I run my hand over my face.

“Shera mentioned Violet dropped her when the beta got in between you and Violet. I should have considered something like this happening,” I concede, shutting my eyes and wishing we could start this day over.

There’s a long moment of silence, and I watch the vampire continue to stroke her cheek with all his attention and affection.

He’s planning to die tonight.

We’re probably all going to die, and there will be nothing we can do to save Violet.

“She never runs away,” I finally say.

“She staked vampires after they presumed her dead. She charged wolves and gave the omegas time to flee. She broke a Van Helsing coffin and killed a barnful of wolves. She stood in the middle of an endless battlefield, while we fended off the horde. She flew toward my monster in a den of wolves. She dropped to her knees in front of Idun and took a beating for a stupid fucking shifter. We should have seen this coming,” he says on a tired breath.

It goes quiet again, and I move closer to Violet, reaching over the salt line to lace my fingers with hers.

She smiles in her sleep, and I hear her whisper our names.

“Good dreams?” Arion asks me quietly, a small smile tugging up one corner of his lips.

“The best I could give her, in hopes she wouldn’t fight the internal illusion. Some of my best work, actually. In her head, she managed to beat Idun, and now we’re all rewarding her,” I say, feeling the exhausting weight of endless dread settle heavily on my chest.

His eyes meet mine.

“We were fools, weren’t we?” he asks.

“Of course we were. She was the first thing to give us all hope for something both better and different in ages, and…”

I don’t bother finishing the sentence. We know better than to hope. Hell, the vampire’s never even bothered hoping for something else.

“The storm is terrible. At least that buys us some time to enjoy this a little longer. I dread to learn what Idun has in store, and she’s not fucking around anymore. Idun TV is off the air.”

He shrugs a shoulder at my comment, and then he stands to his feet.

“Where the hell are you going, vampire?”

“I have fifteen fucking missiles. I’m going to evacuate the town, and then I’m going to at least try to blow the bitch up. I’m not going down without at least one last punch from the useless arsenal I built. When you hear the sirens sound, you take Violet and get the fuck out with the humans. Stay hidden until we all return. Or, if she buries us, see if you can find a fucking way to dig us up. At least one needs to hide.”

“So it’s me? My illusions are by far the strongest they’ve ever been, as of late, vampire. You’re faster. You take her and run.”

“You’re the best one to protect her, because you can make her unseen,” he says, pressing a kiss to her lips. “It’s not as though I look forward to being buried. But I’ll gladly sacrifice myself to buy her time to flee with someone who can keep her safer for longer.”

He’s up and gone so fast within the next second, that I barely even have a chance to curse his wake.

“Fucking fast vampire,” I mutter.

My gaze flicks back down to Violet, who is still smiling in her illusionary dream world.

Nothing else has broken her.

I fear the lives she’s risked tonight will be the lesson she’s needed to learn, and it’ll also be the one to break her.

Chapter 35

ARION

“I’m afraid to attempt to rally anyone. Right now, there aren’t many I fully trust. It’s been too long since Idun was this ready for a fight,” Emit says over the phone, as I press the buzzer to sound the town’s emergency evacuation siren.

“Hopefully, that will save all the smart humans, betas, and omegas. Darwin’s Theory will unfortunately have to apply to all the idiots who stick around,” I reply, my left hand trembling ever so slightly.

“Hey, vampire. It’s been a while since I felt this sense of fear. Let’s try not to cross paths, just in case instinct pits us against each other in the heat of this tension,” he says.

I steady my hand by making a fist, and I stare out at the stormy town below the bell tower of my House.

People are already fleeing in orderly fashion.

“They’re almost creepily rehearsed with the evacuation protocol. Not one person has bumped another,” Emit says as though he’s surprised.

“Be grateful I have a damn good beta, who ensured the town was kept up to date on such things. They’re reacting to the siren. They won’t realize they’ve left their beds, bar stools, or wherever else, until they’re safely checked in at the designated towns. All of them are assigned different ones by groups. What do your betas do, wolf? Just curious.”

I drop from the bell tower, and hurriedly move through the streets, finding more and more people doing the zombie walk. Fortunately, they’re moving at a brisk pace toward all the exit routes.

With any luck, most of them will escape, and that will help ease Violet’s conscience. Protecting her from her fucking self will be just as tedious and damn near impossible as protecting her from Idun.

Emit snorts in derision. “We’re all either going to die or end up in a pit, and you still have to get in one more jab? Without Shera, you don’t look as good, Vampyre. I almost fucking had Avery. I think.”

Just as I’m about to have a snide remark, I hear coughing in the background.

“Shit,” Emit hisses.

“I’m. Going. To. Murder. That. Fucking. Witch,” a familiar, but raspy voice says in the background.

“What the bloody hell is going on?”

“I take it back. We’re going to have to cross paths after all,” Emit says, his voice still tinged with surprise. “Vance is out of the silver.”

Dodging a streak of lightning that damn near makes me feel targeted, I pocket my phone. I’m not sure why I bother.

Not even Vance can get us out of this one.

She tried to take him down first, which means she’s planning to break all the laws. We’ll never stand a chance in an unfair fight.

Chapter 36

VANCE

Slinging Emit up against the wall, I press my forearm to his throat.

He glares and growls at me, canines showing. “It’s Idun. Fucking fight it, Van Helsing. She’s pissed. Her monster is free somewhere. You feel the threat licking up your spine. Fight. It.”

My eyes narrow on him. “Tell anyone about that fucking silver spell, and I’ll destroy you in ways you never imagined,” I bite out, almost apprehensive to even touch the silver that has returned to the small hilt on my hip.

My fingers reach twice, but I pull away, worried that damn spell will take effect again.

I look around, searching for Pandora, as I lower my arm.

“She has to be here. Only blood magic could have lifted that spell,” I carry on.

“Fuck’s sake, Vance. Violet struck Idun hard enough to break her bones on live TV—and in front of a live, captive audience. Idun TV has shut down, and the town is being evacuated,” Emit tells me, as though I haven’t heard the broken pieces of their repetitive ramblings.