The last time I had seen Lark, one of the leaders of the rebel vampires living in the village outside of DuMoir Castle, had been during the last battle.

He and Remi, the other leader, had promised to back me up against Alex and his men after I had lied to them that I would abolish the monarchy, as they wanted, just to get them on my side, but it had backfired. In the heat of the battle, they went back on their word and betrayed me. They didn’t want any kind of ruler or rules. They wanted to be free and hunt for humans as they saw fit.

It seemed Lark was doing exactly that now.

I used my enhanced senses to try to locate Remi—I doubted Lark would be here alone—but I could hear anything around us.

“I guess I should thank you,” Lark said.

“For?”

“For killing Alex and destroying half of the castle. Everything is the way it should be now.” He licked one of his fangs. “So thanks.”

I hated when they talked before attacking, because I was sure he was here to attack me. Otherwise, why would he bother? “What do you want?”

“A partner,” he said. “Remi was killed by a werewolf during the battle. The others in my group …” He shrugged. “I don’t know where they are. Why don’t you join me, and we’ll both go hunt for humans?” He glanced down at the carcass at our feet. “It’s better than hunting deer, I’m sure.”

I was afraid to ask, but I had to. “How have you been hunting for humans?”

“There are quite a few small towns in this area,” he said, sounding excited. “There’s always someone walking alone late at night. Though … between you and me, if we got a bigger group, I’m sure we could simply run around town, feasting on anyone who crossed our paths.”

My blood chilled. What was this world becoming? Humans would know about us. Did they really think they could overtake the humans? What did they think would happen when they stormed a city like New York? Unless there was a coven of a thousand strong vampires, I doubted big cities could be overtaken that easily.

Besides, it was not right. We were all different species who deserved our space on this Earth. No one was better than anyone. We just had to learn to share.

But it didn’t look like Lark wanted to share anything at the moment.

“Look, Lark, I don’t think that’s right,” I said, knowing too well I was aggravating the beast. “For the sake of our species, we need to remain a secret, and for that, we can’t attack people.”

He stared at me with a puzzle expression. “So how should we feed?”

I gestured toward the deer. “I know things are chaotic right now, but it’ll change soon.” I hoped it would. “Things will become orderly again, there will be law in places, and we’ll continue to prosper … in secret.”

“Are you saying you want to restore the monarchy?” Lark snarled. “You want rules and laws?”

“It’s for the best.” Otherwise, how would we grow and prepare for a future without rules? I didn’t understand why he couldn’t see that. “When I get back to the castle, we can come to an understanding. I’ll make sure you and your vampires have—”

“That’s exactly what Morda said two weeks ago when I went to the castle to check on things.”

“What?” That was surprising. Morda was making deals with the rebel vampires? “What did Morda say?”

He spat on the ground. “That woman. I hate her. She calls herself Queen of All Witches now, whatever that means. Did you know the other covens are all riled up and trying to take her down? Morda and her coven are still standing.”

“What else do you know?”

“Why should I tell you?”

“Because I need to know. Our future depends on it. The future of all vampires and werewolves and—

His growl rumbled in his chest before he moved, giving him away. I was ready for him when he charged me. I didn’t know what he was thinking. He knew I was older and stronger. He didn’t stand a chance.

Before he could touch me, I wrapped my hand around his neck and threw him to the ground. With my hand grasping his throat, I knelt on his chest.

“I don’t want to fight,” I said in a snarl. “I just want information. Tell me what you know about Morda and whatever she’s up to.” I squeezed his neck hard. He gagged, but didn’t give in. As a show of force, I placed my other hand over his chest, right above his heart, and pressed my fingers down. “Tell me.”

He groaned. “All right. All right.” I loosened my grip around his neck—just a little bit—and he continued, “Morda is offering to pay anyone who helps her eliminate the rival witch covens. Mostly potions and charms that will help with this and that, but as far as I know, werewolves and vampires have been flocking to the castle.”

That wasn’t good. “What else?” I pressed my fingers against his chest, hurting him some more.

“She’s also paying heavily to anyone who knows about you or your witch, Thea Harrington. She’s determined to find you two.”

Hell. “Have you been providing information to her?”

His eyes widened. “Me? No? Only lies.”

Only lies. Which meant, he had been in contact with Morda and DuMoir Castle. If I let him go now, he would have real information about me to give to her.

Shit.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, before digging my fingers into his chest and pulling his heart out.

I dropped the heart and jumped back, disgusted with myself. What the hell? I was the first to advocate for a good world, a just world, and yet, I was killing a weaker vampire because he might reveal information about Thea and me.

This wasn’t right.

But before I could wallow in regret, I shut that part of my brain down.

I raced back to the mansion, eager for a shower, as if I could erase all the wrongs I ever committed with a simple scrubbing of my skin.

But the moment I crossed the front door, I knew something was wrong.

Keeran was pacing the kitchen, looking impatient. No, worried.

“What happened?” I asked.

He stopped and turned to me, eyes wide. “Holy shit, I thought you all had abandoned me here.”

“What do you mean? Where’s Thea and Luana?”

I let my hearing do its job, and my breath caught as Keeran said, “I can’t find them. They aren’t in their rooms, or in any other room in the house. I also looked around the perimeter of the house.”

They weren’t here. I couldn’t hear any other heartbeat or breathing other than Keeran’s.

“Where the hell are they?” I said through gritted teeth.

“I saw them leaving,” Thomas said, taking form by my side.

I was too worried to be startled by his sudden appearance. “What? Where?”

“Through the back door,” he said, his eyes downcast. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop. I was just coming in, but they looked so secretive, I remained invisible.”

“What else do you know?” I asked.

“Not much. They were talking about being quiet before any of you heard them.”

“What do you mean?” Keeran asked.

My hands curled into fists. “Do you have any idea where they went?”

“The only other word I made out was Morda,” Thomas said.

Hell. “They are going after Morda.”

Keeran’s face paled. “That’s suicide.”

I looked at Thomas. “How long ago was that?”

“At least an hour ago. Maybe two.”

“Shit,” I muttered. “I can’t let them do this.”

Keeran dipped his chin at me. “I’m coming with you.”

Keeran and I ran out of the mansion and went to save the girls before it was too late.