Gasps and whimpers started coming from the vampires behind the twin world representatives and ran to one another hiding from the ominous sight that they’d wished never appeared in their vision. Nearly in unison, they huddled tightly and squished their eyes shut.

  “This isn’t real….” Arthur dropped to his knees with his hands shaking as he tried to cover his face.

  “T-t-ell m-m-me this…oh mercy please…” Grayson looked away and fell right beside Arthur. “F-final…Arthur?”

  “R-R-Raven…those b-b-b-blue eyes…forgive…” Jonathan stood in pce as his fear helplessly locked his body into pce.

  Initially confused by the various cries and apparent fear from her fellow vampires, It slowly dawned on Marianne whose voice she was hearing. Daniel had cautioned and advised Marianne about one danger that existed beyond the sun. Tears of blood cascaded down her face and the thought of envisioning ‘The Raven’ proved to be more than Marianne could handle. Lacking the ability to speak, she felt the nerves in her body light up all at once, causing her to fall to the ground and twitch as though she were in a seizure.

  Slowly rolling his eyelids shut, Abel did what he could to avoid looking at Vivienne. Although he had been somewhat prepared to face Amber, the other delegates didn’t think that ‘The Raven’ would bother with the individual sessions and thus the risk of delivering the demands were retively low. Hands shaking as though he were covered in ice, Abel touched his forehead in the vain effort to try and think.

  Tales of ‘The Raven’ were well known among every vampire in existence. Ultimate huntress. Unstoppable killer. Responsible for the Elder sughter during the conference for creating ‘The Veil - also known as ‘The Night of Tragic Woe.’ Three thousand five hundred years old and counting. An unimaginable force of the supernatural that the Earth catered to with every step she took. A vampiress who’s fangs had consumed entire cities reducing their popuce to dust in one evening, leaving the names to disappear from the annals of time.

  -Now she is here with those terminal blue eyes aimed at me.-

  A sobering thought managed to creep its way into Abel’s mind making his fears that much worse. “I..” Abel did his best to talk meekly rather than use his height to his advantage. “We…we…” Unaware that he was moving, Abel unintentionally found himself knee-deep in a yer of wheat that went up in a plume around his tall frame. “Unexpected…”

  Opposed to the others, Orion Vogels felt nothing but rage for the blue-eyed ancient vampire and balled his fist so hard that his knuckles popped. “My brother is dead because of you, beast.” With his unclenched hand, the enforcer reached around to his back and produced a stake the size of his forearm. He tilted his head down and looked up from the tops of his eyes. “Pn to visit the-”

  By the time the rush of air and boom of the sound barrier hit the other vampires, Vivienne had drained the wordy enforcer to dust and his ashes scattered in the area as a low falling warning. A follow-up twist had Orion’s stake buried through Abel’s chest. “Unexpected?” Vivienne resumed her spot beside Faye and licked a single drop of Orion’s blood from her long red fingernail. “Mister Crimson, I was encouraged politely to attend one of the sessions and I graciously picked this session with my presence.” Holding her hands so they formed a steeple, Vivienne tapped on her lips and then pointed to Jessica. “I would rather not hear Mister Crimson’s voice again. Since you have the documents, please inform the rest of us what has occurred that created such chaos.”

  Casually unfolding the papers that Abel had given the couple, Jessica quickly scanned the pages and found the list of veil breaks. “Oh god.” She excimed. “Amber..” She looked up from the paper, “It’s not very long, but I see their….oh god…” She put her hand over her chest and held up a finger. Let me catch my breath.”

  With a tender kiss on Faye’s lips, Vivienne went around and silenced all but one vampire. When the ashen dust settled, the ancient vampire handed Marianne the stake with Abel’s blood all over it. “Please do stand up, young one. No harm will come to you.” Vivienne returned to Faye’s side. “Jessica, when you catch your breath dear.”

  Sweating so hard that her pores drained blood, Marianne found that she still couldn’t speak clearly and wondered what she was supposed to do with the stake she was given. Holding up one of her hands peacefully, Marianne curiously curled her eyebrows and then pointed to the wooden object while barely looking at Vivienne.

  “A keepsake, Young one.” Vivienne gnced down at Cassian and then back at her wife. “I am excited to hear what has happened.” She passionately purred and squeezed Faye’s rump. “Spending so much time in Crete, Italy..” Vivienne flicked her blood-den tongue at Faye. “Delicious, Mon Amore.”

  “Oh boy.” Faye giggled. “Jessica hurry up, I might not have much time.”

  Deciding to read them in the order of the page rather than some sembnce of order per locale, Jessica took each one like a headline from a newspaper. “Vampire uprising in Egypt to take over the country. The entry says it is a direct result of that…thing on the ground.” Jessica looked up. “Cassian apparently started others thinking the same thing.” She tapped the paper. “Yep, English and Scottish vampires are warring like what was happening in Richmond.” She took a breath, “Um…” She rolled her eyes. “Let’s see. Phantasmagoria and Petersburg, The fact Colonial Heights was burned to the ground and then led by a vampire for recovery. Extensive warring in Richmond that left bodies all over that couldn’t be identified or expined.” Jessica pinched her nose and took a breath. “Jesus. Spain has four abandoned cities in the span of five years.” She looked up from the document at Vivienne.

  “It was not me. I can’t recall the st time I finished off a city.” She ughed. “Although I am sure it will be bmed on me.” She waved her hand. “I’ve been with Faye for two years and I lived in Virginia Beach fifty years before that.”

  Devoid of any real need to be confrontational, Jessica simply winked at her blue-eyed friend and kept reading. “We know about Ohio and the Kingdom thanks to torso down there, Nevada lost four blocks of Las Vegas to a youngling frenzy.” Snuggling into Amber’s arms as her girlfriend gripped her waist, Jessica popped a kiss on Amber’s cheek and finished the list. “California has vampires tweaking on tainted blood that is apparently tainted with a version of meth. Thousands of missing or unexpined deaths. Maine and Vermont have…” She paused, “..Holy Hannah….Advertised blood cults online and are actively flying people over here to join up.” She handed Amber the pages. “What a mess.”

  “Yeah.” Amber sighed, “Crap…” She closed her teal eyes, “...this doesn’t include the campground tonight.” She finally looked at the few remaining vampires. “I hate to say it Vivienne, but they have a point.” She looked tenderly at Jessica. “There’s nothing that they can say that will make me kill Jessica. This is awful.”

  “Dumpling.” Jessica turned in Amber’s arms and held the young vampire's cheeks. “Texting Vivienne for backup is only a stopgap.” She pointed to Marianne. “Even without her, they’d still come after you, because of me.” She snorted, “They pnned to kill us both if you didn’t agree. You are just too high a risk with your youth and ability.”

  Despite the fact it appeared that Jessica was the one with all of the intellect between them, it was Amber’s frenzied chaotic moments that kept her from rationalizing things like her lover was currently doing. “We only have to hide for a few years, Jess.” She held Jessica’s hand. “I’m not going to kill you, forget it.”

  A compassionate yet authoritative voice came from beside Vivienne. “I have an idea, if you are open to an alternative pn.” Faye announced and half growled at her wife. “I can’t believe I am considering this.” It was a perplexed look in Vivienne’s angelic sky-blue eyes that made Faye grin wide. “Yes, it includes you darling.” Her tiger-irised green eyes focused on Amber. “Release Jessica, then let us care for her.” Faye witnessed shock and anger flood through Amber’s body. “Amber. Think about what you are doing. Calm down, please. We are friends.”

  “I am trying.” Amber uttered from her teeth. “No one would ask you to give up on the woman you love. Why should I?” It was Jessica’s hands over her iron-rich lips that broke her focus and brought her right back to Jessica. “You actually agree with them, Jess?”

  Nodding her head slowly as tears welled up in her brown eyes, Jessica did her best to expin the situation. “Dumpling.” She sucked in a hesitant breath. “Vivienne is a sure thing. If they publicly know that I am with her, then there is nothing they can do to me.” She kissed Amber slowly and mewled afterward. “It also protects you. You can outwardly accept the conditions, and have no fear of them being able to hunt you.”