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“They are human. Someone slaughtered them.”

Yeah, this wasn’t good.

“He got here first,” Jolie said, knowing he’d be well aware of who‘he’was. It looked as if Mathew had beaten them to this relic.

All they could hope now was that he hadn’t gotten it yet. Maybe the humans who lived here with the vampyre society had been smart enough to hide it, and hadn’t told him.

As they moved closer to the house, they felt the ground rumble, and Rinnon knew what was about to happen.

“We have a problem,” he said, as the dead underground began breaking through the dirt, and the humans they’d just walked past began coming back to life.

“He has the relic,” Tommy said. “We’re too late!”

Jolie made a sword appear, and that’s when she saw the doors to the house open, and out came the inhabitants. The vampyres were heading their way, but it was clear they weren’t in control.

Their walking was stilted, slow, and like they were fighting a compulsion.

Mathew was nearby, and he had to be usingThe Vampyre’s CrossandThe Necromancer’s Sword.

Shit.

They were too late.

“Be ready to fight,” Rinnon said, catching movement from his peripheral.

Not far away, the family cemetery gates opened, and so many people were crawling from there graves.

Then, there was laughter.

Oh, they knew who it was.

Rinnon waved his arm, and backup arrived. It was in the form of Alexandre, Vanth, and Lucian. Kiera was there too, but she was hidden.

They didn’t know she survived, and if this got ugly, she’d be their ace in the hole.

Or so he hoped.

On top of that, he called for Death.

Better safe than…sorry.

As they crawled from their graves, Mathew appeared, and beside him was the dead woman he’d reanimated.

Marie Laveau was still under his control—not that it mattered. He had the sword and the cross.

They were going to have a fight.

Moving toward them, Mathew was smiling. The relic appeared in his hand and got larger. He was using it like a cane, trying to appear…dapper.

“Well, well, well. We meet again, Flynn.”

Rinnon said nothing.

Let him think he was the one he was talking to. From deep inside of him, Flynn helped him out.

He has an ego. I was able to kill him because of it. If you humiliate him, he’ll get angry. When Mathew is angry, he makes mistakes. He’s impulsive. That’s why he failed as Jolie’s guardian.

Thank you, Flynn.