“The Bouchers are off the board for now. Relax, Morren.”
“You’re wrong.”
“We only need twenty-five more, and then we can be through with this entire thing. Eyes on the prize.”
“So…fifty,” Morren said dully. “Twenty-five Vampires and twenty-five mates. That’s fifty.”
“You’re getting soft.”
“I didn’t want to do any of this in the first place.”
“Yet, here you are.”
“Are we done here? I need to be back in Virginia before sunrise. I’ve got meetings all day.”
“We’re done. All of us just need to keep things tight and our heads down for a little longer.”
“You’ll let me know how tonight goes?”
“Yep.”
Dalton reached out slowly and pressed his fingers to my arm. When I met his gaze, I nodded.
We barely made a sound as we entered the room.
Adamson was sitting in an armchair, his head in his hands. Morren looked like he was going to shit himself as he stood near the window, and Keihley’s eyes narrowed in anger when he realized who’d come to visit.
“Rollins,” Morren yelled, taking a step sideways like it would matter.
“If you’re hoping for one of those young bucks to come save you, you’re out of luck,” Chance said cheerfully, his rifle pointed at Morren’s chest. “They’re a little tied up at the moment.”
“You should really train them better,” Ian added nonchalantly.
“Who the hell are you?” Keihley asked.
“Fuck off, trash,” Ian shot back.
“Dalton,” Adamson said, rising slowly from the chair. “What are you doing here?”
“Funny thing, that,” Dalton replied softly. “Thought I was coming to show Chance and Danny that my old friend couldn’t be involved in this mess. Turns out, we got an education instead.”
“You don’t understand.”
Adamson buckled as a bullet from Dalton’s rifle struck his kneecap.
“That’s gotta sting,” Chance said, making a clicking noise with his tongue. “Uh-uh.” He gestured at Morren with his rifle. “You stay right where you are.”
“You’re fucking dead,” Keihley blustered. “I’m a general in the United States Vampire Command. Do you think?—”
I looked away as Chance’s rifle jerked beside me, but not in time to miss the way Keihley’s head exploded.
“We only need two, right?” Chance asked, his tone darker but still eerily cheerful. “I mean, two should be plenty, right?”
“Chance,” Morren said. “We don’t?—”
“You’re not going to remind me of your rank like Keihley did, are you?” Chance asked. “Because that might piss me off.”
I was struggling to keep myself centered.
