“Do you have any information for us now?” Peri asked, pulling her back from her inner thoughts.
Myanin nodded. “The Order is working on rebuilding their army of vampires,” she said.
“Unfortunately,” Tenia added. “We had to help them in order to prove we’re loyal.”
“What did you have to do?” Peri asked, her voice markedly gentler than when she’d been speaking to Myanin.
Tenia’s face tightened, her lips drawing in a severe line. “We had to bring in humans for them to change.”
Lilly sucked in a breath, and her face appeared to drain of blood.
Tenia hurried to continue. “We tried to figure out a way to keep from taking innocent people.”
“We used humans who were incarcerated,” Myanin said. “We realize it wasn’t a perfect solution. There are those who’ve been wrongly imprisoned, obviously, and there are others who…”
“Are horrible human beings, locked up for a reason and now they’re being turned into something even more evil that will allow them to act on their evil impulses?” Peri said, interrupting Myanin as she flicked her hands in the air.
The djinn nodded. “It was either that or take the Wendy Rhodeses of the world and turn them into bloodsucking monsters, which, even if they are a bit crazy with a weird accent, don’t deserve to be turned into monsters that like to poke holes into humans and suck,” Myanin said, sounding a tad defensive.
“Oh, the things Jen could have done with that last sentence,” Peri sighed, sounding sad that whoever Jen was, she wasn’t there to oblige her.
“Who’s Wendy Rhodes?” Tenia whispered, obviously unconcerned about this Jen character, who sounded rather interesting.
“A female I met when I was making my way to the Order. She had a thing for playing cards. She thought I was crazy when I told her what I was and why I was in the human realm,” Myanin answered. “Wendy was funny. Though I thought I was going to have to dispose of her at one point if she didn’t calm down. She was ready to call the human authorities.”
Myanin glanced at Tenia. The fae’s eyes were wide. “You told her what you are?”
The djinn nodded. “And why I was here,” she reminded. “She didn’t take it well.”
“I would think not,” Tenia said, her lips turning up slightly. Apparently, she found the situation humorous.
“I didn’t dispose of her,” Myanin added, her gaze jumping to Gerick briefly and then back to Tenia, hoping to make it abundantly clear that she’d not killed anyone else.
“Thank the Great Luna for small miracles,” Tenia sighed.
“Perhaps we should try to stay focused,” Lilly said.
“Right.” Tenia nodded. “So, Cain, who is now the vampire king since Sincaro was dispatched, is changing the humans. But the problem is Ludcarab and Alston thought our idea to get humans from the prisons was a little too brilliant—”
“Naturally,” Peri interjected.
“And they’ve been gathering humans from prisons all over the world,” Tenia continued.
“We were selective in who we chose,” Myanin added. “We tried to make sure not to take the most vile, the ones who hurt children and women.”
The two males in the room growled, and Myanin wanted to growl with them in agreement.
“Ludcarab and Alston will have no such reservations,” Peri said.
“No,” Myanin agreed. “If they give it any thought, they will purposefully find the most violent humans they can.”
“How many have they made so far?” Lilly asked. She leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees as her brow furrowed.
“Fifteen hundred,” Tenia answered.
“They lost over twenty-thousand when Sincaro was killed.” Myanin hoped that might help make the number of newly converted vamps seem a little less daunting.
“And Cain is the new sire?” Lucian asked.
