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“They talk of creatures breaking into houses, killing indiscriminately, feeding on whatever they can find.

There is a small group of men standing behind me. They look terrified, like they were walking for days.

I pull Jock aside, ask him if we can somehow get the refugees under cover.

“We can try to get them underground. There will be room for a few hundred in the walls and there is the passage to the mountains, the old mine.”

I tell Jock to start moving people as soon as possible while I instruct the guards to keep repelling vampires until the people have left, then to take cover themselves. I make my way over to Castle Grey, closing the gates, locking the windows and calling my sons and the castle staff to the library at the back of the castle.

Sunil arrived at the castle two days earlier, and Ragnar came the day before. Both said their sources warned that it wasn’t safe for vampires anymore in the Capital. I have managed to set up satellite phones as the mobile phones are still down and have been calling everyone I still know and trust for information, but on all accounts, reports are bleak.

My last call is to Ash in the Citadel and he is the one who tells me about the strikes.

“Tempesto is dead, all the main vampires in the city have been destroyed. The mortals moved fast, apparently they have had this technology for years, saving it up, in case something like this happened.” Ash’s voice is muted. “I have been waiting for them but so far, no one has come here.”

“You are not in hiding?” I ask.

He laughs with little humor. “No, dear boy, I have been here for too long already. I don’t want to fight anymore. If my time has come, then so be it.”

I understand what he means. After years of violence and death, my appetite for combat is low too.

“Who is in charge?”

I think of the call I got earlier, warning me to get out of Ginnerlong.

“Dominic has been giving the orders from the capital.”

“I thought he was ill?”

Ash chuckles, “Classic misdirection. Apparently, not ill at all. More like, super organized and making a fool of Tempesto.”

I am relaying this information to the others when we feel a shake in the ground.

“What was that?” Sunil jumps up from the chair where he was sitting. “Did you feel that?”

“We all felt that,” I tell him to calm down while I’m thinking.

“They are hunting down vampires,” Ragnar says darkly. “We need to arm ourselves, stand together.” Layrr agrees and I hear them counting numbers, trying to find allies for their own army.

“No,” I say to them. “We will not be forming an army.”

“But, Father! They are coming for us!”

“Not yet.”

“We know Lord Elgin has been killed, many vampires in the Citadel have been wiped out. Ginny’s club was destroyed!” Sunil starts naming everyone he knows who has died recently. His hair, usually so neatly combed back, is wild and unkempt. He is scared, I can tell.

“Those were all allies of Tempesto,” I point out. “It is widely known that he was acting against us, that we were not in league with him.”

“Don’t be a fool!” Layrr says, losing his temper “This will bring up the old fear of vampires! They won’t distinguish between good and bad vampires! We must act now!”

“You will not talk to me like that!” I say, my voice booming. “I will not tolerate this disrespect!”

They all fall silent.

“We will be fine, as long as we stay put and lie low for a while.”

“No,” Layrr mutters.