The moon was waning, and while Asteria preferred it full as it had been on the night she’d come back, as long as it’s twisted light rained down, tugging and pulling and wreaking havoc on those who came out long after the sun was set, she was pleased to be alive—or as close to it as she had been in a thousand years.
The fortress was nearly complete. It was amazing what could be accomplished in a few weeks’ time if one put the right minions in place. They’d come from near and far, across the oceans, from the deserts like the one where she’d first appeared from the highest snow covered peaks, and they would keep coming, those she beckoned anyway. The others had their calling cards as well, and once everything was in place, she would unleash her banshees in waves across the earth, sure to cause utter chaos wherever they tread.
“What are you thinking about, love?” Perses asked, reaching across the bed and gently stroking her pale cheek. “You seem distant tonight.”
“Only that I cannot wait to see her face when she realizes what she’s done, that’s all,” Asteria replied, rolling over to face her lover, the man she’d shared so many years as an undead with until that awful Hunter bitch had stolen him away from her.
Perses, brushed long strands of silky scarlet off of her alabaster shoulder and slid closer. “It won’t be much longer,” he reminded her. “She’ll come for you. Just as soon as she realizes what’s happening, where you’ve quartered yourself.”
“I am sure she will.” Asteria let out a longing sigh and ran her hand along Perses’s chest. Strong and muscular, even more so than he had been in his first Resurrected state, she was even more impressed with his chiseled physique now than she had been before they’d spent what seemed like a lifetime separated in the bowels of Hell. She didn’t like to dwell on what her existence had been like before she saw the shimmering blue lights of her portal opening before her, but she knew she would never go back there, no matter what.
“If only there were a way to stop the Guardians,” she mused, resting her head on his shoulder as she ran her fingers through the dark, thick hair on his chest.
Perses shifted beneath her so that his arm came around her bare back, pulling her closer. “So much has changed since we tread here last. Perhaps there is a way. We simply need to discover it.”
She considered his words carefully. It was true; even in the short amount of time they were gone compared to their lengthy existence before Cadence Findley had sent them both to the other side, many things had been altered. The discovery of titanium bullets, for instance, that gave Guardians the ability to kill Hunters, something that had never been accomplished before, was quite extraordinary. While those bullets did not allow a Vampire to kill a Guardian, that didn’t mean there was nothing out there that might do so. There were other changes, too. She’d heard that Aaron McReynolds had all but killed himself trying to change back into a man but had somehow reformed into something unlike any Guardian they’d ever seen before. He was certainly a threat, and Asteria wasn’t looking forward to him showing up on their doorstep except for the fact that she knew the bitch would be alongside him.
“There has to be something we can do to destroy a Guardian,” she mumbled, no longer paying attention the feel of Perses’s hand stroking her back.
“We do have other abilities now,” Perses reminded her, “and it seems many of the Vampires that have joined forces with us have been strengthened as well. The wolf shifters, mists, even the weakest amongst us seems to have gained in strength or some sort of trickery.”
“Yes, I remember the first time the portal opened a great power surged through and strengthened all that it touched as well. So long as Dracula walked among us, we were nearly invincible. Once he was destroyed, however, everything we had faded, leaving us back to our former selves.”
“I recall,” Perses said, only slightly cold for her reminding of an event he was also present for. “Which leaves it in our hands to ensure that we continue to prowl the face of the earth, granting the power that soars through us to all of the creatures of the night.”
“But even then,” Asteria reminded him, twisting around so that she could look into his eyes, “we are still helpless against the Guardians. We cannot destroy them. We can weaken them, but nothing we do will be lethal to them. How can we win a battle when the odds are so stacked against us?”
Perses went over her words in his mind, brushing back his dark hair from his forehead with one powerful swipe. It fell back into place. “If we can’t destroy them…” he said slowly, thinking aloud, “perhaps we can do something else to stop them—cage them perchance?”
“That’s it!” Asteria said, sitting up, facing him. His steel gray eyes continued to shift as if he was still trying to come up with a solution. “That’s perfect!” she exclaimed, standing and throwing on a long, red silk robe that matched her tresses almost perfectly.
“Where are you going?” Perses asked, watching her cross the room headed for the door. He was up as well, the black pants that he’d dropped by the side of the bed hours ago on with no effort whatsoever.
“I must speak to the foreman—the one rebuilding the rooms in the basement. What’s his name?”
“Titus?” Perses offered.
“Yes, that’s the one.” Asteria was down the hallway now, Perses catching up to her as she turned the corner. The halls were dark with only a torch placed on a wall here or there or a bare bulb hanging from the ceiling, but it made no difference. Their predatory eyes could see perfectly in the darkest of settings.
“What is it you would have him do?” Perses asked, descending the first set of stairs alongside her.
Asteria didn’t answer, only turned and gave him a mischievous smile, her perfectly white teeth chewing her bottom lip seductively as she did so. Perses raised an eyebrow but said nothing until they reached the Vampire whom Asteria had placed in charge of rebuilding the asylum some weeks ago, strengthening it as he did so, creating an impenetrable fortress, or so they hoped.
