Jeff emerged from the stairwell with his brown hair a bit messy from him running his fingers through it. Cian noted the slight limp the man walked with. He knew Jeff suffered phantom pains. Yet, the hunter never let his disability slow him down. “Rachoń called. After she heard we got Etzli, she was more than a little ecstatic.” Jeff strode over to study the bank of monitors.
Aimee face was somber as she watched the bits of magic floating across the map of Austin on the table before her. “They’re still in the clear.”
“If we can get Etzli to tell us where The Summoner is located that will be a big plus on our side.” Jeff took a seat nearby, his phone still in his hands.
“If The Summoner doesn’t immediately relocate once he...or is it she?...realizes we have Etzli,” Aimee pointed out.
“It sucks that we can’t go to the government to help us.” Alexia swiveled her chair back and forth while typing on her keyboard.
“We all know how that worked out for the Washington group that tried to get help,” Cassandra said sadly.
“Guantanamo.” Jeff sighed. “I can’t believe they got pegged as terrorists. Or maybe the government knows. Maybe they don’t care. Maybe they’re in on it. Maybe they want The Summoner to win. Who knows?” Jeff ran his hands through his hair again, exhaling loudly.
“What does it matter? We’re on our own. We already know that. When it comes to dealing with The Summoner directly, we’re it. There’s no point lamenting that fact anymore.” Aimee folded her arms over her breasts.
“The hot witch has a point,” Cassandra agreed.
“We’ll deal with Etzli, get the information we need, and go from there,” Cian said in a firm voice.
There was a long beat of silence, then Jeff said, “Holy shit, we got Etzli! Does that blow anyone else’s mind?”
“I won’t believe it until I see it,” Cassandra admitted.
Cian checked his phone again when he felt it buzz. “They’ll be here soon. We do have the cell prepped, right?”
“Benchley is putting the finishing touches on it,” Jeff answered.
“Cian, how are we going to keep her from pulling her slick assassin moves?” Cassandra tilted her head, curiosity in her eyes.
“Silver chains. And if that doesn’t work, I’ll chop off her arms and legs,” Cian answered simply.
“For real?” Cassandra’s eyes widened.
“Of course.” Cian stood, stretched and lightly stroked his daughter’s hair with one hand. “If she attempts to break free, I’ll do it.”
Cassandra opened her mouth, then shut it abruptly.
“This is a war, Cass,” Cian reminded her.
“No mercy,” Aimee agreed. “Etzli would never show it to us.”
“And when we get the information we need?” Alexia asked.
“We kill her,” Jeff said, also standing.
The thought of destroying a woman he had once cared about should have bothered him, Cian thought, but it didn’t. Etzli would kill all of them and take Amaliya to The Summoner if she could.
Cian and Jeff exited the room together, walking down the narrow hallway to another room. It was actually another one of Cian’s resting places, but they had altered it to hold whomever they managed to snatch. That it was Etzli made Cian especially nervous.
“Do you think she’ll talk?” Jeff asked in a lowered voice.
“Honestly, no. But we’ll find a way to get the information out of her. We have to.”
Jeff stopped in mid-stride and turned to face Cian. Arms folded, the human looked dour. “If we find out where The Summoner is from Etzli, we’ll have to attack soon.”
Cian nodded. “As soon as possible.”
“Which means we should get the information out of her tonight. If we don’t, there’s a chance The Summoner will move locations.” Jeff fidgeted a little. “Do you think we can do it?”
“We don’t have a choice, Jeff. This is our best break so far.”
“Is Amaliya sure she can actually carry out her plan?”
“She’s certain of it. If we can rescue Bianca, we will have The Summoner at a great disadvantage. If she can untether The Summoner from Bianca’s body, he’ll be a ghost again, and Samantha thinks she can possibly banish him.” Cian knew it was all conjecture, but it was all they had. There was really no way to plan in certainties. They’d have to wing it. He didn’t like it any more than Jeff did, but didn’t see where they had a choice.
“I hate this,” Jeff sighed, rubbing his face with his hands. “If The Assembly hadn’t fallen apart they might have been able to figure out how to eliminate him.”
“I know you trusted your vampire hunting buddies, but they were ill-prepared for all of this in the end. How many groups have simply gone quiet?”
“Too many. They’re out of the game now. We’re it.”
Resting his hand on Jeff’s shoulder, Cian looked him in the eye. “The best people to deal with what is happening are already here in Austin. I do believe that.”
“I still wish we could get help from the government, the military, the cops.” Jeff leaned against the wall, appearing exhausted. “I didn’t tell the others, but one of the groups in England also tried to raise the alarm with the government. No one has heard from them since. After what happened to the group in Washington and now the English one, I’m really starting to wonder if the vampires have some of the governments in their back pockets.”
Cian knew it was a distinct possibility. “So if the veil falls...?”
“Some of the people in power will end up vampires and continue to be in power. That’s what I’m guessing. Or am I just paranoid?”
“You might be right. We’ve been a bit naive about things since the beginning. Remember when we thought it was a fluke that The Summoner had made Amaliya? Now we know better. When he set her free after she rose, it was all a test. To see if he had accomplished what he set out to do.” Cian mirrored Jeff’s posture by leaning against the opposite wall. “Maybe he’s had this planned much longer than we think. Consider the abduction of Etzli over a hundred years ago. The rings of Lucifer are worn by his followers. His exclusion of me and Rachoń, the most ‘human’ of his offspring.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Jeff let out a harsh exhalation. “It’s just he’s had how long to prepare compared to our measly four months?”
“You think we’re going to fail, don’t you?” Cian wasn’t surprised. Jeff was pragmatic and intelligent. It didn’t take much thought to come to that conclusion. Yet, Cian believed they would somehow beat The Summoner. So much had changed since Amaliya had come into his life. She was a catalyst for so much that he believed she would continue to play a valuable part of what would happen next.
“I won’t lie. I wish I could take Sam and run. But there is nowhere to go, is there? The veil falls and hell comes to earth. I just wish my dad was here. I feel like he’d figure all this out. He’d know what we need to do.”
“Did you ask Sam if he’s around?”
“Yeah. No sign of him or Innocente.” Jeff’s thick brows drew into a hard line over his eyes. “I sometimes feel like we’re abandoned by the whole damn world.”
Cian grinned. “But we’ll save it anyway, right?
“Because we’re the good guys?”
“Because we love two amazing women that we want to have futures with.”