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“I love you more.”

“Hmm… I don’t know about that,” I say.

“Well I do!”

“Nah, I do,” I tell her, and I end the call before she can say it again, which I know will get her riled up. I hand the phone back to DeGray. “Thank you.”

“Of course,” he says.

We pull up to the council hall, and I look at the others before they can get out of the vehicle. “I really can do this alone. All of you don’t have to risk your lives and your happiness.”

“You’re not going to make us feel sorry for you and forgive you by dying a hero and all of that shit,” Alexei says. “We’re in this together.”

“Let’s go,” Marcus orders.

I don’t know what else to say, so I just trail after them.

We meet Brooks and Orin at the door while Finn joins Chief Burns, who will be staying outside with him.

Callum, seeing us, hurries over. “What the hell is this that I heard about the VRC being attacked? What happened?”

Leona simply walks on by as I watch her, feeling confident that there’s a reason she doesn’t care to hear about it.

“We’re hoping to discuss that with the council,” Claude says as I see Harris hovering nearby, trying to listen in without getting too close and having to face my wrath.

“Where is Mads? You found him, right?” Callum asks.

“Mads was killed in the attack on the VRC,” Marcus says, his eyes on Finn who is walking with Briar and the chief.

“I heard he shot himself,” Ha-Joon says. “Is that true?”

Arrington, who has just walked up, looks at him in disbelief. “Mads… fucking Mads shot himself? Why the fuck would he have shot himself?”

“We’ll discuss it inside,” Marcus says. “Is everyone here?”

“Most are…” Callum responds. “I’m still reeling. Are you sure Mads did that?”

“Come on, we’ll explain what happened in front of everyone,” Marcus says.

We head inside the building, and I feel like I’m willingly crawling into that dark box. It’s quite smothering in here when Mads isn’t with me. When did I get so dependent on him to make me feel less shitty?

The moment I enter the room, everyone stops what they’re doing to stare at me, but none of them demand I leave.

Instead, I walk around the table to the far side so that I’m facing the door and will see Abel the second he walks in.

Instead of clumping together, the members of the VRC and Orin are situated in different areas so they can inject those around them with the antidote while I, hopefully, distract Abel and his people.

It might not be enough, but we have to try.

“I’m hoping you’ll also explain what happened to Vivian?” Arrington asks.

“We will,” Marcus says. “Is this everyone?”

Claude’s phone vibrates, and when he tilts it toward me, I see that it’s a text from Finn that says, “Abel is here. He’s coming inside with over twenty vampires, but he’s left a significant number out here.

It’s hard to tell, but Briar believes there are at least forty. Could be more that we don’t see.”

Right on cue, I can hear people entering the building, moving toward the room we’re currently inside as I feel completely boxed in even though the area is quite large. The door swings open and Abel steps inside along with at least twenty-five vampires.

Abel’s eyes are almost immediately on me and the instant they lock on, that irritating smile just blooms across his face.

“Fucking hell, Ender, it’s a pleasure to see that you’ve come.

Are you here to play nice? Or are you here to disrupt shit?

You had to have assumed I’d be here, so were you hoping to see me? ”

I say nothing as he smirks at me, looking pleased with himself.

“Abel?” Callum asks, looking surprised. “I thought you were removed from the council.”

“Can you really remove me from something I created?” Abel asks as he reaches out and grabs the back of Callum’s head. “This… all of this… is mine.”

And then he slams Callum’s head down on the table. The sound of bones breaking makes everyone in the room fall still. When he pulls Callum’s head up, Callum looks terrified as blood pours from his broken nose.

“I created the council, and I am taking control of it. And if anyone in this room has a problem with that, I’d love to hear it. The VRC has already seen how little control they have. Would you like to share what happened?”

Marcus remains silent, likely trying to see how many are on Abel’s side.

“I used my resources to draw you all to the US so we could talk. I mean… what better timing than after my dear Ender killed Addison, who was very important to me.”

“Well, you killed the rest, didn’t you?” I ask.

“Addison merely removed those she no longer needed.”

“And I no longer needed her. I found that fair,” I say.

Abel’s grin tells me that he didn’t find it as fair as I did. “Cute. I am here to explain that I will be retaking control of all councils.”

“Y-You can’t do that,” Harris stammers.

“I very much can,” Abel says, cutting the man’s head off as quick as that. It’s so fast that most people don’t even realize what’s happened until his head hits the table. I keep an eye on the ones who draw back, but some, like Leona, do not. “Does anyone else have any issues with this?”

Deafening silence fills the room. A few look at Marcus like they really think the VRC should be doing something about this.

“Why are you even playing with the VRC?” a woman from the council asks Abel.

“Or Ender,” Leona adds. “Ender has killed countless of your children, and you just forgive him for it?”

“I do,” Abel says. “He could kill you right now, and if it meant he’d join my side, I wouldn’t give a shit.”

This is obviously not the answer Leona is looking for, but when she’s willingly working with a psychopath like him, I’m not quite sure how she could possibly be surprised.

“What do you hope to gain out of this?” Callum asks, and I have to hand it to the man. I didn’t think he’d be someone who’d speak up while the blood from Harris’s head runs down the table toward him.

Abel is visibly enjoying the tension that has coated the room.

“Honestly, it doesn’t fucking matter. But I’m feeling good today, so I’ll answer your stupid questions.

Well… I was feeling better before Mads fucking shot himself.

But I’m still feeling good because it’s become evident how insignificant those who stand up against me actually are.

There is no one in this room with true power besides me.

I have played a long fucking game sliding the pieces into place, removing those who are insignificant to me.

Most of you were sent by higher-ups who are already on my side.

They sent you, believing you had strengths that could benefit me.

So this is your chance. And this is the only chance you’re going to get. ”

His eyes shift up to me. “I’m speaking about all of you. This is your last chance.”

I smirk at him.

Of course that irritates him. Everyone in this room could drop to their knees in front of him and offer their throats and still, his eyes would only be on me.

“Ender, come on. You really think you can take me down? You really fucking think—surrounded by all of these people—you could kill me? I saw the way you cared for Mads. I saw that you were willing to risk yourself for him and still, death is all that found him. Everyone you care about dies. You try to fight so fucking hard against what is laid out before you when you need to embrace it.”

Still, I say nothing, and this seems to piss him off. With a growl, he throws a woman out of her chair and she hits the ground hard enough I hear bones break as he starts toward me. This is what we needed, to get him away from the door so he can’t quickly leave and we have time to stop him.

The moment he’s fixated on me, Marcus will kick off the plan and the chain of events will fall into place.

The only question is… will they fall right?

Abel rounds the table, and I see Marcus nod. There are many in this room now who might see what we’re up to, so I step forward and slam one of his men into the wall, causing all eyes to immediately focus on me.

“I would rather die than join you.”

“You’ve always said this, Ender. Again and again, you repeat the same shit. Yet you did as I asked. You killed for me.”

“You pushed me out of my control,” I snarl, my attention fully on Abel. Discreetly, I stab myself with the antidote as I throw someone’s phone at him. He smacks it out of the way and one of his vampires goes for me.

I grab him by the throat and Abel does nothing while I crush it. Others try to fill his place but Abel growls at them.

“Do not touch him,” he snaps.

They immediately pull back, well aware that if they don’t listen, they’ll find a fate similar to Harris. I think they’re beginning to realize this sick fascination Abel has with me, and that even after so many years, none of them rank above me.

I hear something hit the table and then combust. That snags Abel’s attention.

He’s been so fixated on me that he has absolutely no idea what the others have been doing.

They’re so inconsequential to him that he hasn’t even bothered to look up.

It’s not until the canister is set off, tossing the poison into the air, that he seems to realize that things are wrong.

He’d never fathom that we might risk our lives, so what would he have to fear bringing his own men and women into this place?

The ones closest to the canister just drop. A few turn, like they’re going to run for the door, but none of them ever reach it.

“No… no, no. What the fuck have you done?” Abel yells as he rushes for the door. I slam into him, but he throws me off just as fast. How the fuck is he so strong? It’s like the drug doesn’t even affect him at all.