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Her voice cracked with emotion as a tear escaped her eyes. She wiped it away as quickly as it emerged and pounded her fist on the table. “But more than anything, I’m so angry I could spit. If Ludovic had been alive, would he have known how to help her? Teagan might be alive now if he hadn’t been killed. Did he set all if us up for failure? Was he trying to kill all of you? Why did Amicula do this to me in the first place?” She stopped and stared at us for a moment. “The questions are never-ending. And you’re right, Chey. They’re driving me mad.”

Sheridan turned to face Torchy and caressed Khai’s sleeping little cheek. “But what I’ve learned and have been enduring, despite all those stupid questions that won’t release me, is I must take care of this amazing little fella and simply try to remember how to breathe. One moment at a time. We must go on.”

She cradled her arms around her ribcage as if the hug could help provide the comfort she needed. “There are times when my chest is cracking in half, the pain is so fucking bad. It’s all I can do to gasp for air.” A quiet moment filled the room. She covered her face with her hands, and with a whisper she said, “I just want it all to go away.” She looked up with glistening eyes. “I pray for the day this all gets better. But blaming and being angry with one another doesn’t help. It leaves me exhausted. If I breathe and move forward into the next moment, I can try to stay focused. If I choose to remain a victim and cower behind the deaths of my mother, my sister, and my daughter, then I might as well join them. I am no good to anyone if I cannot do something positive to avenge them.”

Crimson tears flowed over my cheeks as the realization of just how much Sheridan had lost hit me. Among us all, she had lost the most. And here she was selflessly healing and helping the rest of us.

Sheridan walked over to Briggs and put her hand on his cheek. “I know you’re hurting, I honor that. When you’re ready, let’s put our pain to work and find these awful people.” His eyes met hers and he tried to smile, but his lip quivered and he lowered his gaze again.

“Think about it. You know how awful you’re hurting, but imagine for just a moment, all the human mums and dads, sisters, brothers, husbands, and wives of these persons who are missing? They have to be living in a wicked-nasty kind of hell. They’ll never know if their family member will ever be found or their body recovered. They’ve vanished without a trace.” Sheridan scanned the room. “These people live in a perpetual
state of unknowing. I can’t imagine that kind of horror, and it’s got to hurt worse than anything we’ve already experienced.”

Briggs nodded and inhaled a slow, deep breath. His shoulders shook while he stared at the floor. Plumes of dis-ease filled the room, coming from every one of us.

“We owe it to these suffering people to try. We owe it to Dakota to give meaning to her death.” Sheridan moved on to Harris, and she lifted his chin. His eyes were thick and red with emotion. She placed both her hands on his head and stroked her fingers through his sandy brown curls. “All we can do is find a way to channel everything that’s tearing us down and find the strength to fight what caused it to begin with. Please stop killing yourself with what you could have done. It won’t bring her back.”

Harris lifted his head again and looked her straight in the eyes. With her thumb, she wiped away his tears. “If we don’t do something proactive and find a way to take down these places, then Dakota died in vain. Our grief means nothing. The only way we can honor her now is to rescue those poor souls and reunite them with their families.”

Sheridan stood tall and returned to her former CEO self. The tone of her voice was firm, determined and full of resolve. “And we’re going to use
ExsanguiNation
to do it.”

T
he sun blazed
its final crowning flags of color while the moon crested over the edge of the balcony revealing its mysterious crescent. I noticed several bats fly past the patio, and Beano took an interest in trying to catch them.

Had a a shift in consciousness occurred within me? I knew I needed to get out of this funk and make something happen. We needed to move on. To heal, and my anger wasn’t going to make it happen.

“Sheridan is right.” I swiveled in my seat and put my elbows on the bar behind me. “If we don’t channel this ridiculous hate and blame for something productive, then the bad guys win. Amicula and the queen will have destroyed us mentally and emotionally, instead of physically. We can’t give up. We can’t just roll over and accept this hand of fate the Norns have handed us. We need to write our own destinies and do what’s right. I’m sorry—I’ve been a jerk.”

Sheridan continued her agenda with a gentle kindness. Single-handedly, she was successfully diffusing the scritchy energy and helping everyone relax. “Let’s just think out loud here for a few minutes. Khaldon has a solid point, he really does. If we can’t tip off any local paranormal authorities without risking our own hides, then can we give anonymous tips to the human FBI? That might be a way to get the women out of the breeding dens at least.” She picked off the anchovies and bit into the cheesy goodness of her pizza slice. “Isn’t there a Supernatural police department? Some of my favorite urban fantasy book characters are cops, detectives, and bounty hunters for paranormal worlds. We’ve got to have a form of protective force we can call on for help, right?”

Torchy raised his glass acknowledging my question. “Yes, there is an International Interspecies Council, but they rely on each group to take care of their own kind first. In other words, we have the Draconian Council for dragons, and the vampyre has the Queen’s Council.”

“But that’s just it, what if those councils are corrupt? Who holds them in contempt?” I asked.

Harris shrugged. “We’ve not really experienced that before. Everyone keeps to themselves, and they let the area packs handle the situations.”

“Okay, for months now, you guys have told me about the old wars between the vamps and werewolves.” I pointed toward my home office down the hall. “You even spoke about the war on our Friday team meeting, remember? Who settles those disagreements? Are you telling me no one helps keep the peace?”

They looked at me, and then they glanced at one another and then back at me as though they were keeping a secret or were at an utter loss to answer my question. Everyone was so hard to read with the overwhelming scents of emotions in the air. Or maybe it was the stench of werewolf musk clouding my thoughts.

“Usually, it’s the local lord and lady and pack masters. Squabbles are settled.” Khaldon responded, finding a way back into the conversation after my attacks.

I offered him an embarrassed smile. I needed to say what I did, but I didn’t mean to hurt anyone, especially him.

“Okay, so we dinnae have any answers for now.” Torchy tried to follow suit and give Sheridan the moral support she was rallying for earlier. “We’ll cross that battlefield when we get there. Let’s focus on what we can change today.”

“Torch is right. This is a bigger problem than we can solve right now. We need to explore options and find a solution soon.”

“Agreed—three hundred percent. I’ll see what I can figure out and I’ll talk privately to Lord Stovall about what options might be available to us. We’ll find a way, Chey.” He reached out and gently took my hand. “I’m not sure this is the right time, but I need to leave for a while to go get the
M’lady
from the Andamans.”

“What? You’re leaving again? So soon?” I stammered and looked down at my feet knowing he probably needed to be away from all the chaos too. It wasn’t as though he were my husband. Most boyfriends would have flown the coop by now. If I were honest with myself, I’m not sure I would have stuck around if the situation had been reversed.

Khaldon ticked his head out toward the edge of the patio. “Can I talk to you alone for a few minutes?”

We picked up our drinks, and he hoisted a leather satchel from the floor up over his shoulder. He lifted the bag and placed it onto the chaise lounge grouping where we sat. Khaldon reached into the bag and pulled out an old book. “I’m sorry, Cheyenne. I don’t want to leave, but we both have a lot to work through. I think it would be best to just to have a time-out and we both sit in our own corners for a few weeks. We’re going through some bloody dark shite and it’s best we allow ourselves some time to heal the emotional wounds. It’ll all work out soon enough.You have my word. But while I’m gone, I wanted to give you my copy of
The Canons
.”

I nodded, and with a heavy sigh, offered him up a smile that said,
You’re right; we need a time-out
, and accepted the book. It was long overdue for me to spend quality progress in it. It was a well leather-worn, dog-eared, water-stained tome. It must have been ancient.

“Reach out to me if you have any questions, and I’m sure you’ll have plenty. As far as I am aware, Lord Stovall is still local on his yacht,
The Resurrection,
so he can help you too.”

I gave him a half-hearted smile and tried to avoid giving him the guilt-ridden puppy dog eyes.

He reached out to me and pulled me in close. His touch seemed foreign, but I relaxed and lowered my guard. I wanted his touch to feel safe again, even if it was for just a moment.

“I love you, Cheyenne. It’ll take a bit of time to get the
M’Lady
back to port in Dubai. I’ll be gone for a few weeks, possibly over a month. You should be here to complete your research.” He tried to give me a quirky thin-lipped grin.

I nodded my head and halfway appreciated the reprieve. “I’m sorry too; it’s not fair that I’m dumping all my anger and grief out onto you. I’m such a toad.”

“Well I don’t know about that, my sweet lass. But you’re right. I should
have
called in Vhal and the guys. I honestly didn’t think it was going to be that big of a deal, and I was wrong. I’m not sure if I’ll ever forgive myself because of it. It’s quite possibly the worst mistake I’ve made in my life.” He kissed my forehead and the touch of his lips radiated a clear message. “I can fully understand why you’re angry with me as I hold myself to the same account.” He kissed my hands and pointedly waited for my reaction.

I didn’t respond. Sometimes words weren’t needed and spoke the message loud and clear. I gave him a flat smile and squeezed his fingers.

He kissed them again and held them close to his chest. “You need time reading, testing, learning who you are. You’ll find balance. I have faith you’ll awaken your inner vampire on your terms. I need time to analyze a few things in my own life. I’ve grown too complacent over the past few decades, and I need to reconnect to my own inner vampire as well.”

“You mean, you don’t feel complete? Like something’s not right inside you?”

“Exactly that, Cheyenne. I can’t quite put my finger on the sodden thing either. I’m hoping this time on the ship will help me rediscover a few things about myself as well.”

He reached into the satchel again and pulled out the oilcloth I’d seen in the hospital. “I tried hanging this in my house, but it doesn’t glow anymore. I wanted to see if this orb still reacted to you.”

I stared at him in surprise and had forgotten about the damn thing. Inching my hand toward it, I cupped it with my palm. Immediately, the orb hummed and turned a neon green once again. I stared up at Khaldon. The verdant light glowed with such intensity, it shined off his bronzed skin.

“Why did you bring it here? I don’t want it.” My heart raced once again. It disturbed feelings of overwhelming anxiousness deep inside me.

“But here’s the rub. I think it wants you.” His eyes stared so deep into mine that I almost fell over from the dizzying spell.

“I can’t find anything about it in any lore or legend, nor how it would have been on that island to begin with.” He opened the orb from the confines from the rest of the cloth and held it up closer to our faces. “There’s nothing written about it or where it came from.”

I swallowed hard and immediately covered it with my hands. “Don’t! Please, put it away. I don’t want anyone knowing we have it.” I shoved it back in the bag. “We can look at this later?” I turned to look at the rest of the gang and they weren’t paying any attention to us. “In private?”

“Fair enough. I think we both could use a little
private
time.” He pulled me in close to him intoxicating me further with his frankincense.

My heart ached knowing it would be an extended period until I saw him again. We needed to reconnect before he left. “Will you come to Dakota and Teagan’s memorial in Montana? Sheridan is having the marble statue commissioned and it will take about six to eight weeks to complete. So we’re thinking about sometime in late March or April.”

“Of course I’ll be there.” He took my hand and placed it over his heart. “You’ll always be right here, Cheyenne. That will never change.”

His eyes lit up. “I almost forgot. There’s something else before I go, but I’ll understand if you don’t want them. Just a trinket really.” He let go of my hand and reached down into his satchel once again. He held a small box and placed it into my palm.

I sucked in a breath, not sure of what to think. He’d never given me anything in a jewelry box before in our real lives. As a digital avatar character, he had given Lady Cazenove many things but this was the first time in this reality. I opened the little black velvet container, revealing two ruby teardrops surrounded by white diamonds. I stole a quick glance at him from under my curls. “Umm—just a trinket, huh?”

“Well, I was going to get you the matching bracelet, but I know how much you curse them when you code, so it’s only the earrings.”

I fully looked up at him and smiled, accidentally hiccupping a brandy burp in his face. “I love them.”

“That’s m’lady!” He slid my arms up around his neck, and I wanted to hide my embarrassment into his shoulder. My nerves were edgy and raw. My emotions were all over the place. Listening to the quiet rhythms of his heart beating, I knew the decisions we’d made were the right ones and one day everything would work out.

At least, that’s what I wanted to tell myself.

After experiencing how much we had lost over the past few weeks, it was time to recoup and I was determined to do everything it took to learn more about who I was and make peace with it. At this point in my life, I had no idea how I would do it, but I knew I had four distinct goals to meet:

• To read
  The Vampyric Canons
  and embrace my inner vampire dynamics.
  
• Identify the locations of the illegal blood orchards and breeding dens.
  
• Search and destroy whoever was behind Dakota’s death.
  
• Identify my rogue vampire attacker and annihilate him.
  

Somehow, on a transcendental level, I knew all of those goals were connected. In time, the answers would come, but for now I needed to seek balance and ask the right questions. I needed to train and hone my new skills. It was time to prepare. Time to heal. But most of all, it was time for me to discover who I truly was.

When the day comes, I will be ready to seize my own destiny and no longer fall prey to it.