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And needed to be kept confidential.

“Ari is now acting captain,” Craig told the warriors. “He’s called a meeting, so let’s hear what he has to say.”

“Tech teams are tracking the flight path of the chopper,” Tom shared.

“And Bray’s mobile?” Craig asked but Tom shook his head.

Of course he’d destroyed it. It would be the first thing any of them would do if they didn’t want to be found.

Craig cursed. “He’s gone rogue.”

Shit.

The vibe around the room shifted. That changed everything.

Brayden may be able to protect himself—more than all of them—but as the protectors of the race, the SLCs and Ari’s assassins now had three Moretti royals to bring home.

And they would all give their lives to do it.

CHAPTER TWO

Brooklyn Wade checked the vitals on two other vampires who had been caught in the action tonight. Not that they needed much help. Their fast metabolism pushed the toxin out of their systems quickly.

Mostly she was doing it so she didn’t have to face the huge vampires that were taking up all the oxygen in the room.

She really wished they’d leave.

They were very intimidating.

Not that she was going to show them her fear. Ari and Sage had told her she was safe in the castle, and she’d believed them.

It had been a shock learning vampires were real.

After an existential crisis which Ari had said she could only have for twenty-four hours—boy, thanks —she’d agreed to join their team rather than have her memory wiped.

Brooklyn had worked for BioZen for this exact reason. Well, not vampires, though as it turned out, a couple of her former senior colleagues knew about them. She wanted to make a difference to lives and make amends for...well, a mistake she made earlier in her life.

She certainly never thought it would be another intelligent race she’d be helping, but it would be groundbreaking and it was interesting.

Brooklyn didn’t want accolades.

She’d studied science, after training to be a nurse, and as it turned out, both those skillsets were just what Sage Moretti was after. Which is why she’d knocked on her door.

So, she’d taken those twenty-four hours and stared blankly into space all what in the loving fuck and considered her life.

At thirty-five, Brooklyn felt like her life was stuck in a Groundhog Day loop. Her guilt weighed on her shoulders and nothing she’d yet accomplished felt like it made enough of a difference.

Not one big enough to repent for killing her twin brother.

She pushed that thought away as quickly as it arrived and tossed a pair of gloves in the trash.

It wasn’t the first or last time she’d done that. One would say she was an expert. But while Brooklyn could push the guilt and pain down, it never completely went away.

So when faced with the choice of doing something with a private company and so out of the box, she decided to do it.

After asking a million questions.

Ari assured her the vampires in the king’s home would protect her, not harm her.