Page 27

THE VAMPS BEHIND THE CURTAIN

SYDNEY

I don’t want to feel bad for Sebastian because his kind left the other supernaturals to fend for themselves. Even if the vampires believed humans to be dangerous and untrustworthy, they aided them in rounding up all the other species in this country. They’ve all been living a much better standard of living than damn near everyone else as a result. It’s not that they're out lending a hand to the suffering, either.

Vampires only care about their own, and often, not even that.

“When the virus hit, the Council had months of talks about what to do while the humans ran around fighting their own safety measures. Many supe races felt if they were too stupid to heed their own doctors, we shouldn’t intervene with our magic or more specialized technologies to save them. After all, many species go extinct on this floating rock and humans have been one of the biggest causes of that. Why not let nature cleanse the planet on her own?”

Rory rubs the back of his neck as he gives me a sheepish look. “Magic users and Fae definitely subscribed to that philosophy in large numbers in the US. They were overridden by the large numbers of overseas contingents who work more closely with the populace.”

“Demons agreed that they would either save themselves or end up fulfilling their bargain, so we didn’t support the movement to reveal ourselves."

I groan, looking up at the ceiling with a heavy sigh. “As much as I despise them now, I would have argued with you before the camps. My father was part of the revelation movement immediately because he thought if everything was in the open, it would make us safer in the end.”

The vampire arches a brow. “Didn’t work out like that, did it?”

“You know it didn’t,” I growl softly. “Most of the early supporters of the Unveiling were killed in the First Sweeps by your kind.”

He has the grace to look regretful, at least. After he scratches his chin, he rakes his teeth over his lower lip. I have a feeling I’m not going to like the next part of his tale. “Yes, they were. When the dissenting factions were overruled and the Unveiling was televised, it became clear to the vampiric elders around the world that it was an enormous mistake. If you remember, for a small amount of time, the humans who were saved with supernatural methods sang our praises.”

“They did,” Thad says softly. “I remember singing on TV and all these hospitals bragging about their supe workers doing miraculous interventions.”

Sebastian nods. “But the virus spread too quickly in the most densely populated cities and the death count climbed due to Taterman’s rhetoric… The tide turned on us all very quickly. His claim that we brought the virus in to get rid of the humans took the internet by storm. Within mere weeks, the world was on fire with infected humans and the anti-supe sentiment climbed. By the time that fool seemed to have this country fooled, my people were done with waiting.”

“So you abandoned everyone ? Women, children, elderly… all of them were killed in botched raids and in the first camps. How do you even sleep at night?”

His gaze narrows and he whips his head to glare at me. “I barely sleep and it’s not because I’m a vampire or because there were casualties of choices made by other species who outnumbered my own.”

Ooookay, then. I hit a sore spot.

“Your trauma isn’t mine to ask for, but I get it.”

We all look at Dante and he shrugs. “The timbre of his voice when he lashed out spoke of a deep, wrenching agony in his soul. None of us know him well enough to demand it be revealed, so I will honor his privacy until it is necessary to our survival."

“You’re surprisingly emotionally intelligent for a storm dragon,” Sebastian says, looking impressed. “Your kind are brash and blunt, with no use for touchy-feely emotional shit.”

The dragon rolls his eyes. “We would all be better off if we disposed of the stereotypes our communities, the humans, and the media have portrayed other supernaturals as. Much of it is based on bias and misinformation. Dragons are no less emotional than any other kind; don’t be an idiot.”

Pinching the bridge of my nose, I squeeze my eyes shut briefly then nod in agreement. “That’s probably a good idea. I have a lot of baggage from my insulated, myopic father to shed, and I’m sure everyone else does, too. We can’t work together if we don’t put all that shit in the trash and start fresh.”

“Syd, that’s the best thing you’ve said all day. I’m proud of you, sweet pea,” Huck tips his hat at me and I ignore the flutter in my stomach at his praise and handsome grin.

I hate when he does that good old boy Southern shit; it makes me feel so damn weird.

“I’d be happy to, if you’re still willing after this part,” Sebastian says. He waits for me to nod at him, and then continues. “As I said, our elders realized that this Pandora’s box couldn’t be resealed. Perhaps many years in the past, as we had in Europe when one of our kind rose to fame, but not in this global media age. Supernaturals were going to be hunted, as humans do when they scapegoat a race for their ails, and we had to decide what we would do to keep our people alive. The answer was simple to the oldest vamps—we would join the humans’ side and infiltrate their ranks by pretending to be on their side.”

“ Wait a damned minute ,” Thad snarls as he lets go of my hand and leans forward. “If that was true, they wouldn’t have joined the sweeps and killed people left and right. Stop trying to rewrite history so Sydney will like you.”

“For fuck’s sake, Calvin, let me finish!” The grouchy vampire rakes his hands through his hair, pushing off the wall to pace across the floor as he speaks. “I’m not saying we were heroes—though, I suspect the original intent of the vampiric conclave who made the decision was exactly that. However, as with every governing body, the wealthiest of the covens figured out how extremely profitable it was to ingratiate ourselves with the humans. The plan for the sweeps came along and instead of doing what I truly believe the elders planned to do—hide supes across the country—the local coven heads sent their enforcers and criminals to eliminate the threats to their money flow.”

I blink, looking at him in surprise. “You think they wanted to Anne Frank supes, but the rich dudes decided to kill anyone who might succeed in convincing humans to free us?”

“Yes.”

I fall back against the couch, my expression dumbstruck. The difference between what Sebastian knows and what the supernatural world knows is vast. “But… Why wouldn’t the elders tattle on them? Why not out the bad actors and redeem your kind? Why let it go on?”

“Because the billionaire assholes—including my father—entombed them before they could.”

“ What?! ”

Huck’s incredulity shocks everyone. Since I have no idea what that means beyond simple extrapolation, I wait for someone to explain. The demon shivers a bit, wiggling in his seat before he turns to look at me. “Some supe species’ elders are so fucking old that you can’t really kill them. Djinns, bloodsuckers, some demon types, demi-gods, Fae.. lotta those kinds of folk. They’re basically immortal once they hit certain ages and the only way to ‘defeat’ them is to pull a Poe on ‘em.”

“Like… Amontillado?” I squeak. “Wall them up somewhere alive and let them suffer forever?”

“On the nose, sweet pea. It’s the worst non-death I can imagine and I’ve seen a lot of torture in Hell. Entombing someone also means you have to make sure no dumbfuck stumbles on the site and opens it like in that Egyptian movie. What was that the twins stole, Thad?”

“The Mummy,” the bear says. “Damn fine flick even if the humans don’t know their asses from their elbows.”

I remember watching that when the speckled bear twins in Thad’s sleuth got a hold of it—everyone in it was beautiful.

“Best movie for realizing you’re bi in the entire human catalog,” Sebastian chuckles as he lands in one spot and leans on the wall again. “But you’re right; it’s drivel mostly.”

None of this is helpful and I need them to get back on track. The way Rory is looking at the others in interest is making me oddly flushed. “Okay, fine. Your father is part of the actual evil villain vamps, but most of them… are not?”

“Not willingly,” he replies softly. “Coven leaders and sires have a great deal of power over vampires in their groups, especially childer. Whether by birth or by bite, your sire—and by extension all the way to the first one still living—can force you to do damn near anything they want. Our power structure is very… primal. Since the camps, covens are now geographically based and new residents must swear allegiance to the leader when they’re transferred in. If they don’t, they won’t live long.”

“So fucked up,” Rory mutters.

“Are you saying the magic folk don’t force their kind to do rituals for similar reasons, Stormbringer?”

The question is valid and the blond mage sighs. “Yeah, they do. But it doesn’t give them like… mind powers over the newbies. Your people enslave each other as much as the humans do.”

“Demons also?—”

“Leave us out of this!”

“Fuck, guys, this isn’t helping?—”

Pushing to my feet, I take a deep breath then shout, “ Shut. Up! ”

Everyone stops, looking at me with wide eyes. I wait for them all to put away whatever damn fangs or claws they were sprouting, then I put my hands on my hips as I glare at them. “We will lose if we keep doing this. That’s what they want, right? They’ve got powerful dudes with a useless girl in a mixed group that will be a golden cow for their audiences to watch fall apart and get sacrificed in the first round. They want us to fail even when we shouldn’t based on power and skills.”

The guys frown, looking at one another for a moment before finally Huck braves the silence. “Syd’s right. There’s a lot of same species teams in this camp and they purposefully brought y’all and many others to fill in the gaps. Those motherfuckers are stackin’ the decks on this thing and they’re hopin’ like hell to have fireworks within the mixed teams so they get ratings. That’s why there’s all this media shit being set up for us.”

Thank fuck someone gets it.

“Sebastian, if what you’re saying is true, why hasn’t the Council intervened?”

His laugh is dry as he gives me a pitying look. “Sydney, the Councils outside of the FSHA haven’t been allowed to speak with those inside the borders for four years. They don’t know how bad it is here and the ones here? Either the leaders have gone to ground to avoid capture or they’ve been sent to lockdown sections of camps like Stormbringer so their kind can’t revolt. Those too powerful to put amongst others are kept in a secret prison somewhere in the southern states.”

“A secret prison? Is that where the elders are entombed?” Thad asks, looking shocked. “Like… all of them?”

“Maybe,” the vampire shrugs. “I only know as much as either my father has admitted to me directly or what I’ve picked up in meetings—whether by eavesdropping or being in attendance. I’m fairly certain the vampires in charge have contacts amongst other supernaturals. They’re making too much money and living too comfortably to care what happens to the ‘rabble’ at this point. Accepting the humans’ ridiculous restrictions doesn’t make a lot of difference when you’re perfectly comfortable in your mansions, fat and happy, now does it?”

My entire world view has just flipped upside down and I have absolutely no idea how I’m going to process this—damn that fucking vampire back to Hell.