“It’s a lot to take in, we know,” Lucien said in a low, conciliatory voice. “But even so, you need to take it in, you need to prepare your mate and your family, and you need to move on from that to where we all need to be to fight this.”

He didn’t like it, but he was getting that this was the fucking truth.

Abel nodded to Lucien and looked back to Gregor. “Explain about the enemy uniting.”

Probably because he had to get out of there, Gregor gave it to him quickly and without delay.

“As I mentioned earlier, we thought the wraiths had allied with those who would subjugate humans. Fortunately, they have not. Or, at least, not the vast majority of them who follow their empress, Serena. The Wee, who I also previously mentioned, have long since retreated under the earth. It’s been centuries and no one has seen them or heard from them, thus there’s no way to get a message to them. Regardless, they washed their hands of anything that happens topside a long time ago. They left the surface with some disgust as to how mortals and immortals were behaving, saying they would never get involved. Knowing this, it would be a waste of time and energy to attempt to communicate with them.”

He paused, and when Abel nodded, Gregor continued.

“You must know there are factions of all immortals who side with the enemy. However, the bulk of vampires, werewolves, and, now we know, wraiths are with us. Phantoms, we don’t know. They don’t often get involved with immortal dealings so they could be neutral. They could also be foes. They’re refusing to speak with us or Callum’s emissaries. However, it’s our understanding they’re also refusing talks with our enemy. Unfortunately, golem have aligned with our adversary.”

“And what the fuck are golem?” Abel asked.

“Human lore says they’re creatures created of clay or mud, formed into human shapes and magically imbued with life, completely controlled by the human who created them, mindless besides,” Lucien shared.

“And the real story?” Abel pushed.

“They’re immortals whose procreation includes the female and male tearing away their own flesh and bones to form an infant. They cover the child in their blood, perform a ritual, and breathe life into their potential offspring from their own mouths,” Callum finished the story.

“Fucking hell,” Abel murmured.

“And they’re not mindless,” Gregor put in. “They’re quite powerful, if clumsy in battle, their bulk, which is considerable, being to their advantage. They can also be beheaded and survive for some time, five, ten minutes, as long as they can find and reattach their heads.”

“Jesus,” Abel mumbled.

Gregor kept speaking.

“The only way to kill them is to dismember them into as many pieces as possible and set fire, again, to as many pieces as possible.”