THERE WAS NO EXPLANATION for Anna’s sudden condition, and all her tests came back negative. The doctors couldn’t find out what was going on with her. Since she was a hybrid, it made things so much more difficult since the doctors didn’t know that much about vampires, which meant there was an entire array of things that could be wrong and they wouldn’t know.The hours turned into days and still, Anna didn’t get any better. The monitors showed that although she was in a medically induced coma, her body was still reacting as if it was in incredible pain. Sebastian pondered asking Nicolas for the first couple of days, but he didn’t say anything to Collin since he knew how his son felt about the vampires. When two weeks had passed and Anna was still not waking up, Sebastian felt he had no other choice.Collin was furious at his father’s suggestion and Sebastian had to discuss it with him since it meant that the vampires needed permission to come there. Permission had to be given by the alp
ARRIVING AT THE VILLA, Collin could feel the tension in the air. Something was definitely going on, but they couldn’t see what it was from outside. If they went in, they would instantly be detected. At least, Collin was convinced, but his father seemed to think otherwise.Collin could never understand how his father could have such incredible faith in Nicolas. It made no sense to him whatsoever. Stuck where they were, they decided to watch and gather information first before making any moves that could be too dangerous. The first thing Sebastian noticed was that the guards were different.He had seen these guards before, but they weren’t at the stations they were at now. He frowned as he explained to Collin that Nicolas would never have placed these people there. Nicolas chose his people very carefully.“What do you think happened?” Collin felt frustration rise since he could already tell what his father was getting at!“Nicolas has been overthrown as leader,” Sebastian sighed. They b
THE CLEAR LINK BETWEEN Nicolas and Anna had everybody on edge and without Nathaniel around to explain how the hell he got his experiment to work on Sebastian and Beverly, it was impossible to really know why they were linked.Why was Anna specifically linked to Nicolas and nobody else? The doctors took some blood samples from Anna and Nicolas, but after running every possible test they could think of, there was still no scientific explanation. Collin wasn’t going to say out loud what he was thinking way, way back in his mind. Anna told him that she felt drawn to Victor at some point, but it was never anything like a mate bond.It was some kind of weird attraction that repulsed her more than anything else. When Collin mentioned this to her after she had returned from the hospital, she frowned. She didn’t feel anything like that towards Nicolas.“Collin, I know you might not like this, but Nicolas is like a father figure to me, and that is where it ends. He promised your parents that he
With the spellbook tightly clenched under his arm, Collin followed Nicolas and Beverly as they slowly went through everything that was in the laboratory. Collin had to admit that he was surprised. The place was a lot more sophisticated than he ever expected. They were going to need a truck. The cars they brought weren’t enough to transport this lot back home.If they were ever going to find out how Nathaniel created his father and Beverly, they needed to have everything available for their doctors to go through. Collin started to feel a little overwhelmed. He could only hope that their doctors could figure out what Nathaniel did on the scientific side of things. On the magical side, he didn’t know a witch that could help them.Nicolas was kind enough to suggest someone. Apparently, she helped him to make the daylight rings that vampires used. With all the details finalized, they grabbed what they could and left the laboratory so that Collin could arrange for the truck. He felt as if t
COLLIN DIN’T WANT TO GAWK, but he was openly gawking! He had never been to see the council of supernaturals. He had never been in the building. It was an actual castle! As their car pulled up, he imagined the building inside to look like the images he had seen on television over the years.He was right. The moment they walked into the building, he could see that there was money growing on the damn trees around there! The furniture was exquisite. The paintings looked ancient. Everything was incredible, and not a single spec of dust could be seen anywhere. They were shown into an enormous boardroom and Collin couldn’t help but appreciate the beautiful table right in the middle of the room. What he didn’t see were trinkets.He half expected there to be candlesticks and vases all over the place, but there was none of that.“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the council.” A very handsome gentleman walked in to greet them. He was just as tall as Collin and Sebastian. Collin instantly smelled
IT TOOK THE COUNCIL OVER A WEEK to decide, and just as Collin announced that he was done waiting, the phone rang. It seemed the council took to heart what they told them and they surprised everyone with their decision to intervene. However, they didn’t want Collin and the pack to interfere or even help.“Trust the damn council to make a decision we didn’t damn well think of!” He growled as he paced back and forth in his office. He felt as if the walls were beginning to close in on him and there were just too many people in his office! Anna’s soft hand slipped onto his shoulder and he closed his eyes for a moment and breathed in deeply.“The council did say they wanted to speak to Nicolas about the vampires in the villa, sweetheart.” The council didn’t give them any indication of what they were going to do. They simply asked that Nicolas come and see them. Only Nicolas. They didn’t say it outright, but they didn’t want anyone else there. The way they insisted that it be only Nicolas ma
AS NICOLAS SUSPECTED, everyone was waiting for him in the boardroom to find out what the council wanted. He told them what he told the council and they tried to figure out what the council might want to do with this information.Sadly, after their recent experience with the council, they had to eventually agree that there was no way of knowing what the council was planning. They could only return to their research and wait. They were in the process of systematically working through the grimoire when Collin got the notice from the guards just outside of the small town.The council had arrived. Since the warriors were outside the town borders, they could see time come to a complete standstill. Cars that were driving just a moment before just came to a halt. People who were making their way somewhere on the sidewalks were halted mid-step and many people were silenced in the middle of a conversation.It was as if someone had pressed the pause button on life. The council appeared in the sq
AT THE VILLA, the vampires had received word that the council was coming. Nicolas’s opponent hadn’t bargained on Nicolas going to the council. He had always just talked the people down from the ledge, but then again, the people had never gone as far as having him imprisoned.At first, Nicolas’s opponent was furious that he had escaped, but as soon as he realized the hybrids helped, he was happy about the escape. It showed the people how untrustworthy dear Nicolas was and that he was always in cahoots with the hybrids. They would always come for Nicolas, which meant they liked interfering in the affairs of vampires.The nest stood waiting near the entrance of the villa and he could feel the tension grow with each passing second as the council drove closer. Their security climbed out of the cars to open the doors for them and he found it laughable that the strongest people in their entire world needed security to protect them, but he bit back the laughter forming in the back of his thro