Everyone is silent as she speaks. It’s a truth they must’ve known in their hearts, a truth that has been created over hundreds, maybe thousands of years. And if we’re all in awe of its reverence, Asher certainly is not.
“Damn you. Damn you all.”
He leaves the room, shutting the door behind him. The Asher seat stands empty.
After a few moments, Lilith says, with a wicked smile, “Shall we call a vote as to Victor’s earlier proposition?”
Hands are raised. Without Asher and with me, the vote is eight to six in favor.
“We shall each send a child to Denver,” Lilith says. “One who can fight. But to gather an army of Lessers to accompany them will take time.”
“Which is a luxury we do not have,” Victor says. “We must act quickly to stop the creation of more Infected Day Walkers.”
“You speak truth. What do you recommend, then?”
“Often, during the war, a small group of Old Family could do more than an entire army of Lessers. Our purpose is clear: to destroy the V-Processing center. I can achieve that with fourteen Old Family.”
“And no Lessers?”
“We’ll be able to move faster without them. Meanwhile you can begin assembling the Lessers and working on a means to ensure we have adequate blood. When the time comes and we have to face Sin’s army, they’ll be ready.”
“I agree with your assessment,” Lord Carrollton says. “As this began in Los Angeles, under my son’s watch, it seems only fitting that Richard command those we send to do our bidding.”
Richard bows his head. “I would be honored.”
“Are there any objections to Richard leading the charge into Los Angeles?” Lord Paxton asks.
Silence.
“So it shall be. And, Victor, as we have you to thank for the V-Process—”
“I’m representing the Valentines,” Faith announces.
Victor comes out of his seat. “Faith, I can’t expect you—”
“Denver needs you.”
Looking at her, I also suspect she doesn’t want to let Richard out of her sight.
“And what of the Montgomerys?” Lord Romanelli asks.
“She is alone,” Lilith says. “She is exempt from this.”
“If she sits on the Council, if she has a vote, she is not exempt,” Lord Paxton says. “She must go to Los Angeles or relinquish her seat on the Council.”
I angle my chin. “I’ll go to Los Angeles.”
Beneath the table, Victor squeezes my hand. I know he’s not happy about this, but I’m grateful that he doesn’t say anything to undermine my authority on the Council. He knows as well as I do that I have to be seen as strong.
“We should be able to have our representatives arriving in Denver within three nights,” Lord Paxton says.
Three nights? Then I’ll be heading back toward hell’s gates.
Chapter 15
As soon as the Council adjourns, we head out. We don’t even bother to drop by the hotel to get our things. We have everything we need, everything of importance. We’re not going to stop off at Xavier’s either. We’re going to drive straight through.
“That didn’t turn out exactly as I expected,” Victor says, and frustration vibrates in his voice.
“The truth is,” Faith says, “someone has to keep an eye on Richard, make sure he behaves. I’m better equipped to do that than you.”
His jaw clenches. He’s not upset with Faith. He’s upset with me.
“You should have stepped off the Council,” he says in a flat voice. “Without Asher there, we had the votes to go to war.”
“I proved that I had the right to represent the Montgomerys. That means at the table and in battle.”
“And when we battle humans again? What then, Dawn?”
“With a seat on the Council, I’ll die before I’ll let that happen again.” Reaching across, I lay my hand over his where it’s gripping the steering wheel so hard that I can see the whites of his knuckles. “Victor, if I had sacrificed my place on the Council to avoid going to Los Angeles, I would have proved what many of them believed: that I wasn’t worthy to be there in the first place.”
“And how do you think Clive is going to take your returning to Los Angeles? Are you going to make up some story about why you have to go?”
I grow melancholy as I watch the skyline of the city grow smaller and smaller in my side view mirror. I wanted the vampires to be worthy of defeating us, of being more than they are. But just like the humans, they’re struggling to survive. Like the humans? Not like us.
Because now I’m neither human nor vampire, but trapped between the two. I’m not sure where I’ll fit in when we reach Denver.
“No,” I say somberly. “I’m going to tell him the truth.”
As usual my credentials get us through the gate, past the narrow-eyed suspicious guards. But as we roll through Denver, I can sense the thick tension in the air. Occasionally I see the bright orange flames from a large fire pushing up against the night sky as though its goal is to devour the stars.
A few people are out, running, darting through the streets. I hear screams, shouts.
“What’s going on?” I ask, but then someone charges toward the car, trash can in hand.
Victor swerves the car just in time, his vampire reflexes missing the pedestrian who throws the metal tin at the car, where it bangs off the hood. He was aiming for the windshield.
I turn around in my seat to see him raising his fists in anger and others joining him. In their hands are their weapons of war: crowbars, baseball bats, and lit torches.
We round the corner and I see an old junker’s shop where I once went with Tegan to get her phone repaired. The front window is smashed, people running in and out, holding their stolen goods tightly to their chests. The looters make quick work of everything, like ants eating a rodent to the bone. Little remains but empty shelves.
“This looks bad,” Richard says. “I’ve seen some riots in my days, but this one—”
Splat!
Rotten fruit hits one of the side mirrors and Faith noticeably gags.
“Let’s just get to the Agency in one piece,” I say.
A huge explosion makes the night seem like day for a few seconds. I look upward and see the fiery smoke churning out of the Works. A careless worker? Sabotage? But why?
Victor speeds up and it takes all his concentration not to hit the rioting pedestrians who wander aimlessly through the roads, unreadable signs of protest in their hands.
We park in the Agency garage and go inside. Although the guards know me, they still call Clive to get his okay to send us up.
Clive looks weary, downtrodden as we step into his office.
“Dawn,” he says, his voice rough and scratchy.
“Clive, what’s happening?”
“I’m losing control of the city.” He walks over to the wall of blinds and hits a button. They begin to retract slowly in a motorized fashion, starting at the middle and moving apart, giving us a good view of Denver. The vast city, with its maze of structures and surrounding wall, has its own mood. And the mood now is chaos.
The fires I saw from the street are more visible from this height. Portions of the city are aglow. Moving closer to the window, I press my hand against the cool glass as though I can erase what I’m seeing.
“You remember when I said Eris may have been waiting before she struck?” Clive begins. “Well, I think her waiting is over. The Day Walkers are everywhere. More than we knew, more than we could have imagined. People are terrified. They hear rumors that there is a nest of vampires in an abandoned building and they set fire to it. Without evidence. The fire department is having a difficult time keeping up. The Night Watchmen are fighting with citizens as much as with vampires. We don’t have the staff or the resources. I’ve never wanted vampire intervention, but now we need it. Tell me the Council is sending help.”