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But stopping him from taking everyone through the portal wasn’t nothing.

As far as Nick was concerned, it was everything, at least right then.

It felt like the battle half-won, at least.

Nick had his doubts the doppelganger would just kill all the others.

The newborns were wildcards, but newborns were stupid, and not really aware of how to use their various strengths, or protect themselves from their various weaknesses as vampires. A reasonably-sized group of mature, military-trained vamps, especially if armed with vampire-grade weapons, would make short work of them.

But Nick didn’t think it would come to that.

He still didn’t believe the doppelganger would kill his friends.

Nick had his doubts the doppelganger would kill Wynter, especially.

Nick fought to make the thought real. He fought to convince himself the other vampire wasn’t just projecting it at him to confuse him. Nick fought to relax that debilitating, crushing, dread-filled anxiety that had filled his chest ever since he got a good look at Mal’s painting.

He fought to convince himself they still might win this.

But something was wrong.

Nick felt it, even before he realized that the presence of the helicopter hadn’t bothered Nick’s doppelganger at all.

If anything, he seemed… smug.

Just then, soldiers emerged from the trees around where the helicopter landed.

A lot of soldiers.

They surrounded the entire helicopter.

Every one of them Nick saw through the image capture carried a big gun.

CHAPTER33

THE PAINTING REVISITED

They wereinside the painting now.

The painting had stopped being a painting, and had come achingly, painfully to life.

Nick stood at the edge of the trees, just outside of the painting’s frame.

Newborns stood on either side of him.

After they’d captured the helicopter, they’d threatened to shoot Tai, and Malek, if Nick and Morley didn’t surrender themselves. Nick could feel through his mind that he’d been tricked after all. The creature had tricked him. He’d used the connected against him, yet again.

He’d convinced Nick he wouldn’t kill any of the others, but now Nick could see and feel the truth of that, too.

The doppelganger didn’t care about the others.

At the end of the day, Wynter was the only one who mattered to him.

Wynter was the one the other Nick thought he needed.

Then again, he could be lying to Nick again. He could be lying about either thing, or both. Nick couldn’t risk it either way. He couldn’t save Wynter, either way. He thought if he could keep everyone alive, just a little bit longer, that would keep the possibility alive that he might still be able to save at least some of them.

He knew that was delusional, too.