Page 15 of The Vampire's Thirst
When he’d come out of the Awakening, he gave over to his vampire side, sinking in a river of unrestrained violence. Truth was, he still walked the edge. Though he held his urges in check, rage was a rope that tugged at him always. Violence at one end. Control holding onto the other. One step from the abyss. The Firebrands, meditation, and his mate Brae were his circuit breakers when negative energy sizzled through him.
Kolehmphed. “You assume Braelyn has saved you. Big leap.”
“Straight up, but I’m a fighter. Maybe Dax’s devils are beating him.”
“Don’t write the male off too soon. Besides, with Thorn suspended, we need everyone in the game. In the meantime, we’re flooded with recruits being called to duty.”
“You said the situation is rare.”
“Yes. In these numbers. We had an uptick in newbies before the Nymph and Satyr Civil War, the vampire Uprisings, and the Incubus Raids. With so many flocking in, fate has something bad in store for us. How’s Ram working with the recruits?”
“Good. He’s got a training schedule. Mostly, he and I take on the newbies, but he’s also rotating in other Firebrands when they’re available.”
“Offering all kinds of styles is valuable.”
Bounty interrupted with a shout from the outer office. “Grab the landline.”
Kole lifted the receiver. “Talk.”
The commander was famous for poor phone manners. Still, poor was better than none.
“Can’t say we didn’t expect it,” Kole growled into the speaker.
Rein arched a brow as the commander slammed the phone into its cradle.
In response to the unasked question, he said, “Cadmon. The ylve is calling with bad news. It seems the American military is attacking Aeternals who exit certain portals Earthside.”
“I guess the crazy Englishman Dante shared gateway locations with those army guys before they lifted off during the raid on his Louisiana swampland fortress.”
Kole pushed a few papers around on his crowded desk. “We pulled out for fifteen hundred years, have been forgotten, spoken about in whispers over a campfire, written into myth. Now, humans know about us again. Once we had to protect them from our savagery. I wonder if the reverse will be true today. Not only do they outnumber us, but their technology may be a match for our gifts.”
“Don’t forget. The American officers probably escaped not only with gateway sites but with Dante’s formulas to turn ordinary soldiers into superhumans as well as his recipe for tranc bullets.”
Kole tapped his fingers together to contain the sparks which shot out whenever he was pissed. “Dante conspired with Cerberus to get to Ram, blaming the satyr Firebrand for the death of his daughter. By exposing us, the Englishman may have started a war, an event which will also trigger support for Cerberus’s cause. Unfortunately, trade between the realms will be impacted, in addition to other inconveniences. Humans have no idea how tightly entwined our economies and societies are.”
The realms were connected thanks to trade agreements drafted by Kole’s mate, Skyler, chief legal officer at the Alliance. Because of her, humans unknowingly exchanged services and goods with Aeternals. Scath exported wine, agriculture, tech, the ever-popular he-man motorcycles, and countless other products or inventions. The Aeternals’ realm imported an equally staggering amount from Earth.
Today, some of their kind even lived Earthside where they owned businesses or vacation homes. Lawmakers owned hundreds of thousands of warehouses, empty stores, parking garages, or unpopulated land for portals sites. If Earth caught a cold, Scath sneezed. Likewise, if Aeternals downed too many shots of whiskey, humans got drunk. Their lives were symbiotic, entwined even though most humans remained unaware of the relationship.
“If we are at war with Earth, an added bene for Cerberus is that the Firebrands will be busy fighting their armies. We will have to ignore Arisen Dawn,” said Rein.
Kole scribbled a hasty note on his electronic tablet. “We know the descendants of the Blood Coven figure into Cerberus’s plans. Our mates aren’t safe. The traitor in Skyler’s office who sold the portal site locations to Dante may have also given him the Alliance headquarters. I already ordered my mate to pack up in Chicago.” He shoved his device to the corner of his desk and leaned back in his armchair.
“How’d that go over?”
“I have as much control over Skyler as you have over Braelyn, asshole.”
“The question for now is, how do we persuade an army itching to kill or capture us that we’re on the same team?”
“Especially since we’ll be standing between them and Cerberus’s Arisen Dawn if his intent is to destroy the humans.”
“Basically, we watch our sixes and our dicks. Back and front. What’s new?”
“This fucking puzzle hurts my head.” Kole checked out a button on his landline but obviously opted to shout rather than punch it. Obstinate bastard. “Hey, Bounty, have someone find Dax. Tell him to answer his fucking calls and to join Tyr. Then get someone over to the Ministry’s med facility to relieve the warlock until the Blood Coven witch is upright and walking.”
“Yes, O bossy one.”
“Damn female vampire. If she didn’t have such mean computer skills, I would have fired her decades ago.”
