Chen didn’t look at me, keeping his eyes to his brother. “Seriously, man, maybe Lilah should wait this out. You hear it, you decide.”

Abel looked down to me, opening his mouth to speak.

I shook my head. “No. No way. I can’t wait to know what’s going on.”

“It’s gone viral,” Wei stated, obviously losing patience, and Abel and I looked to him. “A video. All over the Internet. A site will take it down, another one will put it up. Chen was surfing, keeping his eyes on things, and found it.”

“A concubine being drained,” Stephanie spat, and I felt Abel’s hand tense so tightly around mine, I thought he’d crush it. But I didn’t do anything about it because I’d frozen solid. Stephanie kept going, “He raped her while he drained her. The ‘her’ being Myrna, Leah’s cousin.”

“Oh God, no,” I whispered, falling back in horror until Abel jerked my hand and clamped an arm around my shoulders, holding me tight to his side.

“Almost the moment Chen found it, calls started coming in,” Gregor said, and I looked to him. “Concubines are missing worldwide, including three other members of Leah’s family.”

“But, why them?” I asked, my voice pitched high. “They know about vampires. They like them.”

“Those who call themselves The True think concubines are parasites, and I’m sorry, Lilah, as evidenced in that video, they do not like concubines,” Gregor explained.

“Gregor has people working with the media,” Callum put in. “They’re trying to convince them this is a hoax in order to curtail mass hysteria.”

“I’m annoyed our hand has been forced for we obviously don’t wish to push the message that vampires don’t exist while we’re trying to decide how to share they do. But there’s little time to consider it and The Council have all agreed,” Gregor added.

“I really don’t give a fuck what people think,” Abel snarled, his eyes locked to Gregor. “What I wanna know is what you’re doin’ to get the concubines outta those vampires’ hands.”

“Everything we can,” Gregor replied in a calming voice.

“Well, do more,” Abel ground out and didn’t wait for a response. He turned to me and declared, “You’ve had enough video viewing for today.”

I nodded. I was not fired up to watch a woman murdered and raped at the same time, not ever, but absolutely not Leah’s cousin.

I looked to Lucien. “While you deal here, can I go to Leah?”

“No,” he bit off, then looked between Abel and Callum. “Brief me later. I need to see to my bride.”

On that, with a gust of wind, he was gone.

I looked at the door that had slammed behind him, then to Sonia.

She felt my eyes, gave me hers, and they were bright.

I was right there with her.

Then suddenly, I wasn’t.

Suddenly, I was enraged.

So enraged, I tore from Abel’s hold and shrieked, “Why are we standing around? We gotta stop this shit!”