Asteria ran a hand through her long red hair and studied him for a moment, trying to choose her words wisely. There were times in the past when they’d fought each other so violently that they may have killed each other, if that were even possible. Spending hundreds of years with the same person wasn’t always easy, and occasionally, they’d have to separate for a decade or two in order to remember how much they meant to each other. In fact, the scheme that had gotten him destroyed in the first place had been completely against her wishes. She’d told him then it was a foolish plan, one that may well end him. Since he’d come back, she’d fought the urge to remind him that she’d been right. Having been overjoyed to be reunited, she had chosen not to ruin the mood by bringing up his own demise. Now, having just found him again a few weeks ago, it was hard to believe he’d managed to annoy the hell out of her so quickly, but as he stood staring at her with his dark eyes narrowed, part of her wanted to reach out and slap the crap out of him.
“Perses, when Vlad had this opportunity, he made cautious decisions, ones that allowed him to amass his numbers and build his fortifications such that he managed to remain with great power for almost a century before their forces were able to overwhelm him. We have been here only twenty-three days, and already you’d like for me to reveal our location and order in thousands of troops before everyone is in position. Is that what I hear you saying?”
He took a quick step forward, his hand coming around to cup the back of her head and draw her near him. She caught his wrist, taken aback, and stared into his black orbs, wondering what his intentions were and if she should snap his arm in two or hear him out. “Asteria, Dracula was left to his own devices. There are two of us. Your power is far greater than his. You can cause them to see, to hear things, to think that they have orders that are presented only from you. Our armies stand poised outside nine of their largest safe houses, ready to infiltrate at any moment and wipe out the Hunter population. The Guardians cannot stop us on their own. Let us destroy them now. Why wait when we are on the cusp of greatness?”
Asteria pushed his arm aside and narrowed her eyes. “You may think you understand what is happening, Perses, but you do not. That child is far more powerful than you can imagine. If they bring her here, they will find us, and we are not ready. Dr. Hines’s experiments have only just begun….”
“Dr. Hines is a quack! If it is even possible for us to find a weakness, he won’t be able to do it! All he’s done so far is sever the wretch’s digits and bore holes in his intestines.”
“Hines is running experiments on the tissues. He needs more time!” she insisted. “Perses, I don’t think you understand. We cannot possibly take all of the Guardians captive. If we are to win this fight, we must be able to destroy them!”
He inhaled heavily through his nose, placing his hands on his hips. Perses was introspective for a long moment before he whispered, “What about the girl?”
Cocking her head to the side, Asteria asked, “What about her?”
“She’s part Hunter, correct? She could kill them then, couldn’t she?”
Seeing his train of thought, Asteria carefully considered the possibility that he might just have come up with a solution to their problem. “She’s strong. Mentally. I’ve tried to fight through her armor, but so far… not even a chink.”
Taking a step closer, Perses leaned in toward her. “If you plan to destroy the Guardians, she’s your best bet. Not Hines. And… if you think she can find what’s left of that mass of body tissue in the basement, then, I suggest you dump him before she finds our location. That is, if you’re not ready to draw them here.”
“We are not ready for that, not yet.”
“I think you and I know they’re coming. Your message has bought us time, but Aaron is no fool, and he will eventually head this direction to assess the situation. The fact that Larkin’s team is still looking for him despite your stellar impersonation should be proof of that.”
Once again, Asteria found herself weighing the information he’d presented carefully. Perhaps, when Carter had transformed into the being before her, part of the idiocy she was used to had been replaced by a mastermind after all. “If Hines has enough tissue, we can release Larkin. Or…”
“Use him as bait. Aaron and Cadence won’t come over here to try to find him without bringing little sister along. If we can use him to get to her….”
A smile began to crack at the corner of her ruby red lips. “This whole time, it was Cadence I thought I wanted, but I think you’re right, love.” She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him.
“Why not have both?” he replied, caressing her cheek with the back of his hand. “In fact, why not watch Cadence destroy Aaron as we hold a gun to her sister’s head? That… would make all that time in Hell worth it.”
A titter escaped her lips as she gazed up into his eyes, no longer a shade of anger left in her disposition. “I don’t give you enough credit, darling.”
Perses’s countenance shifted and he dropped his eyes, staring between them at the floor. “I thank you for not reminding me of how imprudent my last decision was. I thought, if I drew her out, we’d be able to destroy her before she ever had a chance to Transform.”
Asteria reached up and ran her hand through his dark hair, her blood-red fingernails glinting in the dim light as she did so. She lifted his chin so that their eyes met. “I know, love. I know what your intentions were. And it might’ve worked had it been any other Hunter. But the Findleys are more powerful than any we’ve ever faced. Each of them in their own way.”
“I thought she’d be so distraught at the sight of her friend… I could overpower her.”
“You never saw her coming.”
He shook his head slightly from side to side. “If you don’t think this plan will work, I promise you, I shall listen to you, my love. I don’t want to leave you again.”
His face still in her hand, Asteria centered her stare on his eyes. “I will never let anything take you away from me again, my darling. Nothing will ever come between us. I promise.”
Perses’s mouth crashed into hers, and he scooped her up into his arms, launching into the air and landing with a shutter on the silk covered bed. As his fangs sunk into her neck, Asteria pushed thoughts of the forces on their way to attempt to destroy them aside. She’d let Perses devour her first and deal with her nemeses later.
