Alice wanted to believe him.She wanted to be cared for, not for what she could give to someone, but because she just mattered to them. As she searched Cain’s face, she wondered if he was capable of such emotion. To care for someone more than he cared for himself? After speaking with Sally and Kara, she had little hope for the vampire king. She felt like the boy in the story about the snake. The snake promises not to hurt the boy if he will help him, but in the end, the boy gets bitten, and the snake tells him, “You knew what I was when you picked me up.”I know this, but there is still something inside me that doesn’t want to give him up.
“You said I didn’t know the whole truth,” she reminded him. “That I needed to get the full story before I decided on whether I wanted to stay. You also said you wouldn’t let Lizzy and Finn go.”
Cain’s eyes took on a weary look. He motioned her toward a chair. “You might want to sit down for this conversation.”
* * *
“They’re back,”Costin said the moment Sally opened her eyes and took a deep breath. “Why were you gone so long?” he asked her gruffly. Anxiousness worried his brow.
“We had a lot to talk about.” Sally sat down on the couch next to Costin, and he pulled her tightly to his side.
“How long were we gone?”
Sally watched as Nick picked up Kara, and then he sat down where she’d been sitting, placing her onto his lap, one hand resting on her small baby belly.
“Nearly forty-five minutes.” Nick didn’t sound pleased.
“Let me get everyone in here before you guys get into it.” Fane looked first at Sally and then at Kara.
Fifteen minutes later, the room started filling up. The usual council filed in: Wadim, Zara, Bethany, minus Hope, but with Drake right behind her, then Sorin and Elle. Right as the door closed, it opened back up, and in came Thad and Jezebel. The door closed again, and then Cyn and Thalion appeared, flashing right into the middle of the space. Sally waited to see if Peri and Lucian would show up. But the next group to arrive was Tenia with the warlock queen’s entourage, as Sally had come to think of them.
“Thank you all for coming on such short notice,” Fane told them.
Sally’s eyes scanned the room and briefly stopped on Skender, who had one arm wrapped around Tenia. The small fae female had her back resting against Skender’s stomach while her head was laid back against his chest. Sally felt nothing when she looked at the male that played a part in her abduction. She wasn’t angry or bitter, only indifferent. Maybe that was because she really liked Tenia and Torion, and she knew if something happened to Skender, it would hurt them. Sally didn’t want that. So she decided to forgive, but not forget. She’d always have her guard up around Skender. That was an unfortunate side effect of betrayal. Sometimes trust could never be reestablished. Costin seemed happy to follow Sally’s lead in this. That or he was secretly plotting Skender’s untimely demise, and he was keeping her blissfully unaware.
Sally turned and looked at Costin.
“What?” Costin’s face was completely neutral.
“You’re not planning anything, are you?” Sally poked him in the chest.
“Brown eyes,” Costin said, his trademark dimples appearing. “You’re my mate and you’re hot. I’m always planningsomething.”
“That’s my boy.” Jen held up a fist.
Decebel grabbed her arm and pulled it down. “Costin’s not your anything,” he added gruffly.
“You know what I meant,”Sally said to Costin through the bond.
“I told you I wouldn’t retaliate against Skender if you didn’t want me to. My word is true, Sally-mine.”
She nodded and entwined her fingers with his.“I know. I’m sorry. I don’t know why I’m feeling paranoid.”
“You are probably secretly worried aboutJenplanning his demise but transferring it to me,”Costin offered.
Sally thought about it, and then sniggered.“You’re right. If anyone in here is crazy enough to go against Fane’s decree to leave Skender alone, it would be Jen.”
“I called you all here so you could hear what Sally and Kara learned from talking to Alice, the gypsy healer that is working with Cain at the Area 51 compound.” Fane drew Sally’s attention back.
“Do we really need a plan?” Myanin asked as she proceeded to clean under her nails with her knife. “I say we just get within zapping distance and, when Cain climbs out like the filthy cockroach he is, we take him down. Boom, done.”
“Boom done is typically how a bomb ends things,” Lilly said. “We don’t need any more mass casualties. For all we know, Cain has instructed his vampires to kill every dormant in that complex if something happens to him.”
Fane nodded at Lilly. “Good point.”
Though Myanin’s suggestion to simply assassinate Cain was tempting in its directness, they knew their mission would not be that easy. Not if they wanted to avoid massive bloodshed.
“We need to get eyes on the inside first. Intel on Cain’s numbers, routines, security. I can send scouts from the pack, but it would help to have someone already in place.” Fane looked at Sally. “Can we trust Alice?”
