Page 112

“But he'll let out all the demons, the monsters of the pit. . . ” Alexia's voice faded. “Of course, he'd love that. ”

“So he wants to destroy the world,” Cassandra said, slightly shrugging. “Great. ”

Aimee looked several shades paler and her hand clutched Cassandra's tightly. “So we stop him. ”

“But how?” Sergio asked. “We're just a bunch of. . . uh. . . ”

“Fuck ups? Rejects?” Amaliya offered.

“Speak for yourself. I'm pretty awesome,” Eduardo retorted.

“Some vampires will help him, you know,” Rachon said grimly.

“And you?” Cian stared into her eyes.

Rachon shook her head. “I love my family. He was right about that. And some members of my family aren't vampires. I don't want them to die. ”

“What about you?” Sergio asked Cian. “Do you want an eternal night?”

Cian said simply, “No. ”

“I say we send out what we know to the hunters and get a coalition going. We need to track down these rings and keep them from him,” Cassandra said, thumping the table with her fist.

“If we do that he'll know that we figured it what he's up to,” Amaliya said, her hands nervously combing through her long hair. “He'll come for us. ”

“He's going to come for you anyway,” Samantha said, resting her hand lightly on Amaliya's shoulder. “At some point, he'll come for you, because it's obvious he tried to make you and Bianca for a reason. Now that he's in her body, he's going to be coming for you. ”

Amaliya looked at Samantha worriedly. “What do you mean?”

“He must need another necromancer to help him pull off whatever he means to do,” Samantha answered.

“She's right. Why else would he have tried to make you and Bianca?” Jeff closed the book gently and sighed. “It makes perfect sense that he needs you. ”

“So we have pieces of his puzzle that he will come for,” Cian said.

“Yeah,” Jeff answered.

“Then we'll be ready for him,” Cian said firmly.

“We create a coalition then. ” Rachon’s jaw set with determination. “And we stop him. ”

“We have no other choice,” Cian agreed.

“We fight,” Cassandra said firmly.

“Until we die,” Eduardo said with a flash of teeth.

“Or win,” Aimee amended.

“Like Buffy and the Scoobies,” Samantha said in a perky voice.

Jeff gave her an amused smile and she grinned at him.

Taking Amaliya's hand, Cian gazed into her eyes. “Nothing will take you from me. ”

Pressing her lips to his fingers, Amaliya nodded. “I won't let him take me. ”

“So let's get to planning. . . ” Jeff said, and ignored his own wildly beating heart.