Early in the evening, I woke to more stirring action. It filled the quiet soundtrack of the American coven house than I had heard in previous sunsets. I sighed and rolled over in my bed, listening to the whispers and higher-pitched voices as people seemed to come and go up the stairs. From the council's floor above us, I could hear movement as footsteps rushed towards the main floor. I glanced at the small clock on my nightstand and saw that it was barely seven in the evening. The sun would not be fully beneath the horizon yet.

There was suddenly a knock on the door, making me look up.

"Eris?" my mother asked from outside.

"Coming," I answered as I got out of bed. I crossed the borrowed bedroom in four steps and quickly unlocked my door.

My mother stood in the hallway, her eyes looking towards the main foyer and sitting room. "Are you all right?" she asked, confusing me.

Why wouldn't I be?

She glanced back to me, a worried look on her face.

"I'm fine. What's wrong?" I asked, keeping my voice quiet. I glanced down the hall as the sound of feet came towards us in a hurried pace. I watched as my brother jogged towards us. "What's going on?"

"Moon Worshippers attacked one of the outposts at dawn. Someone just now made it back," Avalon answered as he rushed into his bedroom. "Mum, I'm going with Dad to check it out," he told her.

My mother sighed, and I looked from her to Avalon's door, shock filling me. "I thought they were unknown here," I said.

"They must have tracked one of the humans back from the city," he answered me. He reappeared, no longer in sweatpants but jeans, and his leather jacket over his arm. "I'm going with Dad and the council. They might need my help. Do you want to come?"

"Let me change," I said hurriedly, pulling away from the doorway to head back into my bedroom for clean clothes.

"Eris, you should stay here," my mother said, her head shaking at me.

I returned her motion. "No, I need to go," I shot back. I grabbed jeans and a long-sleeved shirt from a drawer and stepped into my bathroom. I changed quickly, hopping out of my pajamas shorts. I pulled the shirt over the camisole I had been sleeping in and then yanked on my jeans. I grabbed my ballet flats from the floor beside the desk.

"Eris, it's too dangerous," Mum continued.

"I need to see this," I amended my statement as I slipped both feet into my shoes. I grabbed my trench coat from the hook on the back of my door and joined my brother in the hallway.

She groaned and shook her head. "I don't like it."

"Mum, I promise, I'll keep an eye on her at all times," Avalon swore, looking her in the face with the most serious expression I had ever seen.

"Avalon, let's go," my father called from the other end of the corridor.

I grasped my brother's hand and he pulled, leading the way to the stairwell. I let go when we began to descend the steps, Dad well ahead of us. I pulled my coat on as we went down. I found my father now standing near the door in jeans, boots, and his leather jacket. A gun sat on his hip, and I felt my first pang of fear hit me, reminding me of our last night in Wellington. Did he expect there to be further violence?

My eyes next found Elizabeth and Marcus in similar attire: pants, boots for maneuvering rough terrain, and jackets. I noticed Kearran and Nathaniel came down from the opposite stairwell of the main foyer, also dressed for active duty. Each was armed with more firearms, while both Elizabeth and Kearran had swords slung across their backs that matched their leather uniform jackets.

How bad was it?

The American coven leader waited for everyone to make it downstairs before she turned and headed to the front door. She followed Seren as he finished adjusting a front seat in an SUV that sat in the driveway. She nodded to him and hopped into the passenger side while he crossed to the driver's side. Nathaniel, Kearran, and Marcus followed their lead.

Just to the left of their car, Malcolm waved for my brother and I to follow him. I glanced over my shoulder to see our father in my shadow. When he passed me to open the back door of a second vehicle, I looked up at him. He nodded me inside and I took his cue. I crawled across the seat to the opposite side as Malcolm and my brother got in the front. Dad joined me in the backseat and closed the door.

"Let's go," my brother said to his new friend.

We drove for thirty-five minutes before coming to a stop down a gravel road. I could smell the smoke from burnt metal and wood as it filled the air. Wispy tendrils of smoke still filtered above the trees, and I tried to hold my breath in dreaded anticipation. Malcolm followed the SUV ahead of us until we came to the end of the road, revealing the damaged structure of a large warehouse that sat amongst the woods. The exterior showed signs of attack with burnt portions and broken glass. The metal siding had been punctured in an array of peppered holes from gunfire.

I looked again to see two more SUV's arrive as guard teams climbed out to help in the inspection of the property. I waited until Father opened his door as he, Malcolm, and Avalon got out first. When Dad turned around to wave me out, I crawled over to his side of the backseat. I looked up at the building, smelling the charred remains of the structure and the stale scent of blood.

I stood there in the gravel, looking up at the decaying ruins of the outpost.

Our enemy had done this.

Elizabeth came across the open ground from their vehicle towards the front doors. She had drawn her pistol from her hip and her dark hair was looped out of her face in a ponytail at the back of her head. Marcus and Nathaniel followed, Kearran bringing up the rear.

Seren came to join us as my dad, brother, and I stood there in mortified awe of the destruction. "I have been afraid of this," the grand elder said softly. "It's been too quiet. I should have known that something would happen whilst you were here on our soil."

"They're trying to prove their reach," my father said, his voice just as low.

"Then let us hope it means we have more of us than they have of them," Seren responded.

I looked at the two men before finding my brother's face as he watched Elizabeth inspect the outside. I could tell he wanted to join her, but he had promised our mother that he wouldn't leave my side, and that meant even when our father was there. He always kept his word.

"I can't believe they'd be so stupid to do this in the region where we have a grand elder, Shadows, and four elders all here to retaliate," Avalon growled softly. "Surely they couldn't have any hierarchy living here."

"Not as much as us, that's for certain," Seren promised as he continued to listen to the sounds of the building for any suspicious movements.

I glanced towards the tall man before I trained my eyes on the disheveled structure. I could hear the crumbling of the building as it strained to remain standing. Another deep inhale brought the scent of old blood back to my nose, smelling like tarnished copper. I could only imagine the carnage inside as Elizabeth slowly opened the door and began to clear corners. I heard her call out someone's name.

"How many did you have stationed here?" my father asked.

"Just over fifty," Seren answered. "Most of our human employees are based out here so they can have some separation from our vampire guards. But we do have a few immortals here that run the supply lines from the cities to our coven. It's always been so far off the map that I've never had to worry about an attack in the past seventy-five years."

I heard my father sigh heavily. "Then we'll be lucky if they were merciful," he said softly.

I swallowed the lump in my throat as I looked back at the building. The very mental picture I had of what an enemy attack looked like was not near as vivid as the sight before me. The perfume of stale gunpowder, blood, and burnt wood continued to fill my nose, and I tried not to notice it. I nearly jumped when Avalon put a hand on my shoulder and squeezed gently. I looked up at him, wanting to cry. He returned my expression and nodded, as if to silently reassure me that it would be okay. But I knew otherwise.

"The roof is gone back here," came the sound of Marcus's voice. "Anyone hear us?" he called from inside.

"Why would someone do this?" I whispered, not meaning to speak out loud.

"Power," my brother answered. "They wanted to remind us that they can do this."

Nathaniel came back out the front door of the coven outpost. He locked eyes with my father and then Seren. He finally shook his head, looking down.

"Damn it," my brother hissed.

I heard my father whisper something in an old, ancient language as he shook his head. Seren seemed to roll his eyes with frustration.

No one was left beyond the lone person who had been able to warn the main coven house.

"We need to get you out of here," Nathaniel said to my brother and I as he gestured back to the car. "Both of you. Logan, you should go while we check the perimeter. Get them out of here."

"Wait, why?" I asked, not understanding as my brother turned to corral me back to the SUV. "What's wrong?"

"There could be more of them in the area," Avalon explained as he pushed me back towards the vehicle. "We don't want them to see either of us," he added. When I met his gaze, I understood the implication.

They didn't want anyone to find out that either Avalon or I were the true Dark Child.

"But what if someone needs our help?" I asked, unable to stop myself.

"Then we'll help them back at the coven house," our father answered. I quickly hopped back inside the car and scrambled over to my seat as he got in. Malcolm had rushed back to jump in the driver's side ahead of me and Avalon took up the passenger seat again. I quickly buckled my seatbelt when we tore away, getting one more glance out the window at the dwindling ruins of the outpost as we drove back down the gravel road.

"Could anyone have survived that?" I asked, uncertain if I wanted to know the answer. "I could smell blood."

My father sighed heavily, and I swallowed any hesitation that still sat on my tongue. I needed to know. "It's not likely," he said at last.

"We should have made sure they were better prepared," Avalon said from his seat. "They probably did this because they know we're here."

"Avalon," our father barked in warning. He didn't think my brother had been sensitive enough to save any of us from feeling blame and guilt.

But Avalon was right: the people here had been attacked because of our presence. Before, no one knew where to find us as the only remaining descendants of Count Dracula. And now they did...

"It's the truth," Avalon snapped back at Dad. "We should have known to make sure everyone took better precautions."

"It will be remedied," my father said decisively, as if that would quiet him. "Times like this are when we must be strong and do what we can."

"Not your fault," Malcolm said, and I glanced up to catch his eyes in the rearview mirror as he looked back at me. I tried to smile, but instead just nodded to show I had heard him. "Lord Seren and Elizabeth will know what to do."

"Ranelle can put in a call to replenish your forces if she hasn't already," my father said to the council member. "You shouldn't have to go without protection here."

"That'd be wonderful, if she's willing to pull some favors," the man said with a nod as he drove us back towards the coven house. I noticed he continued to check the mirror consistently to be sure no one followed us. "Running understaffed while having your whole family here would have a snowball's chance in hell for surviving, should something happen."

"Agreed," Father answered him. "Gods willing we never have to find out."

Once we made it back, I found my mother waiting for us. She had dressed into business clothes and had been on the phone with coven leaders, making requests for resupplying the American west coast district of soldiers, food, and other security means. I had never heard her talk so strictly to whomever was on the opposite end of the line as she demanded things be done right away. From the dining room, I could hear Contessa on the phone with someone else, speaking quickly in French. She, too, had taken on a harsh tone in her native language. I had sat on the edge of an armchair as I watched the flurry of activity. My gaze switched over to see my father and Malcolm pour over a map on a table as the two talked perimeter tactics around the grounds.

Meanwhile, Avalon kept himself busy by working with the infirmary for any incoming trauma cases.

But from the way it had sounded, no one was coming back alive after spending a day in the crumbling hell of a burning building.

I finally turned my attention from taking in the chaos as the doors opened again. I watched as the American council, joined by Kearran Silverstone, came through the door. Elizabeth had black smut from charcoal smeared on her face, Marcus also sporting similar marks. I noticed Kearran immediately wiping her hands on a towel that one of the staff offered. I stood, waiting for word.

Just as I began to ask the question we were all thinking, Nathaniel Bartholomeu and two other men came through the doors, carrying a cloth stretcher. "Ranelle, I'm going to need your stitching skills," he stressed as he turned to the left of the foyer towards the lower wing. The hall led to the infirmary and the entrance to the gymnasium I had been in the night before.

"Coming," my mother responded after lowering the cellphone from her mouth. "Avalon, go with him until I'm there," she ordered.

My eyes shot over to my brother as he came forward from the hall, moving quickly. He went to the opposite side of the stretcher to look down at the body inside it, nodding to Nathaniel to hurry up.

"How bad?" I asked Elizabeth when she walked over towards me.

She took a glass of bourbon from the bar cart that waited just off to my left. She sighed and shook her head. "All of it's gone. We're going to have to go back and clear it again with more people," she told me, her voice surprisingly calm despite the frustration on her face. She swallowed down the drink in two quick gulps before refilling the glass with water from a bottle.

"I have a group coming in before one o'clock from Seattle," my mother said as she came up to join us. "Forty headcount. Should keep you safe until the rest can get here from Italy."

"Thank you," the younger woman responded, giving her a smile.

"And I'll do a shift with the other guards until they arrive," my father added as he came to join his wife. He gave her a kiss on the top of her head before looking at Elizabeth and I. "Malcolm has a plan for the exterior, but let's keep everyone else inside unless necessary."

"Good with that plan," Elizabeth answered him. She took another swig from her glass and then sat it back down. "If you'll excuse me, I need to make sure our security systems are on high alert while he and Contessa implement that strategy."

I watched her go before I looked at my parents. "What can I do?"

"You and I are going to stay here until Avalon's back," Father responded. "Then maybe you can help us come up with some plans for our chessboard."

"Good idea," my mother agreed before she patted him on the chest. I was shocked she was willing to let me help. "I'll send him this way when I get to the infirmary."