“They want that. They want the gothic novel. They want to be used, abused, discarded. They want a vampire to treat them how they think vampires should act. Not just guys. Girls. And before you ask,” he said the last quickly because I’d opened my mouth to speak, “Etienne knows this and he’s recruited nearly all of them. The rest have gone to ground, understanding somewhere in their minds when their kind started disappearing that shit was going to get extreme. So they’re lost to us because the ones Etienne has are getting exactly what they want, something none of the good guys—Lucien, Stephanie, Cosmo, Gregor, Yuri, me—would give them.”

“Oh my God,” I whispered.

“Yeah,” he agreed. “Sucks.”

“Those guys will do anything for that Miko vampire,” I told him, which he probably already knew.

His eyes drifted back to the screen from which muffled moans were coming. “I got that.”

I didn’t look back to the screen. I looked out the window.

Well, one thing I could say, regardless that it took a nasty turn, the surveillance shift was not boring.

On that thought, the door opened and we heard Callum say, “Abel. Lilah. You’re needed. Immediately.”

I looked over Abel’s shoulder and Abel twisted in his chair to do the same, so we both saw Callum standing in the door, Calder coming into the room.

“Calder will take the rest of your shift. We need you,” Callum went on. “Now.”

“What the fuck?” Calder muttered, his eyes to the monitors as Abel got out of the chair, taking me with him and putting me to my feet.

“Yeah, brother, not pretty,” Abel muttered back as he grabbed my hand and started us toward the door.

Calder looked to Abel. “What you got is less pretty.”

“Shit,” Abel whispered as my body got tight.

We got through the door and Abel closed it behind us. But Callum wasn’t waiting. He was already walking down the hall.

“Cal, what’s goin’ on?” Abel called after him as he pulled me with him, walking with long, swift strides to catch up.

“The True have made a move,” Callum told the hall, then looked back to us, still moving. “And it’s not a good one.”

“What is it?” Abel snarled impatiently.

“It’s not something to be discussed in the hall,” Callum replied, again facing the hall.

“Cal—”

Callum looked back over his shoulder. “Hurry,” he clipped.

We hurried. He took us to living room six, and when we entered, he closed the door and I glanced around, taking in all who’d gathered.

Chen was there, as were Wei and Xun. Lucien was there, as was Sonia. Ryon was there. Gregor was there. Stephanie was there.

Leah was not.

My eyes flew to Lucien. “Where’s Leah?”

“She’s indisposed,” he grated harshly, and my heart stuttered. He looked to Callum. “And I must go to her. Let’s get this done.”

“Maybe Lilah shouldn’t be here,” Chen suggested quietly.

Oh no.

“Why?’ I asked.