“I was telling Jared last night that he may set off a trend by having a Sventé as a Consort,” Connelly said to Evan.

Jared smiled. “Actually, Consort isn’t the correct word. She’s a commander.”

“Within the legion?”

Still smiling, Jared nodded.

Kaiser scoffed, “A Sventé , a female Sventé, working as a commander within the legion? Absurd.”

Yes I know I should be used to this by now but apparently I’m not. Before he could twist the cap off his NST bottle I, in a movement so swift he didn’t see it coming, sucked energy into my hands and manifested my whip which I then cracked toward him and used to snatch his bottle. I then dragged the bottle to me with the whip, picked it up and read the label as I let the whip fade away. “Nah, I don’t like that flavour.” With that, I placed the bottle back on the table and released a gust of air from one hand, sending it zooming across back to Kaiser. The commanders chuckled.

“A Feeder,” gasped Bran.

“A Sventé Feeder,” said Kaiser. I winked at him and leant back in my seat. “But that is only a Pagori gift.”

“And that is only one of many things that make Sam unique,” announced a new, deep, rhythmic voice as he, Luther and Sebastian strolled into the room. Antonio.

As usual Nero came to greet me with a lick to my arm and then he squeezed himself between mine and Evan’s chair, eager to be stroked. When both Antonio and Luther looked sharply at me with intrigue written all over their faces I knew Jared had told them telepathically about the surfacing of my new gift. I could see that they were itching to know more. I merely smiled.

After Antonio made all the introductions he began, “Bran, Rupert” – he called Connelly by his first name the same as Jared did – “and Kaiser have arrived to inform me about certain things that Bennington of Great Britain was heard to have said last night at Rupert’s gathering. All of it supports Luther’s vision: Bennington intends to attack The Hollow and is trying to recruit as many vampires as possible. Bran, Rupert and Kaiser have agreed to support the defence of The Hollow by adding their own legions to ours, which has increased our numbers greatly. In fact, their legions are being teleported to the Guest House and other accommodations as we speak. This sense of urgency I have is in light of what we didn’t otherwise know before: Bennington intends to attack at midnight tomorrow.”

There were gasps and mutterings and curses. I was pretty much mute with the dread running through me. That gave us no additional time to train: we would literally have to put ourselves in place tomorrow evening and lie in wait. Jared’s hand gripped mine under the table. I could sense his rage and his unease. Bennington might himself be nothing but a little fart, but his army of specially gifted vampires were a big concern. And God only knew how many allies he’d manage to secure.

“It would seem that he decided to bring his time-table forward, probably because he suspected that my Advisor may have had a vision and so he hoped to catch us off-guard. We may not have had as much time to prepare as we would have liked, but had it not been for Luther’s earlier vision we might never have been as psychologically prepared as what we are now. I would advise all commanders to spend this evening familiarising yourselves and your squads as much as possible with the surrounding rainforest. I have additional security measures in place, including a stronger shield over The Hollow so that no one may teleport there until I have removed it. Even now the other vampires and humans are being hidden underground.” Antonio cast a look at the three High Masters. “If you wish for your Consorts to also be hidden then that can easily be arranged.”

“I think I can help,” the red-head blurted out. Bran castigated her with a look but Antonio waved away the break in etiquette.

“We have become used to outspoken females,” said Antonio with a smile. “How is it you believe you can help, Miss…?”

“It’s Alora. Well, you said you’d be using the rainforests and I can communicate with and charm animals. Ordinarily they wouldn’t aid us in any way: they see as the ultimate predator. However they’ll sense that Bennington’s lot are a threat to their surrounding environment, they won’t like that. Even having them as spies would be useful.”

I saw how Evan had stiffened and I knew he fully intended to suggest she was locked away for safe-keeping. I subtly kicked him under the table and then said, “I agree that she might be able to help.” She smiled at me gratefully for that. Last night she’d looked at me like I was no better than a dung beetle just because I was a Sventé. I felt Evan’s eyes drilling into me and condemning me. “Haven’t you learnt anything from me being here?”

He sighed and looked away but mumbled something about God needing to save him from women with iron-wills.

“Jared, Lou, Will,” began Antonio, “I consider you three to be the specialists on formations. Where do you suggest we place each squad?”

Jared spoke immediately, his voice filled with determination, “I’m covering the front line.”

“We agree that it would be an advantage for Jared and Sam’s squad to be one of the squads covering the outer perimeter,” said Lou. “From what we have heard and seen, although the squad is reasonably new the recruits are as prepared as any can be.”

“They kicked the ass of my squad,” grumbled Evan.

Antonio nodded. “The fact that they will have both Jared and Sam leading them makes them an excellent choice for that position.”

“Wait,” said Jared. “I’m not sure Sam should -”

My voice was like a whip. “I really would ask yourself if you like your eyes because if you finish that sentence there’s a good chance I’ll gouge them out.”

He raised his hands in a placatory gesture. “It’s nothing personal, Sam, I just -”

“When are you going to grow up and accept that we have to work together?”

“Sam -”

“This ‘I don’t need help’ crap is getting old now. Hurts your pride that you have a female Sventé backing you up, does it? Tough. That squad is mine just as much as it is yours.”

“I didn’t say it wasn’t. There are plenty of other places you could cover.”

“I believe I already stated, Jared, that I wished for you to both lead the squad together during the attack,” said Antonio. “It wasn’t a request. Now, let us move on.”

While Will and Lou put forward suggestions for the placing of the squads during the attack and what tactics each should use, I sat there seething. I didn’t care that the irritation and lividness was pouring off me, or that everyone in the room could sense it. That sod had just tried to cut me out again. I felt utterly betrayed; he hadn’t ever really seen me as an equal at all, had he? Not as a colleague and probably not even as a person. He definitely didn’t respect me if he thought he could shag me one minute then turn on me the next. I’d understand if I didn’t take my job seriously or something, but it was the opposite. I loved my job and I had tried so hard with those recruits; I’d invested time and sweat in their training and it had paid off. And now Jared was happy to cut me out again.

I was surprised by how much it stung. This was a person I had come to care about and, as painful as it was to face, Joy had been totally spot-on: I was just ‘another piece of ass’ to him.

Sam, will you just –

I didn’t want to hear it. I slammed up my mental shields; Victor had made sure I had strong ones to ensure I could resist any vampiric attempts at brainwashing. If Jared was going to shut me out then I’d shut him out as well. He remained uncharacteristically quiet through the entire meeting which I thought was pretty wise because keeping a low profile in front of me was the only way I was going to calm down.

After much debating it was eventually decided that The Hollow’s legion would cover the North of the island, Bran’s legion would cover the East, Connelly’s would cover the West, and Kaiser’s would cover the South. It was also agreed that Alora would join Evan’s legion for the attack; I suspected that this was the only way he’d be able to function, having her there where he could see she was safe.

The second Antonio announced that the meeting was over I was on my feet. Apparently Jared’s common sense had left him because he tried to speak to me again. I pointed at him hard. “You stay out of my face.”

“Why can’t you just -”

“Sam,” called Antonio as he approached, “might Luther, Sebastian and I have a word?” He gestured for me to follow them, and Jared, the cheeky twat, actually went to follow. “Alone,” Antonio added. Jared spat a profanity at the ceiling and then stormed off muttering to himself. It wasn’t until we were inside one of Antonio’s many parlours, settled on a bulky sofa that he spoke again. “I can only apologise for Jared’s behaviour. I had thought that he would have accepted the situation and swallowed his pride by now.”

“I don’t want to talk about him,” I said as I stroked Nero attentively, hoping to calm myself. “Let’s just get down to business, shall we. You want to know what my new gift is, right?”

Antonio, Luther and Sebastian exchanged excited looks.

“The wait has been agonising,” admitted Luther with a smile.

“I doubt your suffering was much worse than the shock I had when it surfaced.” Seeing their looks of expectation, I decided to teasingly spoon feed them info. Simple pleasures and all that. I smiled. “It’s really good.”

“How good?”

“It turns out that this gift doesn’t run in Sventé lines either.” I heard them all gasp slightly. “Should I be shocked by that or did you expect it to not be a Sventé gift considering that my other one isn’t?”

“We had no way of knowing,” replied Antonio.

“It runs in Pagori lines just like Feeders. Oi, you don’t think I’m really a Pagori, do you?”

“You’re definitely a Sventé as you well know,” said Antonio impatiently.

Sebastian appealed to me with a look. “Is the suspense really necessary?”

“It’s pretty rare.”

“Oh Sam do stop this and satisfy three old men’s raging curiosity.”

“It turns out I’m now a Merger as well as a Feeder.”

All three men gasped again then smiled approvingly.

Luther puffed. “I hadn’t seen that coming.”

“Oh this is even better than what my guesses were,” said Antonio. “I’ve only ever met one Merger before. It is a substantial gift. He described the sensation of Merging with someone as slightly painful and uncomfortable but also very empowering.”

I nodded. “You feel full of power, like you could do just about anything.”

“That is why it can also be a very dangerous gift to have.”

I nodded again. “It was so odd. I could tap into every single bit of energy that was inside Joy -”

“Joy?” asked Antonio, a brow arched. I continued on, regardless.

“- but I knew there was no way I’d be able to use her gift because she was resisting the whole experience. But I could have drained her.” Full points to me for resisting.

“As I said, it is a dangerous gift to have. People can become drugged on the energy and power. But, then again, being a Feeder can be just as dangerous and yet you have more than mastered that. Still, be careful with it, Sam. Be wary of using it during the attack; you are still new to it and that would be the wrong time to experiment with it.”

“What would be the point of having these gifts if I ain’t going to use them?” I’d be using them for something else very soon too, and I was as eager as hell for it. Jared would have no room to moan because he’d brought this on himself.

(Jared)

Shit! Shit! Shit!

There was no denying that I had well and truly f**ked up. Just when I’d had Sam starting to relax around me and open up to me, I went and said something that pretty much guaranteed that she would hate me. I knew what leading the squad meant to her. I knew that she was capable of leading them during an attack. In fact, she was one of the most capable commanders I’d ever met. I knew how much the squad would benefit from having her there during the attack. I knew how much I’d benefit from having her there. I knew that she could take care of herself and didn’t need mine or anyone else’s protection.

So why didn’t I want her covering the front line with me?

Because just the thought of her being in that level of danger made me feel ill inside, no matter how capable she was.

And why did the idea of her in danger make me feel ill inside?

For the same reason that the idea of her in danger scared the crap out of me: I loved the crazy bitch.

I’d realised it the second I teleported into the office and saw her with Max. Or, I should say, I saw Joy with Max. It explained so much: why I hadn’t been able to shake her off, why I’d wanted her so badly and so completely, why I sensed her and her emotions. I didn’t know when it happened or if it had been a gradual thing that had only crept up on me today. I just knew that it was real and that if anything at all ever happened to her I’d never be able to get through it.

I also knew that I couldn’t tell her.

Sam had told me that time in her apartment that she didn’t want to love anyone ever again, that she didn’t want anything complicated. Telling her I loved her would be a sure-fire way to make her keep as far away from me as possible. I was going to have a hard enough time getting her to calm down for me after what went on in the meeting so mentioning the word ‘love’ was out of the question.