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He did not doubt that the Lupine could handle their proverbial dog in the fight.

Amaros gave Marceline the signal, and they followed the black, smoky trail of the Vampires down the back corridor.

Twenty minutes later, after his Coven members cleared a large, lavish dining room full of couture-clad oligarchs stupid enough to have armed themselves with steak knives, with half of them yelling when the elite saw Michaela with her blood, and Avalore with her dirt and blades, and the group of Prime behind them, that the ‘filthy urchin was attacking them, Dispatch from the slums coming to try and take their wealth.’

When a woman slashed at Michaela, it only took his mate to attack and rip out two throats before the horde was screaming and running, trying to get away, only to find themselves surrounded by black smoke and Vampires with gleaming fangs.

Marceline stepped forward, ready to join the fray with Kairos.

“No. We need to get to the control room to ensure the Drahk are clear to enter the airspace. Those harpoon guns need to be disabled.”

“We’ll follow your lead.”

Amaros sent a message to his leaders that he was heading on, and once they’d had their fun to find him, then he circumvented the room, locating the corridor the people were attempting to flee.

One hallway led to another, and another, the place was a veritable maze with one form of extravagant entertainment setting connected to another. Amaros was sure it was specifically designed that way so that unless a person knew where they were going, it would just lead them into a maddening circle.

Finally, they ended up in a silent back hall, with no alarms blaring.

Except for a door and a side hallway, it was oddly plain in a place that was decorated in grotesque opulence.

There were enough signs around the door reading ‘Do Not Enter,’ ‘Only Authorized Personnel,’ ‘Private,’ that made it clear to him that they were finally in the right area.

When he spotted two armed guards coming out of a secured door, Amaros was ready, but they headed in the opposite direction from them. In a blink, he was transported through the narrow opening right before it closed.

He stood in the shadow of the archway and stared down into a massive room that was partially above ground, yet remained more than three floors below.

There were monitors and computers everywhere, some displaying the massacre going on in the ballroom, another the vivacious mutilation of soldiers in the garage, and one monitor was a split screen of rooms where the Fang Warriors were in an ultimate fighting battle with three mutants.

Lastly, he saw three large monitors with four men at the controls, as they displayed the crosshairs and the large tips of four iron spears aimed at the sky, showcased in the odd glow of green night vision.

They were hunting for the Dragons, expecting them.

Digital intelligence, as Amaros had not seen since before the Great Catastrophes.

Which confirmed what the preternatural council world had already suspected, the world leaders had harnessed a small corner of the digital age for themselves, as they realized the world would come to an end.

It was just another way they had starved their people.

As a Vampire and part of the shifter world, Amaros would never understand it, when to him and his kind, particularly after the disasters of the world, they drew together for the betterment and survival of all.

Something else became clear to Amaros as he stood there, cloaked in darkness and planning; this had been the plan.

He doubted they had anything to do with Avalore and Michaela fleeing the lab and leaving the territory, but when they discovered they were gone, the human government began to plan.

They hoped the shifters had found the women.

They hoped the shifters would bring them back.

.. bring the dragons, the protectors of the people, to the human territory.

If they took out the biggest, relatively indestructible ones, then they could control the continent again, eventually the world.

He could tell by the group gathered behind a soundless pane of glass across the way, above the others in the comm center, faces flushed, making wild gesticulations, that they never expected the preternatural council members to unite as one to take them out and seize the human territory.

The dragons may be in the sky, but Fae locked down the front exit and provided a shield over the Dispatch while the Ursine dealt with any situation coming from the providence and trying to bleed into the district.

Sherman. Tell the Drahks I’ve located the comm center. Don’t come out of the skies until I give the all clear.

Yes, Sire. I’ll pass it on.

Amaros reached back for the door handle, sinking further into the darkness, and opened all his mental pathways to his Coven and directed them to him.

Then he reached out to his mate. Michaela.

Love.

Come to me. I will have you at my side for this fight.

I’m headed to you now .

There was no hesitation in her voice, and that filled his heart. Michaela couldn’t move as fast as the Coven leaders, who could transport, but she’d be there soon.

He loved her with everything and wanted to ensure that when this battle was over, she would not be harmed.

He knew that Marceline and Kairos were on the other side of the door; he could feel the distance mentally.

Once Michaela arrived, he’d open the secured door and let his people in so they could attack as one.

Kairos would be a rabid beast and end the lives of so many of them present.

It made Amaros smile to know that the man they treated like he was worth nothing and threw out with the trash would be their end.

I’m here, Amaros.

And so, it begins .