“Of course it’s true. I told you he wouldn’t be able to lie if Tenia told him not to.”
“Myanin,” Lilly said sharply. “Why was Tenia with you?”
“Hey queenie,” Myanin called out. “She wasn’t with me. We took the French bloodsucker to her. He wasn’t cooperating, and beating the crap out of him wasn’t having the desired effect. Then I remembered my BFF is a freaking anomaly and could get the information simply by asking.”
“So you took a vampire into the warlock mountain?” Lilly asked dryly.
“That’s neither here nor there,” Dillon interrupted. “What’s important is what Claude said. Fane, Cain is building an army with the help of the human military.”
“An army of vampires?” Adam asked. “Because we’ve got a damn army of them here. How many more does he have?”
“Not vampires,” Dillon said. “Hybrids.”
“Hybrids?” Peri spoke up, her voice hesitant. “Hybrid what?”
There was a pause before Dillon spoke. “Vampires and dormants.”
“That’s not possible,” the fae replied.
“He has hundreds, if not thousands, of vamps searching for dormants as we speak,” Dillon continued. “Claude said he’s trying to mix the vampiric virus with a dormant’s blood. He thinks the result will be a species with the positive attributes of both races, with none of the weaknesses the vampires currently possess.”
“Again,” Peri said, her voice firm. “It’s not possible.”
“How many times have we seen lately something that was previously thought impossible suddenlybecomepossible?” Wadim’s face had lost all trace of humor.
“Shit.” Peri spat out.
“We’ve got incoming,” Adam hollered. Fane hadn’t even realized the male fae had moved away from the opening.
The alpha heard the pounding against the earth getting louder, and then he smelled them. It was a familiar smell of blood that just wasn’t right. It was the smell of a mixture of blood from the different people they’d fed on, old blood and new. His wolf lifted his lips and snarled at the scent.
“Gonna need a little help here,” Adam said. “About to have a vampire invasion.”
“Kill them.” Dillon snarled through the phone. “All of them. Don’t let a single one live. If they do, they will become hybrids, Fane. We can’t guess the implications if Cain succeeds. Every vampire you come across has to die.”
“We’ve got to go, Dillon. Be safe.” Lilly ended the call and pocketed her phone. She turned her back on the room, her hands filling with balls of light as she readied herself for the fight.
Gwen suddenly appeared next to Lilly. She looked at Fane. “Thadrick is here, and so are Jacque, Zara, and Crina. I left them outside the mountain with Costin, Drake, Nissa, and the other djinn, Myron.”
“Where is my mate?” Decebel asked the high fae. Gwen didn't take her eyes off Fane, nor did she answer his beta.
“Zara says the mountain is covered in vampires. She’s showing me.” Wadim cursed. “Fane, there are hundreds of them, and that’s just on the outside.”
Suddenly flashes of light came from the tunnel, and screeching filled the air.
Adam scrunched up his face. “I forgot how bad they smell when you burn them.”
Clarion, Lilly, and Adam all faced the tunnel, dealing with the vampires that were attempting to rush them.
The mountain shook, and rocks crumbled from the walls. Fane closed his eyes and listened. He could hear the screaming vampires and their scurrying feet.
“I’ve told Z the plan.” Wadim stepped back out of the way of the magic users. “She said they’re fighting the ones out there, but for every one that falls, five take its place.”
Dillon’s words rang in his mind. If Cain had truly figured out a way to join their two species, it could mean the end of every dormant they had found. The more vampires Cain had, the more chances he had to find dormants. Dillon was right. They had to kill every vampire in this mountain.
“Clarion, bring it down,” Fane said. “Wadim, tell Zara to relay the same message to Thad. There will be no vampire left standing when the djinn are done.”
Wadim’s eyes met Fane’s. The alpha saw fear in his friend’s gaze, but he also saw understanding.
