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“I’m sorry I led you off and put Finn at risk.”

“You didn’t lead me off. I would have gone anyway. It’s thanks to you noticing the ambush that we got back here in time,” he says.

“I should have known better. Abel has always excelled at manipulating people and knows just how to tear them apart. I’m afraid there might be someone in the VRC who’s one of his own.

They likely told him that you and the other stronger vampires weren’t here yet, so he could strike and hurt us when he knew it’d be safest to do so. ”

“I’m not surprised. We obviously were incapable of taking a stand against them. If the group of us had been here when they attacked, I believe the outcome would have turned out much differently… but then again, with the numbers he has on his side, it might have done nothing,” Marcus says.

“It was retaliation for yesterday, but if we do nothing, how the fuck are we expected to win a fight against him?” Finn asks, sounding quite desperate.

“I don’t know,” Marcus admits. “I would love to tell you that I’m confident that I could rush in and kill them all, but… I’m not sure I’ve ever been less confident in my life.”

“He has strength in numbers… but I have a feeling I know the very guy who can dwindle those numbers down for us,” I say as I look toward the door Mads is behind.

After we make sure everyone is okay, I find myself wandering back to the room Mads is in. Instead of recovering like I assumed he’d be, he’s busy scribbling away on a piece of paper as he sits on the floor. I walk over to him and simply sit beside him.

“Are you planning vampire eradication?” I ask.

“That sounds so… evil. Let’s say vampire ‘poof be gone.’”

“ Does that sound better?” I ask. “It sounds like something Rylee would make up.”

Mads laughs, but my attention shifts when the door opens and Marcus, Finn, Alexei, and Claude enter the room.

“Briar is getting transport set up for you. Brooks and Bentley are figuring out what to do with the remaining VRC personnel. And we came in here to talk,” Finn says. “Mads… please tell me you have an idea.”

Mads looks up from his paper that he’d been dutifully filling. “I do… but it requires us figuring out who in the council we can trust. But first… I need a lab and a whole lot more materials. Can you get me that?”

“Can you give Claude a list?” Marcus asks. “Claude, you could send it with Beatrice. I know she’s trustworthy and she’ll be knowledgeable about where to acquire this stuff.”

“I already have one. I put an assortment of things on there. Some things on the list aren’t even required, but if someone ends up seeing it, they won’t be able to figure out what is used to make the drug or the antidote,” Mads explains as he tears it out of the notebook and hands it to Claude.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can,” Claude says as he zips out of the room, leaving Alexei behind.

The door barely closes before DeGray, Brooks, and Briar slip in.

“Got you the most fashionable of escape routes,” Briar says with a grimace as she lays down a body bag. “So, uhhh, slide on in.”

“Oh fun. Can you hold on to this?” Mads asks as he hands me his notebook. I feel like this is a lot of pressure, but when I look at it, I don’t understand the language or anything else on it. DeGray unzips the bag and Mads slides in.

“Are we heading to the university?”

“Brooks mentioned that we’ll be taking you to a different lab. The university is too open and we wouldn’t be able to discreetly take you inside, so we found you a different lab,” DeGray explains.

“The VRC is at risk, I understand, but I want all of you involved in transporting Mads,” Brooks says. “Right now, the lives of thousands of vampires are in his hands.”

“Oh joy,” Mads says, looking more than a little concerned.

Brooks continues, “The VRC will step back, and I believe that should get Abel to leave us alone. We need more antidote. Just because we have Mads doesn’t mean Abel can’t find someone who’ll figure out how to create an antidote.

I’m sure he has people working on identifying the materials that go into the ammunition, just as Wren’s group has been.

I’ve requested help from Wren’s crew, but Wren has informed me that his higher-ups are refusing to send them out.

I’m… concerned that means Abel has control of some of the higher-ups.

It’s only a matter of time before someone figures out what we have, whether it’s on their side or ours.

But what I do know is that we have to be able to protect ourselves. ”

“Got it,” Marcus says as Claude returns and gives us a thumbs-up.

“I really fucked up,” Mads mutters, seeming anxious.

Brooks lets out a laugh, not because what Mads said was funny but sounding more defeated than anything.

“Mads, three people were shot with the drug, but did you see how many were wounded or dead? Far more than three. It doesn’t matter whether you created the drug or not.

Abel has the manpower and the ability to tear us down even without the ammunition.

We need to stop him… but the problem is… can we?”

“I… have an idea, but so much of it depends on who in the council we can trust. We don’t want unnecessary deaths,” Mads explains.

Brooks nods. “Let’s move you out while we’re still safe. Once we’re done clearing out the whole VRC, I’ll meet you at the lab and we’ll discuss everything in a location where we’re positive no one is listening in.”

Briar zips Mads up, and we carry him out the door, stepping in line with the other medical personnel.

When we reach the exit, there’s a transport vehicle waiting.

Carefully, we carry him inside before getting into it ourselves.

A man I don’t know gets into the driver’s seat, but it’s evident the others trust him as we’re closed into the back and the vehicle starts moving.

We’re quiet for a bit before I notice Marcus looking at me.

“Thanks for making it back to Finn in time,” he says.

“I’m… not quite sure I accomplished much.”

“Yes, but you’re a better fighter than me. I’ve known that for years. Since the very first time you tried to kill me.”

I think back. “When was that?”

Marcus looks at me in shock. “What do you mean ‘when was that?’ You literally… and just… ask when ?”

I watch him for a while, wondering if I killed someone he cared about that I don’t quite recall.

Marcus gives me a look of disbelief. “The village I was staying in, you slaughtered them all.”

Ah. Right. “Yes, and you were the only one I couldn’t kill,” I say.

“They were good people.”

“They were?” I ask, unsure if we’re thinking about the same thing. “What made you think they were good?”

Marcus hesitates. “Are you just going to make me guess or explain yourself? I’m not a lover of games.”

“Were you really not working with them?”

“Working with them to do what, exactly?”

I cock my head, confused how this man could have been involved without even realizing it.

Was he not protecting them? Joining in on it?

Abel had said the village had a vampire assisting them, and when I’d gotten free of him and gone to destroy their lives like they’d destroyed mine, it was easy to see that the only vampire there was Marcus.

Did he really not know?

“They struck a pact with Abel. He would protect them in exchange for humans for Abel to feed on or torture or do whatever the fuck he wanted. It was like they were an ancient civilization sending sacrifices to a god they worshiped.

“My brother and I were only two years apart and he loved jewelry, but he didn’t have the money to get a business started.

So even though I was too young, I posed as him and became a soldier to get some money for us to thrive.

For years, I sent money home in the hope that when his business took off, I could withdraw from the army and be given a chance to live for myself.

“Because of my skills as a fighter, I was treated quite well and quickly moved up the ranks, but at the time the land was at peace, so I was given luxuries many didn’t get.

When I was allowed home, I would help my brother with his business, mostly by transporting his products for him.

I would often take his products to local markets and sell them.

Because they were small, I was able to take handfuls with me while I traveled as a soldier and any money they made, I’d send back to him.

His business began to flourish. He found a wife and had a beautiful daughter, but I was still stuck in the army.

By making a name for myself, I’d made it hard to get away.

There was always a reason they thought it best for me to stay. ”