety of the GV catalogue in her bag, which included a sleeping draught almost as efficient as Alexius's, and partially because Cat was sleeping in the next room. After seeing her in action, Chloe had never felt safer.

She woke up to her phone vibrating on her bedside table. Chloe looked at the screen and frowned in confusion. Not only was the call coming from an unknown number, but it was also requesting a video feed.

Yawning, she pressed the green button. If the caller turned out to be a creep, hanging up would be easy enough.

On the screen, an all too familiar face wearing a smug grin appeared. She groaned.

"Did I wake you up?"

"It's…" She glanced at the time on her phone. "Six in the morning on a Sunday, so yes."

"My apologies."

Why did everything he say sound so sarcastic? To her surprise, she didn't feel the need to push, irritate, and question everything he said today.

"I hear you've had quite the trip so far."

He said it carefully, as if wondering whether mentioning her trials might make her break. But she wasn't breaking. She wasn't afraid—not anymore. Fear had given way to determination.

Chloe didn't know what made her tell him, but she said, "I want to train. I want to be able to hold my own if something like that happens again. I don't want to freeze or feel hopeless."

If he'd laughed, she might have truly hated him. But Levi's smile broadened.

"Excellent," he said.

"And I want you to tell me who's after me. And why. It makes no sense. It's not about my dad, is it?"

The human attackers in NOLA had made sense. But the magic and the feral vampires really didn't.

"And don't just threaten to kill me to shut me up. I know you won't."

"You've never been more mistaken," Levi said, a hint of fangs flashing. "I'll tell you who's after you—if only so you know what you're up against. The reason why isn't something I will divulge quite yet."

That was something—a huge leap compared to where they'd been just two days ago.

"Well?"

His grin disappeared. “You’ve been told about the seven, the families that rule our kind. While those behind the attacks on you have done their best to remain in the shadows, it is quite clear that they have resources. The power to control ferals, the money to hire bounty hunters. At first, they were human, and if that scheme had worked out, no one would have suspected the source of the attack. But Mikar and the rest of my guard have stopped over a dozen killers—some well-renowned and expensive.”

The truth was even worse than her suspicions.

“Not many have the power to go to those lengths. I fear you’re targeted by one of us. A royal. An old and powerful creature.”

“But why?” she asked, almost pleading.

Levi hesitated. “An interesting question. Some among our kind can see the future. Perhaps you may become a threat to our kind someday."

Definitely not what she'd imagined.

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