Without even realizing it, Alice lifted her hand and placed it on her own neck. Her body shivered. “That’s not real. There must be another explanation.”

  “I know you probably feel like someone is going to jump out at any moment and yell ‘gotcha.” Willis’s voice was low, though they were the only ones in the room. “But I swear to you, this is as real as it gets.”

  She glanced at him and then back at Cain. The vampire—gah, I can’t believe I just called him that—laid the woman back down just as cautiously as he had lifted her. “Doesn’t he need more than that? He can’t have taken that much blood.” She paused and then frowned. “As if I have a clue how much blood a freaking vampire needs.”

  “He’s not feeding.” Willis closed the blinds. “He’s tasting each of the people out there.”

  Alice scoffed. “What? Like a winery? Is he trying to find his favorite flavor?”

  Willis chuckled, though Alice saw no mirth in his eyes. “In a way. But it’s not their flavor he’s interested in. Their blood tells him something important.”

  “And what is that, exactly?”

  “How much dormant blood each one possesses.”

  “Who are they?” Alice followed him back over to a table. He kicked out a stool for her, and she took it. She rested her elbows on the table and ran her hands over her face and then through her hair. She gave her dark, chin length locks a sharp tug.

  “You’re not dreaming. No need to pull your hair or pinch yourself, for that matter. Those people are the dormants I mentioned. Everyone out there is a human with Canis lupus blood.”

  “Canis lupus?” She frowned. “That’s the scientific term for wolves.”

  Willis nodded. “It’s also what they call themselves. You have to admit it sounds a lot cooler than werewolves.”

  “If you say so. I’m sure that’s exactly what they were thinking when they decided to give themselves a name.” Alice sighed. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be taking my irritation out on you. I’m just a tad ticked off at my”—she stopped before she said the word father and then said—“employer.”

  Willis slumped down on the stool next to her. “To be fair, no matter what they told you, you wouldn’t have believed it without seeing it.” He motioned to the now-closed blinds. “Despite what I said earlier, we’re scientists. We need proof.”

  She couldn’t disagree with him there. Knowing the truth—the facts, the whys and hows of the world—is what drove Alice to become a scientist in the first place. But there were some questions she knew weren’t even worth asking because the answer was so obviously no—like were vampires real? And the tooth fairy? And Santa Claus? With that, she peeked between her fingers. “Santa Claus is still totally not a thing, right?”

  “That’s above my paygrade.” Willis gave her a small smile.

  Alice chuckled. “All right.” She looked at him and then made a “give me” motion with her hands. “Lay it on me. What do you know, what do I need to know, and what is it you can’t figure out?”

  Willis clapped his hands together. “Yes! I knew when they told me you were coming that you’d totally be on board.”

  She frowned. “But you don’t know me.”

  He shook his head. “No, I don’t. But they said Alice was coming. And everyone knows that Alice always jumps down the rabbit hole and makes Wonderland her bitch.”

  “I’m not sure that’s exactly how the story goes.” She tilted her head and smirked. “Actually, I’m pretty sure that Wonderland made Alice its bitch.”

  Willis waved her off. “Well, then consider this a re-telling.”

  “If I’m Alice, does that make you the rabbit?”

  “Psht, seriously?” He motioned to his body. “I’m totally the Mad Hatter.”

  “Oh, my bad.” She shrugged. “I was giving that character to Cain.”

  “He’s the Cheshire cat.” Willis grabbed a stack of ancient-looking books and pushed them toward her. “He hisses and everything.”

  “Of course he does.” Alice pulled the books close and began leafing through them.

  “You read and listen while I talk.” Willis jumped off the stool. “Let me make us some coffee. I hope you don’t need sleep because Cain’s got some military asswipes pressuring him for more progress.”

  “I’m sure he does.” Alice muttered under her breath. She considered all the not-nice things she was going to say to her father when she spoke to him next.

  “Cream and sugar?” Willis held up a couple of packets.

  “Please.” Alice nodded and turned her attention to one of the books. Her eyes ran across words written in Latin, a language that she only recognized because of the many scientific terms that had their foundation in it. The pages felt fragile against her skin when she ran her fingertips across them. She leafed through it, then paused when she saw an illustration that spanned across both pages. “This looks like a picture of werewolves fighting each other.”

  Willis set a cup of coffee next to her. The smell instantly refreshed her frayed nerves. “Yep.” He took a quick sip of his own coffee. “That’s the infamous werewolf wars.”

  She looked up from the book. “So humans aren’t the only species to have civil wars?”

  “Nope. However, I’m pretty sure the United States’ Civil War wasn’t secretly started by a different species.”

  Alice looked back at the page of warring wolves, her fingers running across the angrily drawn muzzles and raised hackles. “If the werewolves didn’t start their own war, then who did?” The door to the lab opened, and Alice’s head snapped up. Her eyes met pitch black orbs.

  “We did.” Cain licked his lips and then blotted his mouth with a dark handkerchief. “But that’s not what’s important.”

  “I was just about to fill her in on everything,” Willis said, his voice losing all of its playfulness.

  “Good.” Cain walked over until he stood on the opposite side of the table. He folded his arms across his chest and looked at her. “Are you done having your human freak-out moment?”

  “I didn’t freak out.” She took a sip of the liquid caffeine. Alice had to fight the satisfied hum as the warmth soothed her ruffled feathers. Something about Cain irritated her. Probably because he’s a freaking parasite that you just watched feed off a human being. She mentally chastised herself. But is the person dead? As if the thought had slapped her, she nearly dropped the coffee mug. Alice quickly set the cup down on the table. “Is she dead?”

  Cain’s lips turned up in a smug grin. “I’m very old, Alice. You’ll have to be a bit more specific about who she is. And even then, I might not have a definitive answer for you.”

  He’s got jokes. Alice bit the inside of her cheek and reminded herself that he was a monster that could rip her throat out. Or at least she assumed he could because that’s what vampires in movies could do. Who knew if any of that shit was real? Maybe vampires were actually weak because their bodies didn’t manufacture their own blood, which would make them iron deficient, and iron makes people strong, right? Bloody hell, Alice, you’re not a five-year-old! Pull your head out of your over-hypothesizing ass and focus. “The woman you just bit.” She motioned to the window. “Is she still alive?”

  “Of course she’s still alive.” He huffed and rolled his eyes as if the question was ridiculous. “Why would I kill someone I need?”

  “A better question is why you would kill anyone.”

  Cain frowned at her. “That’s just silly. There are many reasons why I would kill someone.” He dropped his arms and slid his hands into his pockets. “I can think of five for killing you right off the top of my head.”

  “Again, I feel like I need to point out the obvious,” Willis chimed in. “Maybe don’t threaten to kill the really smart scientist we need to help us with this project?”

  “That.” Alice pointed at Willis.

  “Moving along.” Cain gave her a bored look and then walked to the window. He pulled up the blinds so the entire room of still bodies was revealed. “What we need to discuss is how to not only keep them”—he pointed to the room—“alive but also how to join the vampire virus with theirs so that they can become hybrids.”

  Alice’s eyes widened. She looked from Willis to the room and then to the vampire king. “You want to turn dormant werewolves into vampire/werewolf hybrids?”

  Cain glanced at Willis. “I thought you said she was really smart.”

  “Why do I feel like I just stepped onto the set of a movie?” Alice rubbed her temples and wondered if she’d drank a little too much the night before and this was all some really weird, yet extremely realistic, dream.

  “Oh, now that’s an idea!” Willis’s voice once again took on a childlike quality. “Maybe we should have a vampire/werewolf movie marathon and see if there’s anything in them that could help us out.”

  Cain shook his head. “That’s a terrible idea.”

  Alice continued to rub her temples. “Gonna have to agree with the bloodsucker king.” Then she took a deep breath and looked up at the other scientist. “Okay, tell me what you know so far.”

  Chapter 13

  “The beauty of humanity is that their life is but a breath. They are born, they live, and they die. In most cases, this entire process takes less than a hundred years. Every breath is a gift, and every new day is an opportunity to do something great, no matter how big or small. And yet they continually take their lives for granted. They don’t give a single thought to the fact that the goodbye they give their loved one as they run out the door might be their last. They don’t consider that the person that cut them off in traffic might have just found out their child is dying of cancer. They dwell on the bad things that happened in their day instead of focusing on the good things. And yet, I cannot entirely blame them. When the humans do inevitably suffer loss, it is incredibly painful because their lives are so fleeting. They have such a short amount of time for joy and happiness. My hope for them is that they will learn to grab onto those moments with both hands and refuse to let them go no matter what sorrow comes their way.” ~Thadrick

  “Stop!” Thadrick held his hand up to the group of females with him. They stood on the edge of a clearing. In the center, the veil to the fae realm shimmered. Thadrick’s mind was chaotic. He tried to focus his thoughts and power to detect any magical being in the vicinity, specifically the vampire king or his minions. The effects of Myanin’s actions had yet to work themselves out, and he wondered how long he would have to live with the consequences. He tried not to be bitter, but in moments like this, he found himself biting his tongue not to curse his old friend for her selfishness.

  “Is something wrong?” Jezebel came up beside him.

  “I cannot sense any magic. Cyn”—he glanced at the fae warrior—“have you got anything?”

  She scanned the forest slowly, and then her head froze. “There’s another fae here.”

  “Someone guarding the veil?”

  “Shouldn’t be. We’ve never used guards. We don’t need them.”

  “The all-powerful fae,” Jen said dryly. “Appointed as supernatural mediators. You’d think you could keep the rest of these insane supernaturals under control.”

  Cyn looked at Jacque. “Can you give her an alpha order forbidding her from ever getting impregnated again?”

  Crina laughed and then covered it with a cough when Jen shot her a glare.

  “Unfortunately, even alpha commands have their limits,” Jacque replied. “If her stories are true, the way she and Decebel go at it, we are lucky it’s only happened twice.”

  Thadrick reached deep for the patience that used to come easily to him. Since Myanin’s stunt, he found he had little tolerance for the ridiculousness of the female pack members. “Some of us choose to keep tales of our exploits to ourselves.”

  Jen’s eyes went wide, and she grinned. “Ooh, and as old as you are, Thaddy-boy, I bet you have some serious stories. Tell me, can djinn really turn into desert tornadoes? Have you ever done it in whirlwind form? Does the sand get stuck in your—”

  “Enough!” he roared. “Focus on why we’re here.”

  He gestured in front of them to where a fae had just materialized several yards away.

  “Finally. I get to stab someone.” Jen started forward, but Jacque reached out a hand and grabbed the blonde by the wrist.

  “No, you may not.” The alpha she-wolf growled. “You will let Thadrick deal with this because he’s a freaking ancient djinn with a massive amount of power, and you are a young, pregnant she-wolf with anger issues clouding your already questionable judgment.”

  “Damn,” Zara muttered. “Alpha just got real.”

  “Do not move from this spot,” Thadrick ordered. “Cyn, be prepared to take them all back to the sprite realm at my command.”

  The female fae nodded. “Understood.”

  Thad took a deep breath and then walked into the clearing. Alston turned to face him. He smiled, and his eyes danced with a wildness that made Thad question the high fae’s sanity.

  “You and Cain thought you could pull the wool over my eyes, but I have spies everywhere.” A darkness coalesced around Alston’s body. It looked similar to the way Peri glowed with a white light, but Alston’s glimmer was more like a shadow that surrounded his form instead of the purity of light. “Fools, I—”

  Thadrick didn’t bother to tell Alston that Cain had set them up. He hadn’t anticipated coming face-to-face with the high fae instead of the vampire king. For now, he would let Alston believe he did indeed have an accord with Cain. Perhaps his anger at being double-crossed by his supposed ally would make him sloppy in the battle that was about to ensue. Because Thadrick knew there would be a battle. There was no way the djinn could let this chance pass him by. Here and now, Thad would end the evil that stood before him. This was a golden opportunity to ensure Fane’s combined supernatural forces had one less enemy to deal with. He just hoped Jezebel would keep the others from interfering so that no one would get hurt.

  “You should know better than to trust someone who craves power as much as you do,” Thadrick taunted. “Did you really think that Cain, or any other Order member, would share power?”

  Alston narrowed his eyes and bared his teeth like a wild animal.

  “Is it me, or does that high fae seem even more unhinged than the last time we saw him?” Thadrick heard Jen’s voice from within the forest. And though giving away their position by making smartass comments wasn’t wise, no harm was done. Thad was sure Alston was already aware of the presence of their group. The fae was powerful enough to sense the presence of their magic. But Thad could trust Cyn to protect the she-wolves and his mate.

  “Where is Cain?” Alston refocused on Thad.

  “I am not the vampire’s keeper.” Thad pulled on his power. There was a part of him that truly didn’t want to use it. He didn’t feel in control, and if he wasn’t able to keep himself in check, he wouldn’t just kill Alston. He would wipe out the entire forest around them for miles and every living thing in it. It would make Peri’s incident look like child’s play.

  “Don’t take me for a fool, djinn,” Alston spat out. “I was there when you met with the vampire king. I heard him say he would rendezvous with you here.”

  “Perhaps we both heard what he wanted us to hear.” As soon as the words were out of Thad’s mouth, the djinn realized that was exactly what happened.

  Jen bit back a growl as she watched Alston and Thad speak. “That asshat vamp sent Alston to meet with us so we could do his dirty work.”

  Jacque snorted. “Did you expect anything less?”

  “No honor among thieves.”

  Jen glanced over at Wadim’s mate. “Are you good, Zara?”

  Zara nodded, though her shoulders looked tense. “Not going to lie. I’m glad it’s not Cain who showed up. Though I know he needs to be dealt with, too.”

  Crina laid a hand on her shoulder. “There’s no shame in how you feel. What you endured is unimaginable, and yet you came out stronger and undefeated. Hold your head high.”

  Jen nudged Zara. “You’re a badass. Say it over and over until you believe it.”

  Zara’s lips tilted up. “I’m a badass.”

  “Damn straight.” Jen gave her a sharp nod. Then she turned back to watch Thadrick continue to interact with psycho high-fae dude. “Is he planning to talk him to death? Because considering their longevity, we’re going to be here a while. And I’m already hungry.”

  “Dude, you’re pregnant. Why didn’t you bring a snack?”

  “Jacque, you’re my alpha. Why didn’t you bring me a snack?” Jen challenged.

  “Alpha doesn’t equate to mother, psycho.”

  “Why do I feel like someone should ask ‘are we there yet?’” Zara asked.

  “Don’t make me turn this car around,” Jen snapped, though she cracked a smile.

  Cyn sighed. “I know that fae magic looks effortless to you simpleminded canines. But it actually does take some effort, and it’s really difficult to keep Alston from being able to flash with you four yapping.” Then she took Jacque’s hand. “I’m going to draw on your pack bond. For some reason, Alston doesn’t feel as powerful as he once was. But he’s still much older than me and a high fae.”

  Jacque nodded. “Do what you gotta do.”

  Suddenly the surrounding wind began to circulate, causing the trees to sway and the leaves to rattle so loudly that it sounded like applause. Jen’s gaze snapped back to Thad and Alston. Alston flew backward and hit a massive oak with a loud smack. The entire tree shook, and Jen watched as it swayed and then toppled, its roots actually coming out of the ground. “Wow,” was all she could say.

  Thad’s hands weren’t even raised. He held his arms relaxed at his sides as he stared daggers at Alston, who—Jen had no idea how—climbed to his feet.

  Jen’s eyes widened. “It might take some concentration to do your voodoo, Cyn, but this dude isn’t even breaking a sweat.”

  “He’s powerful.” Awe filled Jezebel’s voice.