Amassed Forces (House of Garner

Book 8) Erin R Flynn

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 My name is Inez Garner. I’m a vampire princess, the champion of our Goddess, Aether, and in charge of saving as many
from the apocalypse as possible. Oh, and trying to get the world back to what it used to be as much as possible… When I have
no memories of it.
What could possibly go wrong with that?
Especially when the apocalypse did not bring out the best in people and it seemed mostly snakes and monsters survived.
The best part? Erebus’s champion has made her first move and come at us. It was lame, but she won’t stay that way for
long, so that should worry anyone smart. And I’m smart enough to know not to underestimate people I shouldn’t so we all
survive.
At least there’s good news. My recovery is better.
I feel stronger.
I feel supported and loved by more than only my Kristof.
If we can just stay on this path and everyone works together, we can all come out ahead and have lives worth living once
we win. That’s an achievable, realistic goal.
Yeah, right, a bunch of people will undoubtedly try to mess it up. The question is who will go first?

House of Garner is an apocalyptic, hot burning, reverse harem romance with darker elements, strong language, violence,
and a heroine who doesn’t let anyone get in her way.

*This book is part of a series and cannot be read as a standalone. Like all my books, this is not light and fluffy and includes
dark themes and events some may find triggering. Reader discretion is advised.
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 1

“She hit another warehouse,” Malachai informed us at an updated meeting. He was a noble of Bahati’s court who had
personally thanked me several times for freeing him. He was in charge of all the warehouses we were getting together in each
settlement location. And planning the ones we would put into place so everything wasn’t sprawled all over an area.
Dozens of us groaned. I threw my pen down, totally done with this shit but with no good way to handle it. It had been just
over two weeks since the champion of Erebus, Keres, had made her first annoying attack by burning less than a tenth of a wheat
field.
One of our many wheat fields. Less than ten percent of it.
Yeah, super scary big threat, bitch.
But she kept hitting us. It was always something every day or every other day. And the cunt got lucky on the second attack
by hitting one warehouse next that had some of the toilet paper reserves we were stocking.
So the whole thing burned fast with that much fucking kindling. It was just on fire and then gone.
“But there wasn’t much damage,” he kept going, focused on me. “You were right to put someone older with good senses
there. He never felt her, but he immediately sensed the fire and got it out before it even was enough to take down that wall much
less the chocolate inside.”
My eyes went wide. “The cunt went after our fucking candy? Seriously, this bitch needs to die.”
I felt everyone slowly look at me before several burst out laughing. Kristof was holding his stomach as he bent over to
laugh so hard.
Hell, even Tian chuckled.
“I’m not the only chocolate and sweets fiend in this group,” I reminded them. I glanced at Jaxon and felt better when he
nodded. “Okay, then the plan is to get people guarding the warehouses.”
I had already been working on ideas to counter Keres, so all of the visiting nobles of the fourteen princesses I had
alliances and deals with were invited to this meeting. Jaxon’s job was to work with them, and he’d already been talking to
them to feel them out.
And they were nervous. He’d bounced around ideas and a few weren’t favorable to their covens, but we were coming to
the end of the deals. Those cities we’d been focused on around Fort Knox that we’d needed to be cleared out quickly were
done.
The surrounding suburbs too.
Seattle was done.
Salt Lake City too.
Texas and everything we took out from under the idiots left of that settlement there.
“You have all been honorable in the deals we made,” I told them firmly. “I’m honored to be aligned with your princesses.
A few of us got off to a rocky start, but I think we’ve come a long way, and there is a mutual respect and path we all agreed we
want to be on.”
“We have been honored to be on it with you, Princess Inez,” the noble from Princess Marta’s court said, dipping his head
to me. “My coven, my family is in such a better place that we cannot put into words what—no one is hungry anymore. We were
all so hungry and had given up hope. Your kindness and goodwill saved us. My princess feels this.”
“Marta’s a good woman who cares,” I accepted, glad when several of the nobles agreed. “I want you to take the new deal I
offer to your princesses. If they have questions, they’re welcome to visit. If they want to see the areas with their own eyes to
know the value of what I offer is there, I’m fine with that. I am. None of this is easy and I won’t be upset.”
“We were hoping to keep the deals as they were and move onto more areas,” Sebastian hedged.
“No.” I smirked at him when he flinched. “Don’t get upset, Da.” I felt better when his lips twitched. My Irish accent was
shit, but he liked when I called him “Da.”
He liked me. Jaxon had admitted how upset his parents had been at him with how he’d acted. His mom had even slapped
him, and I knew getting that reaction from Nora took a lot.
I glanced around the room again before nodding to Jaxon. He pulled up a large map of Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana,
Illinois, Missouri, and Ohio on the screen for reference. The area the humans had there starting at Fort Knox and Louisville
was circled.
Looking down at my notes, I read off what I had prepared. “Illinois had over twelve and a half million people, but over
half were from Chicago and that’s gone. Ohio was almost twelve million and not bombed. Tennessee was seven and not hit.
Indiana was almost seven, Missouri the same, and Kentucky was four and a half. No bombs.
“You all saw the biggest city those states had—besides Illinois.” I glanced out at the room. “But that leaves a lot. Of
Tennessee’s seven million, I have that 1.3 million lived where you raided. That’s a lot left. And probably bigger scores
because the large cities had a lot of corporate offices and businesses that we all have too much of.”
“Most of us have checked the surrounding areas to report to our princesses what was there so they could make offers on
continuing the raiding,” a different noble told me.
I saw the vast majority of the nobles handling the raiding and deals all nod. I knew from Jaxon that they’d been checking
out more than where they were assigned, but I wanted them to hear the numbers.
“I want to continue the deals with new terms, but there is one thing I want specifically that might be the holdup. As you all
took vows to Aether, I want an alliance between the fifteen covens. It was Marta, I believe, who said we should be like the
European Union almost. I want that level of commitment to no more bullshit between us fifteen.
“And if anyone breaks it or cheats these deals, they’re out with the rest of us not willing to trade with them, alliance
broken. I agree with Aether that it’s time to draw the line in the sand and know who’s on the team of making the world better,
protecting our people, and fighting against Erebus. I want it loud and proud. I think these alliances are worth it—worth
protecting.”
“My princess agrees,” one of them said, but I couldn’t remember who he was attached to.
I was glad when saw several others nod. “Good, because I’m going to change the terms of the deal to something better
showing we’re allies. No one has broken the deal or started shit. You’ve all gone above and beyond, but so have we. I want
that to be the future and no more of this invading or hoping someone fails shit.
“If one of you has a hardship, we work together and help our friends. I want trust in our future, and I want you to hear it
from my lips and tell your princesses that I do that for them.” I nodded when they seemed shocked. “Our jobs are not fun. They
break us. It’s why Aether wanted us to have multiple husbands to support us.
“We all know things didn’t turn out how She wanted and there are nobles near your princess that have tried to break them.
They are snakes and then we’re stuck. We become hard and cruel to everyone else, unfeeling and cold. That’s what it takes to
lead in the current setup and what the ‘norms’ have become. I want to help my sisters who lead as we are humans and others.”
“That is a future you have made several of our princesses want as well, Daughter,” Sebastian said proudly. “We’re in.
Nora already said it. You’re never unfair or cruel, so she told me whatever the new deal is, Ireland stands with you.”
Ceawlin and Winston said the same, but they were all my in-laws, so of course they would agree.
“My princess is also in,” Princess Leonor’s noble said… And he wasn’t the only one. Princess Lawan’s noble and a
couple more agreed. Almost half.
Wow. That was a huge change from where this all started.
Nice. Really, because that was progress and I believed them.
Plus, there were people in the room who knew if anyone lied and they seemed pleased.
“Good.” I glanced around one more time and nodded. This was the right move. “I’m offering half of the raiding going
forward. No more of this one pallet for every twenty-four. We have more than what we need and you’re still struggling.” I
smirked as mouths fell open and more shocked reactions appeared.
Hell, Winston had been drinking something and spit it all out.
Whoops?
“And no more that the stores are out of the deal. Everything. If you need more clothes, we can trade a container of that for
something else. I know there is something you all need specifically and we’re going to focus better. But I want the areas closest
to the humans handled first and fully. We’ve got bugs in there now and they are noticing there are less corrupted.”
“They’re going to get brave and soon venture further,” someone muttered.
“Yes, and they know Cincinnati was taken out from under them. They’ve heard our planes, but don’t know it’s us. So the
more we get out from under them, the more we get that won’t be lost later.”
Kristof snorted, fully believing we were just going to handle them like any other settlement.
Probably, but I wasn’t there yet to just take over what remained of the government.
“And you will ask what for this extreme generosity?” Winston asked.
I smirked at him. “Oh, I’m not done. As you know, I’m a very good friend. I’m offering that to all the covens who say it
loudly we’re not just working together but friends.”
“There’s more?” Jaxon hedged, not being read in on this part.
I shot him an apologetic look. “You had to leave and we came up with some more. Sorry.”
He gave me a soft smile. “You’re the boss, Inez. I wasn’t questioning you, just wondering what I missed. Thank you for
filling me in.”
I nodded. “I believe all of you know that I gifted my husband all of the alcohol in a state. Most of you were there or heard
about it later. It was the prize for that competition.” I was glad when they all chuckled and clearly knew about it. “There were
thirteen states that did that, and we found the other twelve facilities. Ten are intact. Two are… Meh. Still booze to be had.”
“We are practically dry in all of Italy besides what we make,” Matra’s noble said, shaking his head with a wistful look in
his eye.
 “Well, I’m offering those two that are meh and two more to your covens. Completely. They’re to be distributed evenly
between your fourteen coves.” I nodded that I wasn’t kidding, winking at Jaxon when he chuckled. “And—”
“By the gods, there’s more?” someone whispered.
I bobbed my head as I looked at my notes again. “We have a situation in northern Indiana that we need to handle fast. The
population of black bears, coyotes, and wild hogs are apparently fucking ridiculous.”
“And wild turkeys,” Ceawlin added, his tone amused.
“Always the fucking turkeys,” I chuckled. “Yes, I was starting with the predators.”
“That’s why I added the turkeys,” he drawled. “I thought you were kidding about them being so fucking mean but seriously,
they were trying to get us. They have no restraint or brains to try and pick a fight with us.”
It was funny but true. I’d heard about what happened and I’d laughed so hard for a while. There had been thousands of
turkeys that had tried to stampede at the nobles who had gone to check out the situation.
What would that have really done? The turkeys did chase them out basically because we didn’t want them dead.
Yet.
“Also deer, otters, and foxes,” I read off. “Turkeys and falcons. Fish and fish in Lake Eerie. Also some frogs and
rattlesnakes.” I blinked at Cerdic who had worked on this with several of the nobles we trusted. “How the fuck are we
supposed to handle frogs and snakes?”
“I suggest the shifters we have who might hunt them, but we are fast enough to catch the little fuckers.” He snorted. “You
step on a ton of them if you move in certain areas. It’s like overrun with both. The snakes are dangerous to humans, and I think
a few can make shifters sick but not lethally.”
“If their animals are prey,” Trisha confirmed. “Unfortunately, they don’t have the immunity to certain toxins that can affect
humans like us predators can. And those of us who are both like falcons and such.”
“That’s so weird,” I muttered, not worried about offending her because I knew she agreed. “We can figure out how to
manage that situation, but does anyone even want the snakeskins or whatever?”
Apparently, some people did. I knew they used to be made into fancy bags and boots, but… Whatever. Not wasting it was
better.
“I’m offering all of the culling to your princesses,” I said as I stared out at the group. “Pelts and all. We have piles for
Nora’s guy to handle and don’t need to break him. By our estimates, we’ll need to cull two thousand deer from there alone.
That’s two hundred and fifty thousand pounds of deer or a hundred and fourteen thousand kilograms.”
I’d gotten pretty good at putting things in the metric system since that was what pretty much all of the other covens used.
Why did the US like to be the oddball out of things?
“And about two million turkeys. No, we’re not kidding,” Cerdic drawled. “They are everywhere. Most won’t survive the
winter they’ve exploded so much and are fighting for everything. Better to not let them die and rot and feed people.”
“And you will ask what for this extreme generosity?” Winston repeated.
“I’m not done,” I chuckled, nodding when there were more shocked reactions. “We are willing to offer half of the bullets
we are finding in excess, but aren’t the ones we need so many of, if you have someone who can convert them into the ones we
need for the bigger caliber weapons.”
“We have dozens who can do that in our coven, Princess,” someone blurted. “We will take that deal and greatly need the
bullets ourselves. Handguns too for tight clearing areas and spots.”
“We can work with that,” I promised, glad when others seemed ready to jump on that too. Good. We had so many bullets it
was ridiculous and were always finding more. It was time to work on some long-term goals of stockpiling what we needed
better.
“Anything else?” someone teased.
“Yes, I’m giving a hundred cows and a thousand chickens to each of your princesses. We’re not going to have an outpost in
Indiana, and we found several farms that are ridiculous. So we’re going to offer them live so you can start having the security
your coven will want that the food won’t go away.”
“Aether bless you,” someone rasped, sounding choked up.
I nodded. “I’ve heard repeatedly from all of you that people are being greedy and any deals for more food you’ll take. I get
it and do not judge your people. We all suffered too much, and there are years of too little food to recover from. I also know
how terrifying it is to not know where your food will come from tomorrow or next week.
“I’m the one person who can take that worry off the shoulders of your princesses and covens, so I will. I will for my
friends who didn’t fuck me over with these deals. We all know how easy it could have been with fourteen covens versus us.
Even with the deterrents and who I’ve married from the covens involved, it could have happened.
“But it didn’t. And I’m grateful to your princesses for being honorable. And helping us. We would have been screwed too
many times if your covens didn’t step up. I know there were days you helped us that you didn’t count on the total or ask
anything for. That’s generous too. So this is my sincerity.”
“A few have cows already, my love,” Kristof said when no one seemed to know what to say. “Could they have pigs
instead? There are several areas we found that contain farms we can’t take over or manage.”
I shrugged. “I’m fine with that if people can handle the transport. We were planning to easily drive them to St. Louis and
load them on ships to go down the Mississippi.” I had a better idea. “I will add in pigs for a later date for all if they will take a
day and help transport the pigs to where we can handle them. I know a few of the outposts said they wanted to get more before
winter.”
“I hate to keep pushing this point, but what do you want for all of this, Princess Inez?” Winston interjected again, looking
worried like he knew it would cost them a lot if I was willing to give a lot.
True, but not as much as he would think given I really did want to be generous.
“We need more manpower. No matter how much we do, we keep accepting more in. I was just informed that five more
clans would like to become my knights and the smallest clan is over six thousand.” I nodded when several people winced.
“And we have more settlements we need to bring in before Keres tries to infect them all.
“So to answer your question—I want more days of help from your covens.” I let out a slow breath. “For every three days
of raiding, I want two where you help the coven. We can figure out how and jobs, but a lot of it will be jobs you old guys can
do faster.” I hurried on when people looked ready to reply. “I did the math and you still come out ahead with half. Especially
with—”
“Our coven will do more,” Sebastian pledged, others nodding.
“Wait, I was going to ask for more,” I admitted. “I want more people from your covens here. To guard warehouses.” I shot
a worried look at Jaxon. “We were thinking like fifteen, but we can—I’m open to what people think is fair.”
“You are being way too generous,” Winston argued.
“We need the help.” I met his gaze and let him see how serious I was. “You need the help. I can give it. It doesn’t hurt us to
give it. You’re not taking anything away from us. But we can’t save more and keep everyone safe unless we get more help.
She’s not going to keep setting warehouses on fire. She’s going to get stronger like I did and fast. We need more in place.”
Everyone was quiet as they settled with that for a few minutes, Sebastian breaking the silence first. “Then give us one day
of full raiding for every two helping you. You aren’t hurting for stuff as we are.”
“I agree,” Winston added. “At least for a few weeks. If there’s stuff your outposts need, then we take one of those days for
you and raid in an area near them. That’s smarter than raiding near the humans and separating it all from there. The ships in St.
Louis are great for us, but you have trucks going past on the road all of the time, and that’s wasted manpower.”
I opened my mouth but then slowly closed it.
“It’s also less targets for Keres to try and hit,” Kristof said quietly. “You’re right that she will get more powerful and
become bolder. It’s always our people driving those trucks. Yes, in a caravan but normally shifters who will be no match for
Erebus’s champion. She cannot be stupid and won’t hit trucks for other princesses.”
I hadn’t thought of that. That was a very, very good point.
“I didn’t think of that,” Jaxon admitted. “I think this improves on a very smart plan you thought up, my wife.”
“No one is criticizing you, Princess,” Winston said firmly. “You aren’t on the ground there as we are. This is—”
“I’m not offended,” I cut in, giving him an easy smile. “I’m exhausted. We’re spread too thin. I’ve got too much in the air. I
appreciate the help and advice. I truly do.”
“To clarify, Princess, you don’t expect these guards to fight the champion of Erebus?” one noble carefully asked.
My eyes went wide. “No, not at all. If she shows herself even, I want people to run. We need early warning. Someone who
will put out the next fire. That’s all.”
He nodded, thanking me for explaining. “If you could give us even two or three of the raiding days to target what we need,
I believe my princess would give you more people for such an easy task. We are well fed and with amazing treatment in those
nice hotels you give us. We have many young ones a few hundred years old who would gladly take such a job.”
Yeah, those young ones. Geez.
“I agree,” Sebastian said. “Even if it was a couple of weeks to be switched out. We have many single vampires that age
that would. Nora would give you forty for a month easy while you install cameras and lights or whatever else I’m sure you’re
plotting. They could watch monitors and alert us old guys to handle things fast.”
I bobbed my head as I listened to several more opinions and comments. “What is this specific raiding you guys need? Or is
it different for everyone?”
“Appliances,” several of them answered.
I shared a look with my husbands before we burst out laughing.
Seriously?
 2

“Sorry, sorry,” I gasped as I fanned my face. “It’s not funny you guys are in need.”
“You found something that would make this easier?” Sebastian surmised.
I nodded. “It’s a huge warehouse of one of the major appliance makers or they were shipped in—it’s huge. But it’s all
together and pretty hidden out of the way. We’re leaving it there for our needs for the next—”
“Forever,” Kristof drawled. “It’s massive.”
I nodded. “But it’s also the bitching our people have been doing that the appliances are the hardest part of raiding every
Costco, Home Depot, Lowes, and a few others. Yes, we can… Don’t you guys have other outlets and stuff? Can our appliances
work with your electricity?”
“Yes, it’s a cord change that we can more than manage,” Winston told us. “All of our everything was fried and you
graciously fixed those components. However, they weren’t used for six years, so now there are motors dying and compressors
—heating elements that I don’t even want to get into.”
I waved him and the others off when they all looked ready to add to what he said. “We know. We had the same issues at the
hotels we’ve put back online. The way some of it was explained to me, it’s like vehicles that aren’t started at least once per
week and everything gets ick.”
“I don’t think that was what your engineers actually said, love,” Cerdic teased.
“Close enough,” I drawled, shaking my head thinking about how they tried to explain it all to me. They had been all excited
that I was interested in their field, and I instantly regretted asking since they had gone on for like thirty minutes until my head
was going to explode.
No, I wasn’t exaggerating.
“Yes, we can get you appliances. What else do you need?”
Luckily, the short list was pretty much the same for all of them. Mostly things for winter. That hadn’t been the focus, but
now winter was coming fast and… Blankets and sweaters that were hand-washed the old way did not stand up well. That was
the moral of the story.
Everyone was in agreement that one day of raiding fully for them was worth three days helping us with other things if they
could get several days of what they needed most and the stores of the area. Plus, all the gifts I was giving would more than
cover the extra help. They wanted to go right away and talk with their princesses, and I was thrilled with that deal.
Yeah, I totally agreed.
Sebastian, Winston, and Ceawlin—who was still taking the role for Matilda replacing Jacob—stayed though which meant
something else was up.
“I’m just here because I got word from Olivia even if it doesn’t directly involve us,” Ceawlin said with a shrug.
I nodded, guessing what this was even about as I focused on Winston.
“Princess Kaitlin killed two of her coven for repeatedly going to the food market and reporting their corrupted kills for
meat,” Winston told me gently.
I closed my eyes and swallowed loudly. She had found people there and sent guards to get them. She’d started shit with
Hanna, but Hanna had pushed back that we weren’t asking which coven they were from or getting involved like that when
people were starving.
Kaitlin had threatened to punish people, but the coven was pushing back. A smarter woman would have stood down.
The idiot had doubled down instead.
“It’s true,” Malachai of all people said. He nodded when I did a double take. “And five more are scheduled to die. She’s
planning on calling your bluff that you won’t allow such actions to show her coven that you will fail them by sentencing the
other five. She thinks that will get them back in line.”
“How do you know this and we don’t when we’re listening?” Kristof bit out.
“Tone it back, my love,” I said when Malachai started shaking. He looked like me when the anger of ancients froze me in
place and I needed to flee. I was pretty sure Malachai wasn’t even a hundred, so he had to feel it as well. I waited until he did
and nodded to Malachai to answer.
“My brother is one of her nobles. We haven’t been in contact because Katilin and Bahati hated each other.”
“That’s true,” Ceawlin confirmed, a few others echoing him.
“I took a chance that I might be able to catch him and was helping at the trading post Princess Hanna set up with your help.
When I wasn’t doing my role here. I promise. The time difference is—”
“I’m not mad,” I promised, smiling when he calmed down. “I get it. I would never have stopped you from trying to get in
touch with your brother unless it was to slip notes spying on us.”
 “No, I also wanted any information he had since I know Kaitlin is a threat to you,” he admitted.
“You should have told us,” Kristof muttered.
“I was going to, but it just happened and he’s—it’s bad,” Malachai defended.
“What did he tell you?” I pushed before someone else lectured him. Right or not, it was done, and Kristof could talk to the
younger noble later. I was glad when Kristof nodded that he understood where my head was.
“That Kaitlin is tightening her grip at the pushback. She’s not the same person as before the apocalypse. She had a great
setup and the coven was super wealthy, so she wasn’t ready for any of it to be hard, and she’s making all the wrong decisions
because of it. Digging in her heels.”
That sounded a lot like Olivia but with more evil than stupid. Evil was killing your own coven members who broke your
rules for food.
Olivia was just stupid and inflated. I think she finally realized that as well now.
I nodded along as he gave more specifics and examples that we didn’t know about. That coven was really in a bad spot
and had no hope of something better if she kept trying to have them be so reclusive or plotting takeovers instead of seeing
reality.
Malachai let out a slow breath and met my gaze. “My brother asked if there’s any chance you’d take over the coven. That
he could promise most of her nobles wouldn’t get involved or defend her.”
That always terrified me. Even if she was the worst person in the world, those nobles swore to protect her.
And they weren’t going to.
Yeah, that wasn’t fucking scary when I had nobles who had promised me the same. The heart was fickle and I understood
that but… They were my protection. Honestly, princesses got screwed over too much, and that was how the non-evil ones went
crazy and shut down.
I was feeling that already too.
I let out a slow breath. “Okay, let’s go kill another crazy and take over a coven.”
“Just like that?” Sundar of all people checked.
“Yes, because she’s one of the princesses I saw in my vision from Aether,” I grumbled. “And if she’s now killed her own
coven over food, Aether is going to want it more. I’m not dealing with more visions for that cunt.” I frowned when people
seemed upset. “Kaitlin. I was saying Kaitlin was the cunt, not our Goddess.”
Too many seemed relieved and I rolled my eyes. Even before I believed in Aether and that I was Her champion, I’d never
been so disrespectful to Her. Idiots.
Then again, it was a high stress situation, and it was easy for those to blow everything up. That was most of my life after
all.
“There is some good news that will help before you take over another coven,” Kristof informed me, seeming completely
on board and ignoring all of the shock in the room. He waited until I nodded. “You asked the clans and especially the heads of
clans to be your eyes and ears watching the vampires from the covens you’ve taken over.”
“Yeah, I need to follow up with that,” I sighed. “People are getting itchy that they’re still guests and I get that but—there’s
just not enough hours in the day.”
He nodded but gave me a slight wink. “I have two very extensive lists. You are too busy, but Lara, Maggie, and Cerdic
made it a point to follow up with them. He personally spoke with each clan leader to hear their thoughts on the people.”
I glanced over at Cerdic and smiled. “Thank you. That’s a huge help.”
He nodded. “A lot of people heard it was the idea and specifically spent time with the clans so they could get a feel for
them. The list of who to accept is long. There are only about a dozen they want shown the door.”
Sundar cleared his throat, giving me a worried look when I focused on him. “I would hope those of us you trust will be
consulted before you deny them a place in your coven.” He waited until I nodded. “There are some I would agree with, but it’s
not fair for my past with them to influence you as we all had to behave certain ways around Bahati.”
I understood what he meant, but he also wanted to defend any that maybe we got the wrong impression of.
Funny how he didn’t care about butting in if it was to save people though. It actually made me like him better.
“Let them all have a say in the list,” I told Kristoff after a moment. “There might be more they saw that the shifters couldn’t
yet.”
What was the harm?
For one, it was a long list. So it wouldn’t be all done today, but Kristoff read off a hundred from Safie’s coven to start.
There were no objections and a lot of nods that they were good people.
“Do it. Tell them they are official coven members and we will be adding more once we go over the recommendations,” I
said firmly. “Also, let them know that the clans vouched for them to be added. That will help the lines drawn between vamps
and shifters.”
“Smart,” Kristoff praised.
“Some days,” I chuckled darkly.
 No matter how pompous the vamp, if a shifter helped them be accepted into a coven that could give them a real future…
They wouldn’t forget that. It would always be something they took into account.
Good.
I gave orders to prep the killing of Kaitlin and then they confirmed another hundred names before it was time to go. I was
glad those people would get some good news before we started more chaos.
Kristof blurred me to Alaska, and we used the chopper to jump over to Russia. There was one thing I needed to know that I
realized when we landed. Doing that reminded me how stupid I’d been handling the travel to Bahati, but it made me think of
something that I should have before.
I found Sundar in the group and went over to him. “When we’re done here, go kill two hundred corrupted in Bahati’s
territory.”
His eyes flashed with shock. “You want to know if Aether or Erebus will count the area of the princesses you take over.”
“I think it smart before someone else realizes it’s a weapon to be used against me. If I don’t have ghosts tomorrow from
this, I think we need to fucking clear out those areas before Erebus thinks to do it.”
“Yes, I agree.” He studied me a moment. “I ask to kill a thousand. That will tell us and not simply some killing happened in
your area or by your people.”
I thought of that a moment. “Kill five or six thousand. I can more than handle those ghosts, but that will give us the answer
for sure. Thank you.”
“Of course.” He cleared his throat when I went to turn away. “If the answer is no, I also suggest you extend the trading post
with Hanna or at least allow us to inform other covens. You would get more killing for the food.”
“Yes, but we need to get more to Hanna then. Check with Winston or directly with Hanna on what we’re plotting. We need
those answers though. Let Nora and Olivia know that I want Ireland and the whole UK cleared of corrupted. We’ll give them
the weapons, but we need to start having definite safe zones. It will be a way to keep the government quiet too.”
“If they did it, yes, I agree.” He dipped his head to me and then Kristof carried me to Kaitlin’s coven.
We blurred right in like we owned the place.
“How dare you—” the princess who had to be Kaitlin started.
“Save it,” I drawled. “You cannot really be surprised I’m here.”
“She is,” Kristof told me, trying to keep the amusement out of his voice.
“Well, then you’re as stupid as you are cruel. Killing over food? Seriously? What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“I’m not going to listen to some young princess who has the guts to declare herself Aether’s champion. And I won’t—”
Nope. She didn’t have to listen to me anymore. I wasn’t going through this normal shtick. She was more powerful than
Bahati and Safie from what I could feel, but I’d learned some new tricks as well.
I used my power to throw a barrier over her like Vitor had taught me… And then shocked Kaitlin with my charge until she
got gross.
“She’s definitely dead, right?” I checked with Kristof when I pulled my power back.
“Very,” he chuckled but then shot me a weird look. “You didn’t take her blood though.”
“I don’t want it. She smells weird,” I muttered. “Something seems off and—”
A man who had been standing near Kaitlin knelt. “She was poisoning her blood in case you came, Princess. It made her
slightly ill and she drank more from us, but it was enough to kill you.”
Everyone with me—and several from Kaitlin’s court—couldn’t hide their disgust.
I looked up. “Thank you for the warning, Aether. I never take your protection and guidance for granted.” I focused on the
nobles there and the others who had come zipping into the room. “For the record, Aether sent me a vision about your princess
and some others that She wanted their covens set free. So this is about more than your poor dead.
“This is Aether’s blessing that you can be saved and don’t deserve the suffering you have been enduring.” I gave them a
moment with that. “Her nobles are now mine. As I did with Bahati’s court, I want you all to testify to what you saw today. That
I was able to kill Kaitlin from a distance without her even being able to fight back.”
I gave them the same speech I had before, saying the coven would then be disbanded and everything returned to the Earth.
They could have guest privileges at my coven as long as they worked, or they could go on their way, Aether bless them. But no
one would be taking over this coven… Which I would need to say to the two princesses who had been adopted by Kaitlin.
Except then I was told they fled when they felt me.
Yeah, I wouldn’t have wanted to risk getting killed for the boss.
I nodded as I considered that, glancing at the nobles. “If you know how to find them, do it and let them know that they’re
not being targeted by Aether. I will not be taking them in my court, but if they would like to be a guest at my coven with the rank
of a noble, I will accept them.”
“That’s dangerous, My Princess,” Kristof worried.
“For them as well,” I sighed. “I probably won’t let them stay, but they’ve been starved and more as well and the world is
perilous. So they can stay for a few months and we can reevaluate. Nothing more.”
 “Your kindness is more than we even heard,” that same kneeling noble told me.
“Thank you. I hope you all feel that way and will handle your coven, guide them to make smart choices during this scary
time. We offer much, but everyone works and we have rules. My husband Jaxon will speak with each of you in turn so nothing
slips through the cracks. I suggest you listen to him no matter if you’re older.”
And just like that it was done.
“Actually, there is something I want you to see first and attest to,” I cut in as people were making plans. I glanced over at
Sundar. “Everything is out of your former coven?”
I had promised to return Bahati’s coven to the ground after I took over, but too much had been… Life was a mess. But I’d
asked Sundar to make sure everyone got everything out of there that people might want to have later. To check with every
member of that coven and be sure.
Nothing would be worse in the middle of all this loss if I destroyed family heirlooms and treasured items because they
hadn’t grabbed them while leaving after I killed Bahati. People hadn’t been thinking straight with the crazy and a lot of them
had been starving. Now they’d had time to think about what they could have forgotten or would miss.
He dipped his head. “Yes, Princess. We double and triple checked, some of us even checking every inch of outbuildings
and other residences. It’s all clear.”
“Good. Thank you for handling that so diligently.” I nodded to Kristof who seemed relieved as well that we were finally
handling it.
He blurred me to that area and kissed my hair after setting me on my feet. I hugged him acting like we were waiting for
people to catch up but really… I just needed it. I’d had to kill someone else. It was better for everyone and she was a monster,
but that didn’t make it easy on me to do.
It really didn’t.
Once everyone was there, I let out my power and took down the coven.
And then we got the hell out of there because corrupted sensed me and were coming for me. Fuckers.
Plus, we had too much to do and not enough hours in the day.
Like normal.
 3

Branko

There was a question on my mind—and had been since Inez said Aether had let her know what princesses to handle… Was
my mother on that list?
I was pretty damn sure, but I was terrified at the idea of Inez going up against her. Abso-fucking-lutely terrified. My mother
was strong. Much stronger than probably any other princess alive.
That didn’t change because Inez was Ather’s champion. She was coming into her power faster than I would have ever
thought a princess could, but that didn’t counter thousands of years in power.
But that was another worry for another day. We had enough right now.
Luckily, it seemed most of Kaitlin’s coven had been hoping that Inez would take over like they knew she had Bahati’s. We
didn’t have any problem with them.
Adam Mendez—who originally was from New Orleans and was thrilled to be head of the outpost in his hometown—had a
very clever idea after he learned we were bringing in other settlements. He’d lived there during Hurricane Katrina and said
one of the smarter moves the city did was tell people to head to their massive convention center for safety.
And it had been updated since.
Unfortunately, that had been what the leaders said to do when the apocalypse hit and that hadn’t worked well. But it could
with work, and he thought that was what we should do for the next settlements we saved.
Inez’s nobles agreed and there were plans in place.
And our impressive princess just added over three hundred thousand vampires to make that happen.
Inez waited until it seemed as if everyone from Kaitlin’s coven who was coming was gathered. So were a lot of others
including nobles not of our court but of the coven. She’d also called off raiding for the day so the visiting nobles could speak
with their princesses, but that left a lot of vampires from Bahati’s and Safie’s covens to be there as well.
That seemed to help the vampires from Kaitlin’s coven to see them with their own eyes.
“This is the starting point you have with us as guests,” Inez said loudly. “You will be staying here and working to prep it
for the humans we have to get out of their settlements. I am trusting you to help us with this in good faith.” She gave people a
moment with that. “This failed as a safe place for humans.
“We know that. How do we do better? Yes, part of the problem was having the highway above this place and corrupted
coming in from there. Which means we have to get that handled, guards up there all of the time with heavy weapons. We need
fences. We need bathrooms extended. More showers added. All of it.
“If you want it, so will the humans, and let’s make it happen.” Again, she gave them a moment. “Once this place is ready—
completely and totally—you will be moved to one of the very nice hotels right around here. While you are helping us handle
this, we will handle that and getting you food. We know you’ve been starving.
“You’ve had too lean of times. We will get you all you can eat as long as you’re not greedy and share. I’ve got people
bringing hog roasters and hogs here. We’ve got food coming right now to help you guys. We’re going to get the food court here
running. All of it. We just need your help to do that.”
Damn, the woman knew how to motivate people. Telling them the treat they got at the end—nice hotels to stay in—was
clearly motivating as fuck.
“To show that I’m sincere, the hotel right across the street is already online,” she said.
Well, that was news to me and several others. Clearly, she’d been preparing for this as she could. I could see impressed
looks from the other nobles I worked with.
“When you check in with either Adam Mendez or Lorenzo Payne so we can get head counts, they will give you one of the
keycards. Go shower, grab the fresh clothes we have in the lobby. Everything is ready. We’re going to have to take turns and let
the hot water build again. Please do not be wasteful. We will allow this while refurbishing this place.
“Some of you can eat while others shower—there are a lot of adults here,” she continued, pausing to look around. “Adam
and Lorenzo are heads of their clans. They are my knights. Do not disrespect them or any of the shifters of my coven. I do not
forgive it. So treat Adam and Lorenzo as if they’re my court. They have that trust and authority.”
People glanced at each other, and I saw the looks wondering if she was kidding or testing them.
“I know it’s not what you’re used to. I wasn’t used to fucking corrupted. We’re doing better in the future and it’s how we
roll in this coven.” Again, she gave them a moment. “If you are unaware, we can no longer sense corrupted. It’s also true that
unlike most vampires, they are rabid to get me. So everything you thought you knew about them goes out the window.
“We’re being smarter and starting over. That means patrols of this place all the fucking time and outside. Do not assume
they won’t want you. Even if you are guests for now, I want you safe. I didn’t take out Kaitlin to risk your lives or let you die
now. So we’re going to work together and make our track record of no one dying stick.”
People were thrilled to hear that we hadn’t lost anyone yet. Every coven had from either bombs or being stupid. She
hadn’t been the princess long, but she could state that firmly while hunting for corrupted whereas other covens didn’t.
That was impressive.
People started showing up with food, so that helped the new vampires all believe and trust Inez was legit. While
sandwiches were handed out from other outposts, Inez told the nobles of Kaitlin’s to follow her to the castle.
And then it was the painful promise of getting all the remaining covens informed and tracking all of that. That took a few
hours and some of the responses were not great. A few actually wounded the messengers as “warnings” before they were
officially guests at Inez’s coven for her to defend.
The petty was that bad, but no one was hurt seriously and were already healed by the time they returned. Still, Inez was
upset and kept apologizing.
The nobles kept looking at each other as if saying “Is she for real?”
Yes, yes, she was.
I was shocked when that task was done and we returned to the convention center. People were cleaning every inch of the
convention as the start. A few hundred had already showered and everyone fed at least something. People waiting for their
showers had already checked in and were cleaning with the supplies Inez had ordered to be gathered.
Like a few people were on ladders washing the fucking windows. Yeah, these were people happy to be rescued.
“Give me the list,” Inez said to Adam.
“They have about fifty kids under five, so we need to immediately designate a playroom of sorts,” he said as he read over
what he had written down. “I would suggest this fancy lounge off of the main convention floor that entertainment or acts were
allowed to use. Some of the parents could watch the kids, but we need the supplies. Playpens, diapers—everything.”
Inez nodded and looked at one of the nobles from Safie’s court. “Get a team of vampires you know and specifically focus
on that. Let’s hit Baton Rouge and start getting supplies from there brought down here to load the warehouses even. We cleared
there, but remember, nothing is what it was so be careful.”
“Yes, Princess,” he agreed. “We will race down the immediate needs of the kids and then load up trailers to be brought
down.”
“Good, we can send up cabs to make runs. The drive is just over an hour or so,” she agreed.
That wasn’t as easy for them as her making more semis right for them… But people needed to stop treating her like a damn
genie. I was glad she was making them plan more of that stuff themselves.
She assigned more roles and people to head teams to get the list done that Adam gave her. So all that was left was getting
this huge convention center back online.
Only that.
Yikes.
Kristof whisked her off and I went as her guard and eavesdropped. “I’m sorry you had to do this, my love.”
“Me too,” she whispered. “It was easier this time, and then I get down on myself for being glad it was easier to murder
someone.”
“Punish them,” Kristof argued. “Please, you have to see it that way. You didn’t plot out to take the life of someone random
or innocent. She was a threat against you and killed within her own coven. Aether wanted her gone.”
“Why can’t Aether do some of this dirty work Herself then?” Inez rasped, sounding heartbroken.
“I wish She would as well, but I also wish She would back off more.”
“Right?” Inez chuckled. “It’s like I want Her to stop getting involved and making me feel like a rat in Her maze or fucking
step up and handle the hardest parts. I can’t even make up my mind which I want more most days, so I totally get why She also
doesn’t do more. She can’t win with us crazies.”
Of course, she would defend Aether in the same breath she criticized our Goddess. Inez was adorable like that.
“Remember to focus on what Vitor taught you as you drink,” Kristof said easily, but I knew him well enough that there was
a thread of tension still. It was because something involved Vitor.
Damn, Kristof still wanted the vampire dead. I knew it wasn’t easy after Vitor had almost killed Inez, but it had been an
accident. He needed to get over it or he was going to end up hurting her.
But most of it was jealousy. Kristof didn’t want someone so much older than him that he didn’t already know in his wife’s
bed. I honestly couldn’t blame him for that, but all of these contradictions were tying her in knots.
Princesses do what they want… Besides this, this, and a list of rules.
Build your court but don’t put in too many feelings… Except the feelings of the nobles who want her.
Yeah, I understood better why princesses shut themselves off from people.
Not my mother. She was just fucking nuts.
Inez whimpering pulled me from my thoughts.
 I licked my lips thinking about what Kristof was doing to her even as my own jealousy spiked. I didn’t ever want to push
Inez, but I was dying to have more from her. I wanted to be one of her husbands so bad it wasn’t even funny.
And I wouldn’t be stupid like the others had been.
“It’s always great when the guard is distracted,” Joi drawled from my left. She snorted when I flinched. “How about you
go make a run for the fruits they’re collecting in South America for these vampires?” She shrugged when I frowned. “They
didn’t have much at all, not just meat. Most of everything around them had been bombed or heavy fighting.”
“So they need vitamins and fruits as well, right,” I muttered.
She gave me a look to get a move on, and a smart person listened to what any of the Sisters of the Earth wanted.
And I was smart. I looked at the door though.
“She’s going to get the convention center online and head back to the castle. She’s fine. If not, we’ll grab another guard.
This will take a bit though.”
Fair enough. I thanked her and made sure she would tell Inez that I didn’t just bail.
“I’ll tell her that you were about to jerk one off listening to her have sex and I didn’t want to see that, so I sent you on a
useful errand,” she drawled.
Okay then. No, I didn’t poke back or say anything.
Any of the Sisters could squash me, and given the looks they already gave me because of the coven I was from, I wasn’t
going to give them reason to want to.
I raced down and found a few nobles now in Inez’s coven handling this project. They were glad for some help running. I
promised to bring back some of the older vampires from Kaitlin’s coven. They could at least do one trip if we showed them
where to go.
Sure enough, I had volunteers all over when they heard it was to get food to their coven. Ten came with me and should
have easily been able to handle the one-ton totes, but they were all too far down on the tank. It actually hurt me to witness. A
few were my age even if they weren’t nobles and it should have been fine.
“Inez is a miracle and will really help you guys,” I promised them when they were huffing and puffing from carrying it.
Inez saw us and I went over to her, noting Joi’s amusement. “Good, thank you for handling that.”
“Of course, My Princess.” I bit back a smile when she blushed ever so slightly. It gave me patience to know I affected her
so much.
Not as much as she affected me, but it was a start.
“If I might suggest a break and some hunting?” I said when I realized she seemed a bit overwhelmed. “I know that situation
in northern Indiana is for the princesses of your alliance, but they’re still doing some hunting in Jackson.”
“Honestly, we could use more farms,” she muttered. “And easy on the stomach like roast chicken or the hogs. We have all
the fish here we need. It’s just getting it all handled and done like yesterday.”
Fair enough.
“I will handle it along with bringing down some turkeys as there are too many around here as well.”
She sighed. “At least they freeze well. Yes, let’s get them processed, and I can always turn on more freezers.” She let out
another sigh. “We need a fucking solar farm here too. I don’t know if they’ve mapped out where and—”
“I will undertake that project, My Princess.” I nodded when she did a double take. “It’s going to be so we can house
humans and that’s my role now. Moon and I can handle it after dinner.” I cleared my throat and moved closer. “Kristoff will
have to coordinate with the nobles and keep a close eye on this new coven. Is there any chance I might get to snuggle with you
tonight?”
She got a bit squirmy then. “Um, I don’t—I think—” She was nervous in a way I didn’t understand, like she was ready for
rejection?
Then it hit me. “I would love a whole night off and to just let my brain stop. I was hoping I could read to you until you fall
asleep and simply slow down for a night, cuddle with you. I’ve wanted to since seeing my first ghost, if I’m honest.”
I wanted to pump my fist when I saw understanding in her eyes.
“I’d like that,” she said quietly. “You’re there as my guard sometimes and it feels like I tease you with that. I’d love a night
hearing you read to me and snuggles.”
“Perfect. I will get much done so you can sleep soundly.”
“You too,” she argued.
I swallowed a snort. More like be horny the whole time because I was finally touching her.
I checked in with Kristof and was shocked at his answer.
“I hope you can make a night yours to do that,” he admitted, sighing when I couldn’t hide my reaction. “I love holding my
wife all night. I do. It’s actually helped me and my own clawing crazy.”
I nodded that I got what he meant. “There’s just so much to do, and staying still as long as she needs is time you could
handle more for her.” I nodded again when he did. “Yeah, it’s a tough balancing act. I’m going to take a few things off her plate
now to help. If you could have the teams putting in solar panels assigned here tomorrow, I will handle the rest.”
 “Thank you, my friend,” he said seriously, even if he knew I was doing it all for Inez.
I wouldn’t not help Kristof. It was just for Inez.
I took off and not only found a huge flock of turkeys where they shouldn’t be, but two chicken farms that had gone
bonkers… And one had tiny chicks. I picked up a few to bring to Inez but then realized that would probably kill the babies.
Instead, I went back to the convention center and beamed at Inez. “I found something you will like, My Princess.”
“I can always use good news,” she sighed.
Kristof gave me a look that it wasn’t the time.
No, that made it absolutely the time to show her something so cute. Luckily, he picked up on my vibe and grabbed her to
follow me.
She loved it. She let out an adorable “squee” when she saw the chicks.
“I would suggest we transport the gobs of chicks all over here to Matilda,” I told her. “Older chickens too but give the
coven what you’re feeling right now. It’s a good present for Olivia taking back over as well.”
“Do it. Give them, Nora, and Hanna whatever they want. I don’t care as long as they can keep it quiet or—we need less
reason for people to shit on us.”
Her. On her. It was in the slump of her shoulders that she was still too fragile after her breakdown. I hated that. It killed
me.
But taking things off her plate really helped.
And letting her know she wasn’t alone. Which was why I planned on talking to the Begley twins before dinner. But right
then I had much to do for my future, my Inez.
One day.
I brought totes of turkeys to the convention center and was impressed when all the kitchens were already cleaned and fixed
up. A few of the fixed plucking machines were already there and the hose hooked up since it was a dirty outside job. People
jumped right in to help, checking it was what Inez wanted.
“Princess Inez doesn’t like lazy people or liars,” I told them firmly. “As long as you’re helping the end goal, like getting
food handled for everyone here instead of cleaning or fixing the facility, she is very understanding.”
“We’re not used to that,” the guy sighed.
“I know. Believe me, I know. Only time will heal you, but given how many jumped in to help your coven get settled and
acclimated—that truly is what this coven is. Only those like that are accepted. It’s why some are still only guests.” I patted the
guy’s shoulder. “Just take your time with it. Heal yourselves and know food and safety are no longer a problem.”
He nodded, tears in his eyes. I’d not been trapped as a noble in a bad coven, but I’d been born into hell. So I understood
that relieved feeling but was still scared it would go back to that at any second.
I showed others the way to get more turkeys.
“We can clear all of these out and eat them?” one of the guys checked, shocked as could be.
“Yes, they shouldn’t be here, and the population exploded,” I told him. “Whatever is here, kill and process. It won’t all go
directly to you guys, but this will help the other outposts that made you the sandwiches and the one here that is fishing for
everyone. We all share.”
“We were just one coven and that idea is foreign to me,” he muttered, shaking his head. “It sounds nice.”
“It is,” I said, several of the vampires from Safie’s coven who were helping me echoing the same.
We ended up not killing all the turkeys since they would start rotting before someone could process them. But we got
enough to get them a lot to work on. I saw more food going when I arrived back. People already on the grills and cooking
burgers and more.
Dozens of vampires from Safie’s and Bahati’s covens asked to stay there and help, remembering how scared and unsure
the transition had been for them. I said it was fine. We needed it.
I found Moon and Darius and we plotted out the location of the solar farm with Adam and Lorenzo. They were on the same
page on where to get it put in and then we found Vitor to clear the area. He agreed to work overnight with the nobles who had
the new power to turn things into energy beads and take down every building in New Orleans that was ready to go.
Adam and Lorenzo were both thrilled to hear it. Clearly, they were worried about corrupted hiding now that we couldn’t
sense them. Smart of them to worry and be scared.
I was too.
The convention center was completely clean already, and a quarter of the vampires had their hot shower and new clothes.
There was a semitrailer being unloaded, and I saw it was the frames of bunk beds that had privacy curtains and canopies for
the top.
“I want like lockers,” Inez said as she studied the setup so far. “One settlement I was at had like storage for each of us next
to the bunks. They said they grabbed lockers from a high school? Or employee lockers. It’s something, and it was great to not
get everything nabbed immediately. Even if the locks aren’t much, it’s the showing of security.”
I bit back a smile. She cared even about such small details to make people feel better and that was why people adored her
so much.
She had dinner in her private dining room with her husbands, and I was jealous I wasn’t allowed in there. I thought I
should ask if I was allowed to join them since we were officially courting. I wanted to, and sometimes I thought she might just
need to hear we wanted to spend more time with her.
I smiled when I saw her thanking the kitchen like normal. I went to intercept her so we could spend more time together.
She shot me a surprised look. “Sorry, I was going to work at the warehouse for a bit. Is that okay?”
“Of course,” I immediately answered even if I wanted her focus. “Do you mind if I come with?”
“Do you mind, my love?” Kristof said before she could answer. “I want to go handle more with the new coven so it goes
well. We need nothing to have problems right now.”
“Yes, of course,” she blurted, giving him a guilty look. “You’ll still rest, right?”
He leaned in and kissed her cheek. “I’m all charged up. I’ve been resting every night with my beautiful wife. It’s time I
step up to deserve such spoiling.”
She flushed so hot it went up to her ears and down her chest. She told him that she loved him and then let me blur her away.
I watched in awe as she used her gift to pull together some amazing glass panels. I could feel her worry in them. It was
well hidden though. It looked like flowers about to bloom, but the coloring and knowing her let me feel how it was more the
worry things wouldn’t work out, that those flowers wouldn’t thrive and die instead.
She was so layered and involved like that.
I smiled when she gave me a worried look like I might judge her. Instead, I said we should check out the bakery in Seattle
so she could see how well it was doing with her own eyes. She loved the idea, and I made a mental note to always take the
time to show her progress when I slept over.
We had several slices of cake left over from the day, and Inez got a chance to catch up with the people running it. She was
all smiles, and I could feel the relief pouring off of her.
“I was hoping we could make this a regular thing,” I said quietly after we arrived back at the castle. “I feel like…”
“What?” she asked, giving me a curious look.
“I don’t want to push you, but I miss you, Inez. I want to be more to you. Not rush or—I feel a wall between us getting
more solid instead of being able to reach you.”
She nodded but went to her tower, clearly wanting this conversation private.
Oh crap.
 4

Branko had been maybe the most patient with me of all of the nobles I’d met and not just the ones who wanted to be
involved with me. He was way more patient than most of them on anything, so if he was pushing or anxious then I was
listening.
I waited until we were in my tower but didn’t take him to my room, opting for my greenhouse for all my seeds that I never
got to do anything with. Seeing it all empty and alone made me sad, but right then wasn’t the time to focus on that.
“Don’t be sad, My Princess,” he whispered. “I’m sorry that—”
“No, it’s this room and how I never get to use it,” I admitted, turning and taking his hand. I led us to the bench, so we had
the pretty view of the night.
He waited until I sat down before joining me, always a gentleman like that. “I’m sorry you never get a chance to rest and
relax.”
“None of us do in the apocalypse. I keep thinking soon, but then something else happens.”
Like killing another princess and taking over a coven.
I mentally waved that off and focused on him. “What’s going on? Talk to me.” I nodded when he hesitated. “Branko, we’re
courting. I want us to be able to talk. You seem off. Is something going on or do you need…” I sighed. “I don’t want to put my
other relationships on you, but so much went wrong because we didn’t talk to each other. I don’t want to keep making that—”
He cupped my face and kissed me.
I knew why he did it, but I pulled away. That was what my husbands had always done, and nothing got resolved with that.
Yes, we felt better in the moment, but sex didn’t solve anything. All we became was sex and physical.
I wanted more than that.
Didn’t other people?
“I’m sorry,” he whispered, rubbing his thumb against my skin. “I want to talk and we’re more than physical.” He smiled
when I flinched, realizing that I’d said something out loud. “I just didn’t want you to get upset. You have too much upset already
to add my worries on your very young, very pretty shoulders.”
“Thank you, but I want us to be a team if we’re going to court and date or whatever.”
“Me too. I’m just very old and don’t know how to articulate what I’m feeling. I don’t know I should or if it will upset you.”
I slowly nodded, knowing that feeling well. “You’re not someone who starts drama. You’re the most patient noble I know.
If there’s something you need, please tell me. If I can help, I will. You do for me. Recording the books. Taking reading dates—
all of it helps me even if you enjoy it too. I want to be able to do things like that for you too.”
“Thank you, My Princess.” He gave me a soft kiss that seemed more for courage. “I want a night with you. Like a date
night. Humans used to have those with their partners so they always made time for each other no matter what else was going on
around them.”
That actually sounded… Really nice.
I slowly nodded. “So Wednesdays are yours? We have dinner, spend time, and you spend the night?”
“Yes, exactly like that. Or if we can’t do Wednesdays because something happens, we switch that week.” He cleared his
throat and moved his other hand to my hip. “But I did want to ask about being allowed to be in your private dining room. We
are courting, so I hoped it was an oversight.”
I opened my mouth but then closed it. “It was what Kristof said, but everything was so volatile that I—I worry they’ll think
I’m replacing them. That’s always what seems to be at the front of their minds.”
“Especially with that horribly unfair shot Darius took at you about the waiting line you have,” he murmured, kissing my
forehead when I flinched. “You’re right that it is the life of a princess, but he was a jerk. I understand your hurt, but I truly
believe he doesn’t feel that way or you would replace them. I’ve heard him talk about that many times.”
“I’m not there yet to hear that,” I grumbled.
“That’s fair and thank you for telling me. I’m not trying to defend him but help you not hurt. I hate how often I sense your
hurt.”
I nodded. “We could have Wednesday night be ours. I need to talk to Kristof and—he would be welcome, right?”
“Yes, of course. And I would never try to take his place.”
I sighed. “No, you would never be cruel, but he has so much to do, and I know staying all night, every night with me is
hard.”
“No, no, it is not,” he argued. “He has told many of us that he enjoys it and values how much closer he feels to you.”
“I know. I believe that and him,” I promised. “It’s still hard that he can’t get as much done as he needs to or wants to. He’s
with me most of the day—I’m not—it’s their fault. I have four husbands and three fucked up so bad they’re not allowed in my
bed. I need this support and help, and I’m sad it all falls on Kristof because he’s the only one who loved me enough.”
He hugged me and then pulled me on his lap when I turned away. He murmured that they were fools, like all idiot men, but
would win me back and show me that they loved me. It was all sweet and so funny how harsh he was on men that it pushed me
out of my sadness.
“Let’s go to bed, my sweet Inez,” he whispered in my ear, chuckling when I shivered. “To sleep. I would never think I was
so blessed to have you as a man the first time I was allowed in your bed.”
I swallowed my sadness, remembering when Jaxon used to say things like that, and instead all we kind of became was
shower sex. Him handling his role for the coven and shower sex.
No, this was my time with Branko, and I wanted to appreciate it, not let anything else cloud it. I hugged him and smiled
against his neck when he chuckled again and stood with me, understanding I wanted a ride to my room.
But I didn’t want to just sleep.
When we arrived, he set me on my feet and I pushed him hard on the chest… Except he didn’t move.
I sighed and pointed to my bed. “Humor me and sit like I can push you down, okay?”
“Yes, Inez,” he agreed, looking like he was holding back a smile.
“Are you really that happy to be in my bed?” I asked him as I slowly peeled off my shirt.
“Yes, yes, I am,” he breathed and reached out to touch me.
I smacked his hand away. “Who said you could touch?”
Heat filled his eyes. “Are you going to be the boss of me, My Princess?”
I raised an eyebrow at him. “Aren’t I already?”
“Yes, you are, Inez. Princess or not.”
Right answer. “Lean back on your elbows.” I bit back a smirk when he immediately did and I slowly stripped for him. His
nostrils flared when he saw my nipples he loved and they were hard. He licked his lips when I pulled off my panties and bent
over for him.
And then I dropped to my knees.
I did smirk then and reached for his fly. “I want to make your first time in my bed something you never forget.”
“Oh, I was never going to forget from the moment you took off your shirt, my sweet Inez.”
I really liked him calling me that, feeling my face flush at hearing it.
“Inez, you give me this honor, and you’re never getting rid of me, so be prepared for that,” he said firmly. His gaze was
filled with more than heat, and I saw he was giving me cover to my guards and acting like it was the first time we were doing
this.
“I decide that. Not you,” I snickered as I undid the fly of his pants. But then I froze. “Unless you don’t want this and want to
leave?”
Sisay tried to smother a snicker from the hallway and failed miserably.
“No, I think I’m good with whatever you decide and will just have to use my own wiles to persuade you if I want
something else,” he replied, licking his lips as he stared me down.
Damn. That was good.
Too good.
Still, I wanted to have fun and I wasn’t about to back down.
I pulled out his cock and gave it a slow lick before pretending like I was going to stop there.
“Have I ever been so mean to you, my sweet Inez?” he purred, clearly knowing I was playing him.
“I thought you might want to push down your pants and I didn’t want an accident.” I sat back on my feet and smirked at him.
The look in his eyes was clearly two can play this game as he stood and got naked.
Before he sat back down, I leaned in and licked his cock. Then I grabbed it and sucked on the head hard how Kristof liked,
glad when Branko hissed in pleasure. I moved my hands over his thighs as I kept sucking, my lips stretching wide to handle his
girth.
Then I pulled off. “Sit.”
“Yes, dear,” he chuckled and sat back down.
I kissed, licked, and sucked every inch of his cock and for a while, drawing it out before finally staying consistent so he
blew. I swallowed what he gave me down and licked him clean in a way that he very much liked from the way he stared at me.
“Any chance you’re going to bring your pert ass up here and sit on my face?” he asked as I pushed to stand.
I slowly shook my head. “Not my favorite way to receive.”
His eyes flashed shock. “Really?”
I had been more teasing, but he seemed genuinely curious, so I gave a half shrug. “I always feel off balance. You guys
aren’t just tall but have lots of muscles, and that takes up space where my knees go and—I don’t know where to look and…” I
cleared my throat.
He was suddenly on his feet and cupping my face, brushing his lips over mine. “Will you tell me what you like best? I will
give you it exactly as you want it best. Anytime you want. All you have to do is tell me.” He gave me another soft kiss.
“Please? I’m dying to know.”
That was so hot. “Kristof kneels behind me before we have sex sometimes and it’s so fucking hot.”
“Mmm, I bet you taste sweeter when you like it so much,” he murmured. “Just that?”
I shook my head. “No, um, when my hips are raised. Cerdic sometimes—used to move my legs over his shoulders and like
lift me too. Not fold me up but—he’d put a pillow under my hips and—it was amazing. Really amazing.”
“Can I try that with you?” he begged. Not just asked, begged.
“Since you asked so nicely,” I teased, trying to sound surer than I felt. I wanted to stop feeling so… Me?
No, that wasn’t right. I wanted to grow. Learn who I was.
I wasn’t sure if sex was the right way—or area to start—but Branko seemed to get it and was on the same page as me at
least.
I didn’t even have time to blink before I was on my back, a pillow under my ass, and he had my thighs on his shoulders.
“I want to explore everything with you, my sweet Inez,” he murmured before giving me a long lick. He gave me a few more
before moving on and chuckling when I whimpered. “So you like your whole pussy being sucked, not just your clit. Interesting.
Very interesting.”
“Just do it again,” I demanded.
“Yes, My Princess,” he chuckled and focused back on me. He did several things and made comments about what I liked,
especially when he fingered my clit and his tongue was inside of me.
I honestly liked it all and the attention he was paying to my reactions, to what I liked, and how to make it better for me.
Kristof was in no way a selfish lover… Or at least I didn’t think he was. He seemed to think he had been.
Then again, what did I really know? I knew a handful of men that were much better than assholes I’d seen in the
apocalypse.
For all I really knew that was just standard before everything went to shit.
But what happened with Branko that night seemed more like an experience and something I would never forget… And
would crave.
Damn man.
It was so good and overwhelming that I actually passed out from it at some point, no clue that I was even feeling it and then
just out.
I woke with the sun and slowly blinked up at an exceedingly amused Branko. What happened hit me and I felt myself flush
so hot I was pretty sure even my damn toes were red at one point.
“My bad,” I mumbled and then tried to hurry out of bed.
He snaked his arm around me and kept me near him, kissing my shoulder. “You have no reason to apologize, and I don’t
want you to feel the need to rush away from me after our first night together. It was everything. I will never forget last night,
Inez, and everything you made me feel.”
“Me too,” I admitted, turning my head and giving him a kiss.
And I really wouldn’t forget the shower he gave me. It was like a whole-body massage, scalp treatment, and just spoiling
that I wanted more of.
It was clear from his face that his plan was to spoil me so much that I would want more and ask for him to spend more time
with me. He would get his wish but… It would change if I took his vow.
How long would he really stick around if I didn’t give him forever like he wanted? Then again, I’d done a lot of things
differently than tradition and made my own path. Maybe there could be some level after engaged but not a whole forever
unbreakable vow stupid?
Like how about just a normal marriage or something where we could get divorced if things didn’t work out? That sounded
so much better.
Then again, that end sounded permanent, and would I have been able to say I wanted that with Darius, Cerdic, and Jaxon?
Unfortunately, my answer was immediately yes for one of them and pretty confident on a second. It made me incredibly sad
which made me more bummed after having such a nice night and good start to a morning.
“Things will get better, My Princess,” Branko murmured as he walked me out. “Please have faith in that and hold on a little
longer.”
I nodded, not having much of a choice. He was in a towel since he hadn’t brought clothes from his room and said he’d see
me later after another kiss.
I smiled when I reached the dining room and saw Kristof was waiting for me. I’d missed him, but I felt okay that he wasn’t
there. I’d been clinging to him as my complete support and felt so fragile like I would break without him that it made me feel
stronger that I was okay.
And I needed to stop chastising myself that I wasn’t a baby because I needed someone to sleep with me at night. I was
under a lot of pressure and scary ass shit. If I needed to feel protected after all I’d been through and not so alone then so
fucking what?
I gave him a soft kiss, smiling when he seemed to search my face for how I was doing. We got our food and then when we
were alone on the terrace, I promised him that it had been good and I was fine. Better than fine.
And so was he. He made a point to say he was looking forward to having a relaxing night with me, but it was a relief that
he got so much done with the new coven coming in. He’d helped Jaxon speak with most everyone in that coven personally and
small groups to go over the rules. Jaxon could handle the rest today and it was all settled.
Everyone had gotten their showers and—people were still scared, but it was a good start and they were appreciative.
I was glad because Kristof had a lot of pressure on him as well.
“The nobles have all returned with positive responses,” Kristof told me when we were done eating and had thanked the
kitchen. “Sebastian asked for a sidebar first.”
I nodded, shocked we didn’t handle that before eating or have them even eat with us. I smiled when I saw in his eyes that
he was putting me first. Everything was always a fire to put out or an emergency, and if we kept allowing that then nothing
would be important one day.
And that wasn’t a good way to live either.
I also found out that Vitor had been taking down buildings into energy beads when he felt something off and had then scared
off someone trying to set one of the warehouses on fire. So there was no damage to anything from Keres for once.
However, we also now had confirmation that she wasn’t working alone. It made sense that a princess that had been
awakened would need nobles, but I wouldn’t think any would swear to the champion of Erebus.
But Ceawlin had no idea how evil Bahati had been either. Other nobles and their princesses too no matter the alliance
needed.
I mean, Branko’s mother was clearly fucking nuts so… Yeah, people were trapped with evil princesses all of the time.
Or there was Olivia’s noble Denis who I was damn sure wanted someone evil to whisper bullshit to.
Either way, it was good to have the answers we needed. The more information we had, the easier it was to combat the fear
and whispers of her power. I couldn’t move faster than any other vampire my age. We assumed she was my age or still pretty
damn young.
However, she wasn’t hitting the same outpost or area every night. She was all over the map. I had thought maybe she’d
stolen a vehicle we’d abandoned or grabbed one at an outpost. We’d left a ton in Boston that I’d fixed and charged up just
because I didn’t know how to only use one option on my power then.
But now that we knew she had nobles… That was the answer.
Still scary, but less scary than the idea she could already move faster than she should.
We didn’t need to let her seem any scarier than being able to change the behaviors of the corrupted. That was already
terrifying enough.
 5

Nothing could have shocked me more than finding Sebastian standing with Nora’s Night. I hadn’t met her first love and the
only other man she really considered her husband. She had only had children with them instead of just a noble and an alliance.
And I was worried why I was now.
“He is here for two reasons,” Sebastian said after greeting me and making introductions. “He will guard you in place of
Vitor if you allow Vitor to come take down buildings for us in Ireland. We have so much cleared of corrupted, but people are
leery of moving out if one could slip by and hide in a building already cleared.
“I swear to you that she is of the same opinion as you to kill as many as possible before there is a new trick from Erebus.
Our coven has been killing as many as possible. Safely. This is the next step. Vitor has agreed as long as you are protected by
someone of a certain age who can be a deterrent and useful.”
“I am both, Princess,” Nora’s Night, Jamelle, said with a smirk.
Kristof nodded, clearly knowing the vampire’s age.
I nodded, getting that this was also Nora saying very loudly that my protection was more important than hers given the
threat. “If Vitor is willing, then absolutely. I would ask Risa would join him to help. I think that would say a lot very loudly.”
“You are as smart as I was warned,” Jamelle praised. “Well done, Princess.”
“Inez is fine, especially when you’re buttering me up,” I teased, smirking when they both flinched. “So what does Nora
want for the message of sending her Night to protect me and valuing my people when they help? What is the second part?”
Sebastian actually took my hand and pulled me to sit down, still holding my hand. “She is still very angry at Jaxon for how
he has hurt you, been a stupid noble like those that have hurt her. I’m telling you with all of my sincerity and admitting this
when Jaxon isn’t around to hear so my son isn’t wounded as he’s trying to pick himself up from his mistakes.”
I nodded, understanding it was a balancing act for them. I felt the same because I loved Jaxon even if I was the one he hurt.
“No matter the optics, helping you and taking a burden we can handle off your shoulders is Nora’s goal,” he continued.
“Putting some attention on us and off of you even,” Jamelle added.
I listened as they explained that Nora saw what would come next now that I had taken over Kaitlin. She understood the
politics and the princesses of the alliance would want the same offer I was willing to give my “enemies” of killing corrupted
for meat that everyone desperately needed.
And given I needed the help of the alliance now, she didn’t want anyone pressuring me or making side deals. So as Hanna
had taken on the trading post role, Nora wanted to do it for me in regards to those in the alliance. A discounted rate since part
of the help of weapons was the promise to use them to kill, but also getting more bullets to people—all of it.
She wanted to take that huge burden and handle it for me. Do it better since she was closer and could personally go leave
my blood somewhere near one of the covens and oversee them kill corrupted.
It was clear she was ridiculously worried Erebus would pull something soon to change the game again or make my life
harder. We definitely agreed on that and we couldn’t just have the fighter jets fly to Paris like we had to LA or Denver. Not
with what we currently had set up.
Though she did think we needed to do some of that as well. We had a lot of fighter pilots and they would be safe with her.
If we trusted her, she would handle all of it. It would pull focus towards her, and she could handle that now after James had
been working with them the past few weeks on what they needed and training.
Nothing was left of the Irish government, and the coven had handled all the radical groups in all of Ireland. Some were
dead for their crimes and others were now barking at air since they were missing their rocket launchers and “dangerous toys”
as Nora put it.
Nora also had a very detailed plan. She wanted me to fix some things in Boston, and it took less than three days to sail
from Boston to Ireland with a huge cargo ship. She wanted freezer containers loaded up with animals—unprocessed even—
and it could be docked at her coven. She would handle it all.
Allow people to work with her on getting what they wanted and move the ship closer to covens for them to take containers.
Sebastian swore to me that she would handle everything and make there be less of a threat for me, her little lass.
And that was the moment I truly and totally knew what a mother’s love felt like. She was going to the mat for me because
she wanted to protect me and she could, even with the hits she would take.
Like only Nora could, she was also doing it in style. The moment I gave permission, two hundred of her coven who
worked under Jamelle were going to come and handle it. And getting the food to Hanna for the trading post.
That was where I hit the brakes. “We’ve been getting them food left and right. They don’t need—”
“They’re out,” Kristof cut in, nodding when I couldn’t hide my shock. “I spoke to Winston when he returned.
“We were afraid of this,” Jamelle sighed.
 “I’m actually really confused,” I admitted.
“While you’re amazing at military tactics and even more politics than anyone could think of someone your age, without
your memories, and given you became an adult in the apocalypse, you still are green in coven and court bullshit,” Sebastian
muttered, looking too worried. “The moment you took out Kaitlin for killing her coven over food, that changed things.”
I snorted. “I would hope so. I made it clear that the princesses better rethink being so brutal because someone would hold
them accountable.”
Sebastian and Jamelle shared a look and then it clicked.
“The other covens got bold, huh?” I chuckled darkly. “Charlene and Romona? Their covens told them to stuff their
objections now?”
“Oh, we knew that would happen,” Sebastian drawled. “Nora realized something a bit more.” He gave me a sad smile.
“Their covens are trying to push them into making a move so you have to take over.” He nodded when I couldn’t hide my shock.
“And not only those covens,” Jamelle added. “Nora suspected other covens with horrible princesses, but that are big and
no one would think would take the risk like the Pinault coven or—”
“Nora was right,” Kristof said, shaking his head. Then he snorted. “Winston said they had thousands from the Pinault coven
come ask for food, willing to kill double for that food.”
“Oh boy,” I whispered. I shared a worried glance with Kristof. “Did I just start a vampire revolution or something?”
“You already did with shifters and clans in covens, so why stop there, my love?”
Oh boy.
“Here’s what I would really want for you to fully handle this for me, and I’ll give Nora some ridiculous gift for it even,” I
told Jamelle after considering everything they told me. I stood and went over to the maps of North America. “We have a
hodgepodge that Nora even said we’re holding together with sheer stubbornness and determination.”
“It’s impressive,” he muttered, studying all of the lists and markings.
“It’s too chaotic for Inez,” Kristof said. “She’s had too much chaos and needs things to start getting under wraps. At least
some things. Fully. Like the castle. It’s done. We’re safe here. This one piece is fully complete.”
“You are so amazing,” I praised him, touched he understood where my head was. I smiled and stood on my toes, giving him
a kiss. “My husband is right. We have some things mapped out at Seattle and culled around there. Around the outposts. Here,
there, and a bit of nowhere we are like Minnesota.”
“You want a complete map of what was the United States and Canada?” Jamelle asked, his voice a bit stunned.
“Yes. I know it will change with herds moving and migration and—it’s just so chaotic. We have someone working on this,
but if you bring over two hundred vampires, we could get a real damn map and handle on what’s next. Where we are done,
where we need to handle, and how to do better. That’s what I want. Not just bam, bam, bam information thrown at me.”
“And this is the one area you can do it, figure out fully, yes, smart,” he muttered, staring at what was there. “I don’t think
there is still enough time to handle this much land in the weeks Nora planned to have me here.”
“That’s fine, but we need like a super adult we trust implicitly to figure out the start,” I told him. “Start the path. Start in
Boston and set up the system. We’re just all over and…” I put my fingers at my temples and flicked them out while making
exploding noises.
They seemed to accept that.
He also agreed.
Oh, and Nora was drawing up the official treaty, carefully considering the language and would be the first to sign it as her
dedication to Aether. Rock on.
Seriously, she was so cool.
We met up with the other nobles and I got a chance to hear it from each of them that their princesses were in. They would
send the twenty vampires to guard our warehouses and—whatever we wanted. What I was offering was ridiculously generous
and they would… Mostly be the same. They all offered extras in return but like one offered two people to help hunt.
Fine, it was more, but others offered ten or twenty. Or more to their raiding parties so more got done for everyone,
including us.
Kristof and Sebastian filled them in on the deal just made and informed them of what was going on at the trading post so
our alliance was in the loop. Everyone agreed that getting more food to the trading post was most important before problems
started there.
I fully agreed and so had Kristof because the moment Winston had told him, he’d had a cargo plane loaded and sent off to
Hanna. It should land soon, but we had to keep things going. Fast.
Which meant a lot of crazy, but Winston said Hanna was also going to cover the trading post with the provisions they had.
We just had to pay them back.
Done and with interest.
The next few days were full of getting cargo planes out with meat and the ship out of Boston loaded for Nora.
The convention center and the new coven.
 Informing people who were officially accepted into the coven from Safie’s and Bahati’s covens.
Dealing with the people who were upset they weren’t on the list.
And showing those people the door who were on the list to leave after we discussed it with the nobles from those covens.
It was also getting more to the humans and bringing in another small camp to safety. It was actually the one I’d revealed
that I was a vampire to first and we tricked the leadership.
The one I’d met Cerdic at even if I hadn’t met him really yet. He’d seen me at.
I held his hand when we went back there and I felt like… I missed him. He was still struggling and trying to deal with what
was going on, but we just never had a minute to ourselves.
Or not enough of them.
Maybe he needed me to reach out for him when he was hurting even if he’d hurt me? It seemed a bit backwards and maybe
like I was a doormat, but I felt like I would want the same if the situation was reversed.
Yeah, I would hope they would still help me even with what I had messed up. I’d wanted just that when I knew they’d be
upset from my taking over Bahati’s coven.
I was about to ask where Cerdic was so I could talk to him about spending time together when someone told me something
crazy. “Could you repeat that?”
Branko tried to smother a chuckle. “The convention center is done and ready for humans. I thought it madness so fast, but I
went and checked myself. Metal was welded over every window. There are no ways to get in. They have layers and layers of
fences with barbed wire in between. They hung barbed wire on the damn building.
“It’s on the overpass, and kill areas are set up in case something happens. Flood lights with their own batteries are
installed, so even if the power goes out it won’t take down all of the lights. All the bunks are in place and more showers rigged
up. More bathrooms installed and renovated. It’s not pretty, but it’s public restroom stalls and more sinks added.
“The place wasn’t carpeted, so it wasn’t hard to put in a few more floor drains and set up shower curtains with hoses.
None of it will win for the prettiest bathrooms or housing, but it’s solid. Everything is cleaned top to bottom, and they even
loaded up the different kitchens with what was needed. I’m not kidding that it’s all done.”
“Holy shit. That was clearly the right motivation,” I muttered, having thought it would take a few weeks at least. That
convention center was fucking massive.
“They did leave those two hotels in the barrier for showering and stuff as well, saying that would be better for women.
Both hotels are done too. Cleaned top to bottom, anything not needed out and more beds—you fed them and they worked, Inez.”
“There is one thing they’re asking for,” Moon said quietly, waiting until I nodded. “They want hotels in the French
Quarter.” He winced when I flinched. “I know. I know, Inez, and we are—”
“It doesn’t look like it did,” Branko told me. “Vitor took out a lot of the damaged buildings and what he could of
residences.”
“You both want this too,” I muttered, shocked at this turn as well.
Moon slowly nodded. “We lost Vegas. I loved that place. It was gambling and used to be run by gangsters, but it was also
always something new. New shows. New shopping. New fun. And it’s gone. We lost that because of the apocalypse and bombs
making it too hot to salvage. The French Quarter was amazing.
“Parades and too much fun but love for everyone and just… I don’t want that to be gone as well. It won’t ever be what it
was, but…” He shook his head. “The architecture was cool. It was some of the best food on the planet. I know you went
through something horrible there. I do and if you can’t, you can’t. No one would judge you.”
People would and we both knew that. That wasn’t the reason I was willing to do it though. I felt the pain in what they said
that many would feel if they lost something else that was cool about America.
“I can do one of the hotels for now,” I muttered. “If Kristof is with me and Petre.” I cleared my throat. “It’s really
different?”
“Not a lot or that wouldn’t really be the point of preserving it, but Vitor got rid of all the deserted cars you saw, and that
hotel you were attacked in is gone. You did that,” Branko reminded me. “It’s not what it was or was before. I still see it. You
weren’t there long enough to maybe feel the same. That was his hope. Keep that balance.”
Fair enough.
And he was right. It was mostly that one hotel that I’d taken down burned into my memory and the view I had as I came
back outside after. That building was gone as well and not just because of me. It had some structural damage… Or that was
what they said as to why Vitor had taken it down.
I wasn’t sure I believed that or wanted to know either way.
But it all did look different to me and yeah, the deserted cars and trash gone made a huge difference. So I put three of the
hotels back online, and people were talking about how to preserve buildings but not let them end up as corrupted hiding spots.
Yeah, they could handle all of that. I wanted back out of New Orleans.
“I’m so proud of you,” Kristof whispered when we were back at the castle. “Truly, you amaze me, my wife.”
“Inez!” someone called out before I could thank him. I was out of his arms and Cedric was cupping my face, studying me
closely. “You were at the French Quarter? Why? Who made you go back there? Are you—”
“I’m fine,” I promised, covering his hands with my own. “No one made me. I agreed to do it.”
Kristoff filled him in and he nodded along but looked like he had harsh words for whoever came up with the idea.
Instead of saying something that might upset me, Cerdic simply kissed my hair. “Please don’t push yourself so much. It
hurts my soul to see you in pain, okay?”
“It was okay.” There was more I was going to say, but Darius and Jaxon joined us and had about the same reaction. We
caught them up and then I continued. “I was proud of myself for going back and pushing past but also laying a healthy boundary.
I only did three hotels today and it was fast. I think it was worth knowing I could say that—comfortable to, for the—”
“Stress it caused you to go,” Darius offered, nodding when I did. “I’m glad. I haven’t been able to go back yet.”
“I have to fix other hotels soon if you want to be there when I do,” I hedged.
“Yes, yes, I would really like that,” he whispered, staring off in the distance. “That day still haunts me and how…”
“It wasn’t your fault, Darius,” Kristof muttered. “It really wasn’t.”
“I know, but you know that clawing anguish and fear now that you’re not enough to protect her. I’ve felt that almost every
day since I realized my feelings for her and it came true on my watch even if you saved her.”
Shit. I didn’t know he struggled so much with that. He didn’t tell me those kinds of things because I was always so
underwater.
“Could we take the afternoon off?” I hedged. “Maybe do some bow hunting or—”
“Did someone spoil the surprise?” Jaxon growled.
“Huh?” I said, hearing Kristof echoing me.
Jaxon frowned but then studied me. “They were going to start the next round of hunting for Hanna’s load along with live
animals for her coven. I found us bows and was going to ask you to hunt with me and Darius since you guys said you wanted to
do that.”
The look he shot Darius was a bit guilty like he was stealing the thing Darius had promised to teach me… But enough time
had passed where Darius really lost his chance by not doing it.
Kind of like the fishing Jaxon promised.
Jerk.
But there was also something there trying to give Darius a chance to get involved with me like maybe he’d help Jaxon later
then too? I wasn’t sure—mostly because I never understood the minds of men—but I liked it better than all of us being our own
island.
Progress was always nice?
 6

“We already know your dominant eye is your left one,” Cerdic said as he handed me a few things. “That’s the safety gear
you need for your forearm and left hand since that’s drawing and holding the arrow.”
I nodded as I put both on the way he showed me. I shot Jaxon a guilty look.
“It’s fine. He has way more experience than me it seems and has taught before. I’ve only just hunted with friends for sport,
and I want you to learn the right way so you don’t get hurt.” He gave me a wink and I felt better.
It was sort of funny the way he’d stolen this from Darius and now Cerdic had stolen the show from him.
Oh boy.
It made me a little sassy. “Well, you’ll just have to find something else or I can go fishing with Darius and complete the
circle.” I felt better when Kristof snorted. He found things for us to do and made a point of it even before we knew each other
much at all. That museum in Alaska wasn’t the only one we’d been to.
And now we’d been to three different glass art galleries. Why the fuck was the last husband I accepted the one who put in
the most effort?
Seriously? Idiots.
Cerdic moved on and explained to me how he measured the right bow for me and the parts that I needed to check. Next, he
taught me how to stand and then hold the bow, loading it for me. There was already a target about twenty feet away stuck in a
tree that we were going to start with.
“Just like with any other weapon you hold, you don’t want a death grip,” Cerdic told me as he moved to a better spot. “You
want firm but loose and fluid.”
It sounded like an oxymoron, but I knew what he meant. “Got it.”
“Good, now pull it back so your hand touches your mouth, bring the arrow to your mouth basically so you can sight it up
like your sniper rifle.”
I did what he said and was ready to go, thinking this was a bit like… Yeah, I knew how to use a sniper rifle, so this was no
big.
“Okay, bring down the front of your bow a bit, you’re aiming up,” Cerdic instructed.
Or maybe not?
“Yeah, that’s good. The first times people pull back, they tend to move the other side of them as well. Like when you turn
your head while driving and you turn the wheel sometimes too? It’s the same idea that you have to correct.”
Plus, I wasn’t the best driver. I was fine being honest about that.
“It’s why most newbies hit the top part of the target and few rarely hit the bottom,” Jaxon added. “The pulling is an
awkward feeling so your shoulders tend to want to counter and that’s how the bow angle gets off and you can’t tell.”
That made sense.
“Okay, fire when ready,” Cerdic said, chuckling when I barely let him finish. “Nicely done.”
I nodded, hitting the target but not the most center area. Still good for my first shot, even pretty close, but I was pretty sure
I’d done better with a rifle my first time.
He had me shoot several more arrows and then I was able to get the middle easily.
“This is a compound bow,” he said as he took away the first bow and handed me one like I’d seen a lot in Dick’s Sporting
Goods. The more complicated one. “It’s smaller and for humans and easier for newbies because it’s easier to draw. It’s mostly
the size for you, plus the arrows go faster so it’s more fun. I like them because I can futz with the settings.”
The others seemed to be fans as well mostly because they could quick draw more for hunting and it was like getting more
shots off became the new challenge. Fair enough.
I really liked the compound bow. It was easier to draw, but I didn’t notice that much. It felt more like I was holding my
rifle with the sighting lined up and not feeling I was trying to manage something bulky.
“Ready?” Cerdic checked after I tried that several times.
“We doing a tree stand and shooting fish in a barrel?” I asked.
“Nope, we’re doing it legit, even if we have to keep chasing them,” he chuckled. “Others are around doing the same, so
even if they head east, we have people there that will take one out and then the herd will turn back.”
Right, even vampires didn’t want to mess with huge antlers and risk getting hurt when not needed. Kristof said he was too
old and the antler wouldn’t even be able to pierce his skin, but that was a bit too weird for my mind to wrap around.
To be fair, most of my life was like that.
We headed towards where the deer were, and like I had so many months ago with Jaxon, I found a good target and just took
it down. I glanced over at him and smiled, thinking back to that day.
 From the look in his eyes, so was he. He gave me a wink and then picked off a few on the other side of the herd who didn’t
know what was going on yet.
It was a huge herd after all.
We got about six down with head shots before they ran off. It was just like Cerdic said, and not even a minute later, they
were running in another direction past us.
Still, it gave me a nice chance to try and work with moving targets. I got one that time… And one by accident the next time.
Honestly, I had missed my shot, but the herd was so big and all together so tight that I hit the head of one right next to it.
Yay?
“This is so not your vibe,” Cerdic chuckled when the herd turned another direction.
“It’s cool and I’m glad I tried it, but my first love is my sniper rifle,” I said, shrugging when they chuckled.
“The one I got you or just in general?” Darius hedged, trying to keep his voice neutral.
“I had several I’d picked up before along the way but nothing compared to the one you got me,” I answered honestly. “That
is a beast with all the cool bells and whistles. New and only loved by me.” I glanced over and smiled at him. “You were so
excited to give it to me when you clearly didn’t know anything about them. It was cute.”
He shrugged. “I didn’t, but it seemed the right one. It just felt right when I was looking. I’m glad I got that right at least.” He
seemed sad like he regretted some of his other choices.
Well, so did I, so I wasn’t the one to help him or comfort him even when those choices hurt me.
We actually needed to take out the whole herd. I was shocked at that because I saw some young deer and we normally just
thinned herds or groups. Apparently, there was another huge herd not far—and definitely not as far as should be between herds
—that they were going to leave the young ones with. They said deer would help them out.
Oh, and we needed to thin their numbers back as well. The whole state had been taken over by deer almost. Not really,
but… Yum.
“Can you teach me how to use your sniper rifle?” Darius asked when we were done and it was time to have the helpers
collect the deer. He glanced away when I looked at him as if not wanting to see my reaction. “Sorry, that’s weird to ask, right? I
just—you really like it, and I thought it would be cool to try it.”
He was so vulnerable with me that it made me think about when he spoke of his family after we first met. How lost he’d
been and how I’d felt the same by not knowing anything about my family. Even if he’d scared me then, I’d wanted to be closer
to him.
I was scared of him again because of how badly he’d hurt me… But I still wanted to be closer, know him better.
“Sorry I asked,” he said, clearing his throat. “I didn’t mean to put pressure on you or ruin—”
“I can show you,” I agreed. “I might not be able to adjust it right for your vision and stuff, but I can show you how to adjust
it all. We just need to know where to hunt, right? Or what’s labeled for next?”
“Not to step on Darius’s toes, but I would like to learn too,” Kristof muttered. “I can find out where we can hunt.”
I glanced between them as they shared a look, worried something was going on that I didn’t understand. Was Kristof testing
Darius to make sure he wasn’t still jealous or… Again, the minds of men weren’t something I could keep up with.
Kristof went to go find the answer while my security took me back to the castle to get my sniper rifle. It wasn’t until I saw
Sundar walking up that something hit me.
“I didn’t have any ghosts!” I gasped, blinking at him.
He nodded, moving closer. “Then I would suggest you have a side mission for some who aren’t watched as your nobles
are and start wiping out the gobs of corrupted that could become soldiers. Especially in South America that can easily be
moved up here.”
I thanked him and caught Joi’s gaze. I gestured for her to come with, glad when she did and met me in the armory. “You
said you had some retired Sisters of the Earth, right?”
“Yes, they found happiness and wish to be—”
“I understand that, I’m happy for them, but this is the apocalypse and it’s all hands on deck,” I reminded her. “I’m willing
to get them set up, and I doubt they aren’t out there killing corrupted already.”
The look in Joi’s eyes said otherwise.
Well, apparently, retired Sisters of the Earth became selfish. Whatever.
“Tell them the truth and we’re trying to make sure the world doesn’t end. If there aren’t humans or shifters left, there’s no
blood for them. They’re old enough to be super lethal, right?” I nodded when she snorted. “But they’re not players on the board
when Keres is watching us. So I’ll fix their stuff, get them a better house all rigged up—they have to want their electricity back
too.”
“And you want?” Joi asked after a moment.
“Take my blood and let the corrupted go crazy and kill them like fish in a barrel. Let baddies gather and just hack them up.
Warn the old farts about the changes and tell them I’m in their debt even. I don’t care. I just need more done faster.”
“You do more than anyone else even can, young princess, and I don’t say that as a slight, but to remind you that you are a
baby,” she said gently, patting my shoulder.
I nodded, blinking back tears. “If humans die—good humans die because she infects them to get me—I don’t know I’ll
recover from that, Joi. We could win and for what? Me to be broken beyond repair and that’s what’s left of Aether’s champion?
How does the world get better and reboot if that’s the ending from fighting evil?”
“And do the rest of us deserve anything if one so young handles it all and we did not do more?” she muttered. “I know you
trust me if you bring me this. I will handle your blood personally and work with them in secret. We also cannot let you be
vulnerable with Risa overseas. Mozell and Kaci will always guard the castle while we hunt.”
My eyes went wide. “I didn’t think you were doing this at night.”
She nodded. “We will try it, and if something goes wrong, we can run and report it. The darkness must hide our fighting
back as well.” She kept nodding when I seemed hesitant. “The darkness is not always bad but keeps hidden the best weapons
to protect people.”
Fair enough. I just worried about people hunting at night with all the changes to how corrupted were behaving and like that
nine-foot-tall one we found in fucking Russia.
That thing gave me all the nightmares.
I grabbed what we needed and met up with my husbands, seeing the questions in their eyes but glad when they held off. I
waited until we were alone with just my security to tell them what I’d said to Joi. They agreed it was smart given what Sundar
had learned.
We needed more pieces off the table and not just Erebus’s soldiers… Which was still really weird to think of the corrupted
that way. Too much was just up in the air constantly and we needed more settled.
That was funny coming to me when I was the one always adding but like… What else was I supposed to do? Let it stand
that Kaitlin killed members of her coven? Accept that Safie wanted to adopt me? Aether bringing fourteen princesses to see my
power?
What should I have waited on? What could I wait on and not bring more problems?
Exactly.
We got set up on a roof on the outskirts of Minneapolis in what was still turkey territory no matter how many we seemed to
kill. Seriously, that city was full of three times as many turkeys as it had ever had people.
No, I wasn’t kidding. I didn’t know the numbers, but I honestly thought there were more.
So bizarre.
I had a folding chair and a ledge of the building to use and got everything set up for the way I liked it. Then I switched with
Darius and chuckled when he instantly pulled back from the scope and blinked his eyes.
Yeah, I’d thought his vision would be too good to see like I did.
It ended up he had to switch scopes to basically not magnify much at all. He did like it though, saying the precision was
fun. He wanted to not load each bullet though. He thought that was a bit tedious.
True, but it had been fun to shoot corrupted in big buildings when they would eat each other. Now they weren’t doing that
anymore, so it was sort of a waste and I understood his point.
Jaxon was too old to even use the scope, but he enjoyed it as well. Cerdic didn’t really like guns. He’d had fun with a
rocket launcher, but he wasn’t a fan.
Same with Kristof. I understood it since he’d lived so much longer without them, but he said it was an experience to try it.
He thought it was impressive how well I did given my vision wasn’t like his. That was clear from the way he reacted when he
saw what I normally looked through.
Seriously, his reaction had been comical, but he was sincere in his words that he was so impressed.
Nothing had been raided much there, and while we’d left blood trails to get corrupted to Denver to be blown up, there
would still be stragglers and more that we missed. So we ended up roaming around a bit taking down buildings that we
wouldn’t raid.
I thought it was interesting that Aether gave all four of my husbands that gift as well, as if she was trying to make them
understand me a bit better. There had to be a reason they all got that one. Kristof said the same when he realized it and thought
maybe it was so we all had something in common or could always work on the same goal?
Aether was definitely always on our side, but the Goddess was not always on the same wavelength as us.
We found a trucking hub, so Cerdic asked me to fix a bunch of semis and freezer trailers, saying he’d get people to drive
them down to St. Louis that night. I wasn’t sure why, but then he explained we were going to hunt like vampires.
“No way,” I hissed. “Turkeys are fucking vicious.”
“So are corrupted, and you said you wanted to keep up on your training,” he reminded me, a bit of mischief sparkling in his
eyes. “You’re getting stronger, love. Time to also train like us.” He listened to me argue a bit but then said the one thing that
made me agree. “We’ve worked with Eddie on the same.”
Damn. If the only other young vampire like me was doing it, I really couldn’t complain.
And I couldn’t let my buddy deal with their crap alone.
 I caved, asking him to teach me how to use the force… And immediately regretting it.
Fucking turkeys were vicious.
“You have to be just as vicious,” Cerdic told me, clearly trying not to laugh.
“I’m not as fast as you,” I reminded him.
“That’s fair, but you also signal what you’re doing.” He held up a finger to tell me to wait and then moved towards the
turkeys but wasn’t focused on them, more acting like he was walking past them. Once he was almost behind one, he reached out
and grabbed the neck of one, yanking it hard, and killing it.
Except then he stood there, and the other turkeys got pissed he’d killed their buddy and then attacked.
Still, I got the point… After I laughed at him a bit.
“The fuckers are mean,” he agreed after tossing five birds into the pallet bins we were going to load in the freezer trailers.
It was helpful to learn though about signaling and hiding my intentions better. I moved to the edge of the group, walked a bit
past, and just grabbed one before darting away. I was strong enough to snap the neck. I definitely was stronger than a human
and could sprint faster than most humans.
Darius said I was better than most but not quite Olympic level for sprinting. I had no context to put that in, but I understood
he was saying I wasn’t even the level of the most fit humans yet. Still, it was something to work on and apparently Cerdic
wanted me to.
If I was training my power and making sure to take care of my body, I agreed to make sure to focus on all aspects, not just
the coolest ones that people wanted me to. So I battled with a few dozen turkeys and won but with several wounds from their
buddies.
“I still prefer shoosting them.”
“Shoosting?” Darius chuckled.
“The twins say it.” I shrugged. “I think it’s a gamer term. Something about not saying ‘shooting’ when streaming for
censorship or something?”
We all shrugged then. I didn’t have my memories of that stuff, and none of them had been into video games or were too old
for “hip” things like streaming. I still chuckled when I thought back to the twins talking about Twitch and Kristof kept asking
them what was twitching. They had died laughing and then ran when he got annoyed.
Good times.
So was the time I spent with my husbands. We had a nice dinner and joked about the stupid turkeys and even talked about
other outing ideas. I really did want to try fishing again. The only downer was when Darius said he hoped to finally teach me
how to swim and I told him Petre had after I’d almost drowned in the pool because I’d forgotten which was the deep end.
It was awkward, but I had asked each of them more than three times because I didn’t like not knowing with how chaotic
things always were and we kept being on boats. Boats meant water. Water meant the chance of being in it.
Being in it when not knowing how to swim meant the chance of drowning.
Duh.
A bit of my heart healed when they all apologized and then asked how it was going and if he was a good teacher. That was
really nice of them to handle it that way. At least they didn’t get pissy that I didn’t wait for them or something.
I was honest that he was very patient and I’d learned a lot but I still needed more work.
Wasn’t that the way of most things in life?
 7

After dinner, I had a plan of having some “me” time and figuring what else I wanted in my life. That was the one thing both
Nora and the doc had said I needed to figure out more when I was recovering from my breakdown.
Also, I wanted to call it a breakdown. That was what it had been. I knew people wanted me to call it whatever I wanted
and not upset me or let people be mean to me about it but… Fuck it. I’d had a breakdown. Call it what it was.
People would judge me like assholes no matter what I referred to it as. Maybe it was better to be blunt and honest and it
could help others to admit when times were too hard to take a break as well?
If only things could work out that well.
So yeah, I wanted some nights off to read a bit on taking better care of my mental health and maybe journal where my head
was at to keep it all straight.
Instead, I found Tyson, one of my trusted knights and a lion shifter, sitting at my vacation house drinking and crying at the
fire pit.
He did a double take when he saw me and stood. “I’m so sorry, Princess. I didn’t—I should have asked and—”
“Ty, it’s fine,” I forgave, hurrying over to him once I was steady from being blurred so far so fast. “I told you guys that you
could use this place anytime you want.”
“Yes, but it’s yours and we—you need a place to escape more than any of us, Inez,” he whispered, hurrying to wipe his
eyes.
I gestured at the huge, quiet place. “I think we can share, but I’m not concerned about that at all. What’s going on?”
He sighed and waved the bottle of whatever booze at the books I was holding. “I’m fine and you came here to handle stuff.
You barely get a free moment so—”
“Yeah, I do, so don’t waste it arguing with me about what’s most important to me,” I countered, raising an eyebrow at him.
“You are. So tell me what’s going on. If you don’t want to talk about it with me, that’s fine. But you’re here alone drinking and
crying, and that’s not safe much less—”
He sighed again, sitting down and pulling me with him, obviously inebriated to some level. “Sisay brought me and we
were just going to have a quiet night with our thoughts. So we were doing the buddy system, but then I mentioned cookies and
he ran to Seattle. I swear you just missed him.”
“Okay, then I won’t beat you up.” I smiled when he chuckled. I glanced over to Petre and waved for what he had. “And I
was going to have a bit of a drinking night as well, so—everyone listens to me. Seriously, tell me what’s going on and let me
feel like I’m normal and not always the problem.”
I winced at the wording, but Ty waved it off, understanding what I meant and knowing my heart was in the right place.
He didn’t say anything for several minutes, letting Petre fix me a drink and then him one instead of drinking right out of that
bottle. “I’ve lost Chris, Inez. I don’t think he can forgive me. And now I don’t know I could forgive him even if he does.”
I blinked at him for a whole minute and felt like making my signature brain exploding gesture with noises, but I didn’t want
to mock this situation. “What the fuck happened? I didn’t hear of you guys having a fight or—”
Ty snorted. “All we did was fight after the attack. He was so furious with me after I stuck him up in your safe room that he
went off on me. I couldn’t even reason with him and he—the only thing he’s right about is that we shouldn’t ever make
decisions for each other. That is wrong in a partnership.”
“Then he should have made the right fucking decision himself,” Moon grumbled, shaking his head. “I like Chris, and I give
him a lot of slack on this because he’s been through so much holding that whole settlement together for as long as he did, but
he’s just wrong on this. Really wrong and selfish.”
Oh wow, so this was a whole thing that I had no clue about.
“Wait, back up for me,” I cut in before Ty could respond to Moon. “I’m sorry, I’m—I had no clue he was pissed. I mean, I
figured he would be that night. Did Lara talk to him?”
“She did, but he was still furious,” Ty rasped.
“Yeah, I need to start from the beginning,” I whispered, completely floored. Chris seemed like such a good guy that I
couldn’t believe he would lose his head over something so stupid and blow up their relationship. Not after I saw how much
they’d missed and loved each other.
Sisay came back right before Ty was about to fill me in, giving me a worried look and nodding to the cookies. Oh, so he
hadn’t wanted cookies, but he was getting breakup food for Ty? Or trying to help maybe. I wasn’t sure, but I still nodded that he
was a good guy for helping someone out.
And it was even better that he’d gotten a lot of them.
We drank and ate cookies while I listened to absolute bullshit. What Ty told me as the reasons Chris was upset were
bullshit.
Fine, besides making decisions for each other. I agreed for that one point. That was wrong in any relationship and I would
lose my mind as well. Chris had a right to be pissed at that.
For the moment. I’d been pissed at Kristof for the moment that he’d made the decision for me to be taken out of the castle
by my guards. It didn’t happen, but we’d talked about it later. Agreed it was the wrong move and we were a team.
Done and done.
Ty should have apologized, Chris should have accepted and admitted Ty was right though that ducking out of that fight was
the right move. Now that he knew the procedure if the castle was attacked, he agreed and would make sure to take charge of
any humans or kids that were there and handle my safe room.
No, he blew up at being put in the same category as “children” and Ty looking down at him like that. It was all being stupid
and prideful and just… Wow.
I was so disappointed in Chris.
“I feel like I’m seeing my fight with Darius from an outside perspective,” I whispered when he was done. “I’m not trying
to make this about me, but…”
“I get it,” Ty said, bobbing his head. “Like you don’t want to shit all over your partner because you want me to be happy,
but he’s being fucking stupid, and you want to be able to say that and how you deserve better.”
I nodded because I understood, but I wasn’t sure it actually made sense because we’d been drinking so much by then. “And
like, you get maybe the original anger. I kinda understood Darius being upset maybe that I kept something from him. Or like, he
had a right to not find out in a group? Certain parts I could understand.
“Or yeah, like Moon said that like you want to give Chris leeway because running that fucking settlement had to just fry
him out. I can’t imagine how he pulled off that miracle, and being the boss is hard. It’s so fucking hard. You know that. You saw
how James struggled and made the hard calls. And you didn’t have a million people.
“He had a million people of different factions and religions and just—Chris has to have severe PTSD. So you want to be
understanding. I did with Darius. He lost his whole family with one bomb. Hell, I try to be understanding with James because
of that even if I don’t understand what having a family is like.
“But then you lose that understanding when it goes on. You try again and they blow again and you’re like, I’m not going to
keep reaching for you when you smack my hand away. And I doubt you’re the only one trying. I know others tried to help
Darius, but he wouldn’t let them. Chris clearly isn’t letting the right people help him see sanity.”
“I don’t know who’s tried to talk to him besides Lara,” Ty admitted. “We’re all so busy and my younger brothers are
struggling too. We’re all struggling to try and adjust and—then corrupted are changing and fucking Erebus’s champion is our
enemy? Like come on. That’s just fucking crazy! But then it makes Chris being pissed at me so much stupider.”
“Right?” I gasped, totally agreeing. “Like, you acted badly to protect him and you admitted it. I wanted to give Kristof a
fucking blow job and let him spank me. Like seriously, we have actual serious fucking problems here. And hearing him now, I
get it. The castle spun him out. It was too much too fast and everything was on his shoulders. I get that. I feel it all of the time.”
“But you try to tell people,” Ty defended. “You do. You have since I met you, if people fucking listen. I wasn’t sure about
Kristof at the start, but that man tries really hard. He listens to you. He doesn’t get it, and he should have asked more, but he
fucking learned from that. I’ve heard him now asking Simon or Eddie advice about how to handle things.”
That made me do a double take. “Like what? Is he upset with me?”
“No, no, not at all,” Ty said, rubbing his chin. “I forgot. It was cute. Shit, I’m too hammered, but he wasn’t upset. He was
asking what the kids used to do basically. It was cute.” He gave me a goofy smile. “He’s sweet for you. Such a hardass, but
he’s all sweet when it’s you.”
“He really is,” I agreed. “He’s so damn easy to love and he doesn’t see it at all. I’m so glad I didn’t give up when I thought
we were just too different.” I shook my head. “No, I thought we would just keep hurting each other and that wasn’t the right fit.
I didn’t want to have a relationship where my wounds poured salt in his wounds and back again. He was right to work through
it.”
“Yeah, he was,” Ty muttered before taking a long drink. “I wish Chris loved me that much. I would have worked through
anything with him. I would have stayed with him even if he didn’t want immortality. I would have suffered his death to be with
him. I love him that much. And he can’t swallow his fucking pride to be safe so I can love him.”
That was so fucking selfish of Chris that I couldn’t stand it. When I heard that Chris wasn’t even staying at the castle
anymore, opting to stay in Albuquerque in much shittier living conditions, I was about to blow my lid.
Seriously.
When Ty passed out from drinking, tears leaking out of his eyes and Chris’s name on his lips, I hit my limit.
“Sisay, get him back,” I told my friend before turning to Moon. “We have a human to ream.”
Moon stared at me a moment and ran his tongue over his teeth. “I would never disobey the order of my princess, especially
after I was so wrong to listen to Jaxon’s idea and it hurt you, but I would also not be worth anything if I didn’t advise against
this. You’re drunk, and you would be pissed if someone stuck their nose in your relationships like this.”
 I opened my mouth but then closed it. “No, I wish Trisha or someone had actually tried to beat up Darius a bit before our
relationship got beyond saving. We are barely surviving the apocalypse some days. I know we’re doing better than most, but
we’ve come too close. If things were calm, fine, no one needs to get all involved.
“But if someone as smart as Trisha had kicked Darius’s ass, she would have seen he was underwater with the castle and
we could have handled shit better. I’m going to be Trisha, and also I’m the boss, so I have the one unique perspective here that
Chris needs to hear. Or fuck, I just need to say it for Tyson because he’s saved me and been on my side always.”
“Okay, I just wish I had popcorn.”
I didn’t understand that, but I was just glad he was going to take me where I wanted to go. I did hear Petre’s concerns as
well and promised I was just going to tell Chris he was stupid and he didn’t deserve Ty. It might come out a bit drunk, but I
wasn’t one to just blow up.
Except that all went out the window when I saw Chris and thought of Ty crying.
“You’re a stupid fucking asshole and I hate you!” I blurted to Chris like a toddler.
“Shit,” Moon muttered.
Yeah, I sort of felt the same, and I didn’t even probably realize what else was going on or what I should given I was drunk.
But I ignored all of that, storming over to Chris and pushing at his chest.
“You don’t deserve Ty. I was all in your corner and rooting for you guys, but you’re stupid. You don’t deserve him at all.”
“Respectfully, you don’t understand—”
“You don’t understand,” I growled. “You don’t get it, idiot!” I shoved at his chest again, too drunk to move the human that I
didn’t think I was as strong as. “He’s not human. He can’t get infected. You can!” I gestured all around us. “That’s why all the
fences and vampires patrolling all night. Shifters with crazy vision on guard.
“We can’t be infected. You guys can. Ty did what we’re doing here. He put you in a place where you couldn’t get infected.
He shielded you from the worst-case scenario and you’re pissed at him? Your fucking pride is more important than your love
for him? Then that’s not fucking love.”
Anger filled his eyes. “Don’t lecture me about love. You don’t have that right.”
“No, I don’t, but as someone who’s been on the receiving end of stupid shattering my heart, I get a vote in that,” I shot right
back. “You’re not seeing the big picture. You’re not seeing the levels. You’re seeing one tiny part of your fucking pride and
feeling inferior. Someone is always superior, okay?
“I put up a magical fucking barrier of energy that basically melted the corrupted that hit it. Can you do that? Can you?” I
didn’t wait for him to answer. “No, you can’t. No one else can. So that was the part I handled because I could. We had people
who move faster than air displacement killing corrupted. That’s being smart.”
“I can pull a trigger just as well as anyone else who—” Chris defended.
“They couldn’t be infected!” I blasted. “Everyone on guns could not be infected if they broke our line. If they got past my
barrier—which they almost did before help arrived—we couldn’t have gotten infected from a scratch or bite. If you want a
fucking sniper ledge put on that room or something—that’s a discussion to have.
“Fine, we’ll put something up there to use a rocket launcher from so you can help. That’s smart. I know Ty would listen to
that. But any human being in the fight where you can get scratched or bitten and you can be infected is fucking stupid. Unless
something changes and we can get infected too, it’s stupid. You’re being stupid.”
“A rocket launcher could hit us on the ground killing corrupted faster than that rocket could and do less damage to the
building that will be there,” Petre cut in. “It also wasn’t normal circumstances. We didn’t know what the fuck was happening
not being able to sense them. That was new.”
“Right, so he could have been just as vulnerable as I was,” Chris snapped. “If new happens, we stay together and fight. I
didn’t want—”
“No, that’s not the way it works. You being vulnerable is a known,” I argued. “You’re right that something could have
changed and he could have been vulnerable. I worried about that. Not that night but after. Idiots went and let themselves get
scratched and proved that fear wrong.”
“One did on purpose, one was an accident,” Moon corrected.
Right, still, an idiot named Tian used himself as a guinea pig to show the corrupted still weren’t a worry for vampires.
Idiot.
“But you were still a known,” I repeated to Chris. “And you’re being selfish! They came for me, you jerk!” Everyone froze
and blinked at me. “They came for me and my tree so other princesses would try and win this battle between the two Gods. The
big ones. Yeah, I get it all sounds crazy and you don’t believe, but I didn’t either.
“But I’ve seen proof now and just—it was for me. If you died because they came for me—what does that do to us left? I
ordered Ty to take you there. So it wasn’t even his call. Be mad at me. Don’t be stupid and ruin what you have over something
so stupid. You had something great, and you ruined it! Over nothing when so much is wrong. Do you know how that destroys
him?”
I was fairly sure everyone there knew I wasn’t just talking about Ty and Chris anymore… But I wasn’t wrong saying it
about them either.
“Look, I get it’s more complicated than I know or believe,” Chris muttered. “But he’s not allowed to make decisions for
the grown man he says he loves, his partner, no matter how much older he is.”
“Agreed. He agrees with that. Knowing Ty, he apologized for that,” I said, calming down as well. “I fully understand
getting mad at him for that.” I sighed when Chris frowned. “He made the decision he needed to in that moment knowing more
than you did, dude. You get to be mad at him, but once he filled you in, you agree to make that decision going forward.”
“No, that’s—”
“This is why you’re stupid,” I snapped. “You’re behind these fences because it’s safe. You’re safe here. That’s what my
safe room was. You’re not out there running around because it’s not safe. That’s what the castle was that night. What part of this
isn’t fucking logic to you?”
“You were all at risk that night,” he said, his voice gentler but still firm. “Everyone was, but he put me in the bubble with
kids like I’m less than him.”
I couldn’t hide my disgust. “You don’t deserve him, you selfish asshole.”
“Hey now, you don’t get it because you’re not human,” someone cut in.
“She didn’t know she was a vampire less than a year ago, so if anyone understands both sides of this and bridges the
argument, it’s Princess Inez,” Moon said firmly, several around us nodding.
That seemed to chill Chris out and I kept his gaze. “Lara talked to you, right? About her human lover dying?”
“Yes, and I hurt for her. We’ve all lost people even if they weren’t that close,” Chris answered. “Hell, I felt for James
because I’ve been the guy who’s pulled the trigger. I’ve been the one who’s had to make that call.”
“I bet you have,” I muttered, bobbing my head. “That’s rough. Really, it is, and I’m sorry you had to.” I moved in and
pushed my fingers in his chest. “I’m trying to make sure we never have to fucking do shit like that again, Chris. If you got
infected that night, who would have had to put the bullet in you? Huh? Would you have asked Ty to do it?”
“Never,” he rasped.
“Right, so who would you have asked to carry that weight like you fucking carry?” I demanded, my voice cracking.
“Because you worry about the size of your fucking dick or being put in the same bubble as children? That’s more important than
caring that your actions could scar someone later to have to kill you before you became corrupted? Do you hear yourself?”
He did and so did a few others with him because I saw them look a bit nervous.
But I wasn’t nearly done.
“You and James have that same trauma and even before you were the boss because the boss was shit. James and Trisha
told me how they let assholes in and someone was always infected and then they turned and more got infected and wouldn’t tell
people. I saw the same. The last boat I was on when I thought I was human there was a stowaway corrupted.
“Lara’s lover was the rare, good guy who admitted it. We all know that because it’s happened again and again. Or you did
an amazing job at your place once you were the boss. But we’ve all seen it.” I gave them all a moment with that. “I am the
boss. And I’m not an asshole, Chris. I’m not giving bad orders that risk my people.
“So any humans who can be infected or anyone who can’t fight go in the fucking bubble. I’ve put myself in the fucking
bubble at times. We saw a nine-foot-tall corrupted in Russia that Vitor got winded taking down. I’m not fucking with that guy.
Put me in the fucking bubble if that comes to get us. That’s being smart.
“And I’m going to be the smartest boss in the history of bosses so we all fucking survive and you’re alive to be stupid,
stupid. Don’t fucking make me the asshole of the story. If you had gotten infected that night, several things would have happened
and been true. I would have been a monster who lied about protecting you guys and failed and we would have had a problem
here.”
I felt worlds better when he and several others flinched.
“People would have been pissed that we didn’t race off with you and instead protected a tree, not understanding what that
tree is even if it’s super freaky and grows off my blood.”
“What the fuck?” someone whispered.
Yeah, I felt the same all of the time, but I ignored that and continued.
“Ty would have lost you after just having found you. Though apparently he’s still lost you because you’re stupid, but he
grieved you and was nearly beside himself with hope when he thought you were alive. All he wanted was you. And then he
would have to live with the guilt of not protecting you that night. Lara has it and she wasn’t even near her lover.
“If Ty had listened to you that night and he lost you, he wouldn’t be Ty anymore and we both know that. He would be a
shell of himself, riddled with guilt and regret that he didn’t do what he knew was right and stuff you in that room. That would
be what was left of him. It wouldn’t matter the choice you made. It would be he didn’t protect you and he loved you.
“It would ruin him. Is that really more important than your stupid pride?” I gave him another moment with that. “And what
about the rest of his life? We know he would resent me. Fair or not, the corrupted came for me that night and it got you killed.
Your stupid choice, but I was the reason they came. He made an unbreakable oath to me and it would be poisoned.
“What else would be from that? Who else would see that doomed relationship of one of my knights? Others on the outside
would think my coven was weakened. That Ty was a weak link to pick at or take advantage of. That bond being strong keeps us
strong. You know how quickly trust breaking can break everything else.
“So what other things would break as a result? All because you didn’t want to be lumped in with the kids. This is the big
picture Ty sees and has been trying to explain to you. Or maybe not all of it even because a lot of it has been from my side.
Hell, I have several words to give you about not being selfish and leaving me with the guilt of you dying that night.”
Unfortunately, he didn’t just accept what I was saying and stupidly tried to throw my feelings or worrying about him in my
face sounding like he was jealous of my bond with Ty.
So I lost my fucking temper.
Whoops.
 8

Kristof

I blinked at Branko several times. “I’m sorry, could you repeat that?”
His lips twitched. “Inez just punched Chris and there’s a situation in Albuquerque now. We need you there and to help as
her husband. Maybe get your drunk wife…” He shrugged, clearly wanting to say something like “under control” but not stupid
enough to say it.
I didn’t wait for more, blurring away and directly to Inez.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get there fast enough and she was unconscious. I locked onto the human and his death was all I could
see.
Petre grabbed me before I could react. “He did not touch Inez. She passed out from drinking. I’m shocked she didn’t
sooner.”
“I’m fine!” Chris bellowed. “I deserved it. Just calm the fuck down, everyone. Jesus.”
I nodded to Petre that I was in control and not going to go for the human. I let out a slow breath when he let me go, glad that
Inez was safely being held by Moon who I trusted implicitly. “Someone tell me what happened here.”
Chris looked at me and winced. “I said something I shouldn’t have and she punched me. Then she went to yell at me some
more and passed out.” He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “She showed up here drunk and laid into me.” He held out
his arms and gestured to the huge group around us. “Super fun to be told you’re an asshole like this.”
“Yes, well, several have told you privately and you didn’t listen,” Moon drawled, before focusing on me. “We need to step
up security on the humans for the sake of your wife’s mental health. She made it abundantly clear that if the humans we’re
protecting get hurt because Keres is trying to get more soldiers, it will break Princess Inez.”
“She did,” an older human said, giving me a serious look. “The way her voice cracked and the tears in her eyes when she
spoke of Chris and others being infected when that attack on the castle was for her and that tree from your Goddess—your wife
is a kind soul who would suffer greatly for things not her fault.”
I nodded, realizing he was the human who had been speaking with Cerdic on the pulse of the human settlement here. “I
know. We are doing as much as we can, as fast as we can. All the hard work being done here has helped immensely.” I was
glad I said that even if it felt odd to utter because people seemed to ease down.
Then again, everyone liked feeling appreciated. It made sense.
I met Chris’s gaze. “That is why we need to be on the same page and not have division. Now more than ever. You know
how easily things can turn, and we’ll have a mutiny on our hands because of how many people value you and your leadership.”
“I would never allow that,” Chris said firmly. “I’m allowed to sort out my own feelings.”
“It’s not that simple and you know it,” Moon snapped. “People are talking about you staying here instead of with your
lover at the castle. I’ve heard the whispers that maybe there’s something wrong with us and we’re really not as nice to humans.
Maybe you didn’t feel welcome there or like a second-class citizen?”
Chris looked upset even if I couldn’t sense it. “I didn’t know. I wouldn’t have…” He glanced around the large group
gathered. “Everyone was incredibly nice to me at the castle. Even vampires who weren’t used to being around a human
because they lived in secluded covens were polite but almost scared of me.
“No one was rude to me. No one remotely said anything or mistreated me. I was—hell, I was treated nicer than I’ve seen
military spouses at big events. The damn chef kept checking if I had any dietary needs he wasn’t covering because shifters and
vamps have mostly iron stomachs. This was something between Ty and me that we just need to work out.”
Moon snorted. “Oh, I think that ship has sailed. Ty made it pretty damn clear tonight that even if you get your head out of
your ass, he didn’t know if he could forgive you for loving your pride more than him.”
I was shocked that Moon was poking the human so much and so publicly. I gave him a look to chill and de-escalate the
situation.
He did a double take and sighed. “Do you remember the night he realized Chris was alive? How overwhelmed and
relieved he was. Tyson is one of the kindest cats ever and he’s a damn lion. We know how aggressive they can get. He’s always
helping. He’s always there to listen. He’s a genuinely good guy who helps people see the lines when there’s so much crazy.
“He’s kept Inez safe a lot with reminding people to watch their mouths or being there when she feels vulnerable. He’s
always an older brother to her and never blurs the lines when she’s had so much of that. It’s what she’s needed to keep moving
when all of this is on her baby vampire shoulders. And that light is gone inside of Tyson because Chris is being stupid. I’m
pissed.”
Yes, yes, he was, and it was rare.
 Plus, he hated stupid people. He’d tried so hard to help Darius find his way as well, but the young vampire couldn’t get out
of his own way and fix the mess he’d made. That was one of Moon’s biggest pet peeves. People who just couldn’t get it
together even when people offered their help.
Life was more complicated than that, but we all had our things. I loathed people who couldn’t accept they had more to
learn or didn’t know everything. It was why I hated most young shifters and vampires. Too many reached the age of adult,
learned a few important things, and thought they knew it all.
When in reality, we all knew very little and needed to always keep growing and learning. That was what real age should
teach people.
Chris impressed me by taking what Moon said in stride. “Look, she’s right that there was more to the situation than I’d
realized. I kept blowing up at Ty because he said he would do the same thing no matter my objections after the fact. That’s still
making the decision for me. That’s never okay, which Inez agreed to.
“So I’ve been pissed about apples and he’s been talking about oranges. I guess. It’s also not all we’ve had going on.” He
gave me a hard look. “But I did worry about the ripples and people who heard too much overhearing us fighting all the fucking
time. I didn’t move out of the castle, I just took a break here, and also that zipping back and forth is rough.
“It seemed the calm, mature thing to do. As you said, we need to get a lot done. I think we can get more done now that
we’ve got all the places online in the perimeter and I’ve been working with my guys on ideas.” He let out a slow breath. “I was
an asshole for what I said and I deserved that punch. I don’t have to like her laying into me publicly and drunk but I—that was a
low blow.”
“What did you say to my wife, Chris?” I bit out.
“I think I should tell you when he’s not within range,” Moon hedged. He shook his head when Chris actually argued.
“Kristof knows how bad his temper is when it comes to Inez, and he can punch your head clean off. Let’s not have a problem.”
I swallowed loudly and looked at my wife’s peaceful sleeping face. “I’m not worthy of her if I can’t be confident in
controlling myself. He didn’t touch her and she’s fine. We all say things in anger. I won’t hurt the one Tyson loves when Inez
adores him.”
Moon winced, and I realized that was probably what was said.
I nodded and stared Chris down. “She has never made a move on Tyson. They give chaste kisses as the way of shifters, and
touching is normal. They have their naked naps as a group because nudity doesn’t bother them but stopped in respect for your
relationship. He’s held her crying at night like he would a little sister, nothing more.”
“I know.” Chris swallowed loudly and bobbed his head. “I know. I trust them both. It’s not even about that but the fact—
she had to give her permission for us to be together. That’s not a concept that’s normal to us and still irks me. She has to allow
us to be together. And she came here drunkenly, tearing into me and calling me…” He sighed.
Fine, I would probably have lashed out.
“Has anyone explained to you the reason a princess has to give permission for her knight?” Petre hedged.
Chris sighed again. “The heart doesn’t always make the best decisions and it’s to keep them from picking someone who
could hurt the coven. I get it. It makes sense. The logic, but it’s hard to know the one I love answers to someone else on matters
like that. That’s valid to feel as well.”
“Did Tyson tell you that?” I asked, sighing when Chris nodded. “He’s not wrong, but that’s not the real answer.”
“The real answer is that it protects the knight,” Petre said firmly, all the vamps there nodding when Chris glanced at him
like it was bullshit. “You’ve seen the bond between Tyson and Inez. She trusts him implicitly. We all do. He gave a lifelong
vow that can’t be broken.”
“He has one of the best rooms in the castle with total freedom in the coven,” Moon continued. “He has more power than I
do as a noble of the coven but not one of Inez’s. He can order teams to change assignments and more. It’s an extremely
important and powerful position, especially given all we have.”
“And that makes him vulnerable to outside forces wanting that power or to do the coven harm,” I added, nodding when
Chris looked at me. “All the princesses who came for our wedding wanted to have a child or sibling get involved with Inez’s
knights. They wanted to be the one whispering in the ear of someone who has the ear of Inez.
“You know that’s how politics all go. And Tyson has little brothers. Normally, a knight is the head of a clan like Thomas
Gagnon who you met.” I waited until he nodded. “Don’t think of it on Tyson but think of Thomas. He has a mate. Children.
Grandchildren. How many people could be threatened or meddled with?
“If he was the final call about taking a lover on top of his mate and pressure could be put on him, how flawed would that
be? A powerful noble with the support of maybe a powerful princess could put so much pressure on poor Thomas. The rules
would be different because he was already sworn to Inez. So the vow includes a failsafe to keep the Gagnons safe.”
“I’ll think on that. Really, I will,” Chris said. “I even understood it before. I’m hurt too and—none of this is easy and life
isn’t fucking calm.” He gestured around the settlement as if I didn’t know what he was talking about, but I still nodded. “It was
a shit move for her to come here drunk and I was a shit back. Still, I’m sorry.”
I nodded again. “What did you say?”
 “That clearly she understood him and knew him better than I ever did, so she should just revoke her permission for us to be
together and take him as a lover since I mistreat him in her eyes. It seemed to be what she wanted when she would drunkenly
fight for him and make an ass of herself.” He shrugged as if knowing he wasn’t getting the wording correct but that was the gist.
I actually shot Moon an annoyed look. “You thought I would hurt him over that? Even my temper isn’t so bad.”
He sighed. “It can be when it comes to Inez. You wanted his death when you arrived and she was passed out.”
“She’s been through too much and—any man would see red if someone hit their wife. I thought she decked him and maybe
he was drunk and decked her back. That’s different than words. Words he admits he was being petty about. I’ve said worse.” I
waved it off.
I might have said more, but Sisay showed up carrying a few boxes.
He glanced around and snorted when he saw Inez passed out in Moon’s arms. “I hope she decked you.” Then he went over
by Chris and set the boxes down. “That’s your stuff from Ty’s room. He asked me to bring it to you and be done with it. Hope
you choke on your need to be the manliest man around because you lost the best love you could ever have had.”
Damn. As Inez would say… Dayuuumn.
“Also, since you don’t have the balls to officially end it and are just leaving things up in the air with him hoping you come
back, he is,” Sisay added with a smirk before glancing at me. “And he said to let Inez know that her knight is single again and
doesn’t have a partner to extend the list of perks Chris gets including meals from the castle being brought here for him.”
“I ate it sometimes since he hurt Tyson,” Moon admitted.
And so did Petre.
It was really, really hard not to laugh. Chris’s face was priceless as he found out that the delivery guys were eating his
food in protest for him still getting perks while hurting Tyson.
“He’s really dumping me,” Chris whispered, staring at the boxes.
“No, you don’t get to make Ty the bad guy of this,” Sisay snapped. “He was crying and drinking again over you bailing on
him. His heart is shattered. It’s been weeks. Weeks and weeks since it happened but weeks since you bailed here. You don’t get
to be the victim because he made it official when you left.”
I moved closer and put my hand on Sisay’s shoulder to guide him back. “Tyson reminds you of your younger brother,
doesn’t he?” I nodded when Sisay flinched.
“You’re right. He does. I’m taking this too personally, but the lion is still a friend and nice to everyone.”
Still, I saw he understood he was acting as if Tyson was family or his best friend. Then again, we’d all watched this same
scene play out with Inez and Darius and hadn’t been able to help then either.
“For the record, Inez hoped to come help you pull your head out of your ass so you had a chance to fix things before Tyson
couldn’t stand the pain anymore,” Moon said sadly. “She said she wished Trisha or someone had done that to Darius before she
closed her heart to him for abandoning her no matter how he was drowning.”
I sighed. “It’s a shame. I was rooting for you. So was Inez when she saw how much Tyson loved you.” I hadn’t meant it to
put salt in Chris’s wounds, but he flinched like I did. “I assume you want the human role here of being Shawn Boyle’s right
hand since you’ll live here now?”
“Ouch, Kristof,” Moon chuckled. He winced when I glanced at him. “Oh, you weren’t poking him. Too soon, man.”
It was my turn to wince. “There’s too much to always juggle. Fine, I’ll ask later.” I moved closer to him and waved for
Inez when he hugged her closer. “Give me my drunk wife.”
“She’s got the cutest snores when she’s drunk,” he muttered under his breath as he reluctantly did as I wanted.
“Yes, she does,” I agreed, kissing her hair. I glanced at Sisay. “Go check in on Tyson and make sure he isn’t in pain
tomorrow. We’re sending a few fighter pilots to help Nora with the situation over there. He might want to be the one to go now
and clear his head for a bit.”
“Jesus, you really know how to kick a guy while he’s down,” one of the humans grumbled.
I glanced over at him and saw him focused on Chris, wincing again when the human looked as if I’d punched him in the
nuts.
“Kristof doesn’t do it intentionally which is why it hurts so much worse,” Sisay muttered. “He’s trying to bear the brunt of
as much as he can so Inez doesn’t.”
Yes, that sounded about right. Still, I wasn’t going to apologize for what I said. I was trying to be considerate of Tyson who
I liked and was bonded to my wife. I wasn’t trying to hurt Chris, but… Tyson was the priority.
That seemed like it should be obvious.
I left with Inez before I inadvertently stepped in anything else. I settled into bed with her, and while I was glad to be the
one to hold her at night, it also irked me because there was so much I wanted to get done for her. She needed me to handle so
much and be there for her physically.
“I had an idea even if it’s annoying,” Petre told me about ten minutes into my laying with Inez. He waited for me to nod and
then went over by the window and opened it. “Go ahead, Joi.”
Had he told people to give updates outside of Inez’s tower where he could hear them and relay the information to me while
I held my wife?
Yes, yes, the smart very old vampire did.
Amazing. Probably annoying, but amazing, and even more so that people understood we needed to help Inez and give
allowances for her being so young instead of being so fucking demanding of her.
Joi had spoken to the two former Sisters of the Earth and they were in for nightly corrupted hunts. Joi wanted to start right
away and give them the education they needed about Inez and the war of Aether and Erebus before they could talk themselves
back into retirement.
So she needed Inez’s blood.
I managed to wake Inez up enough to get her to agree. We got two small jars—one for Joi and one for Jamelle to handle
with Nora—before Inez was back out. Petre made a joke not to let fire near the blood with all the alcohol probably in it.
That amused all of us.
Others followed suit though, and I was able to receive updates from the different nobles of the coven. For instance, the
noble in charge of food reported that every outpost had enough food for two—almost three—weeks in the freezer in case
anything happened and we had to go into a lockdown.
By the end of the week, they would all have the month’s worth of food made that my wife wanted.
Good, that was something huge off her mind.
And a sneaky plan if Inez could get another nuclear-powered merchant ship. That might be a tall order to ask for, but I liked
the idea of loading that up with freezer trailers full of food and letting it go out to sea with a trusted crew. It could be a very
smart backup and something even parked off Nora’s shores.
One there and one off Seattle.
I swallowed a sigh. Inez would lose her mind at the idea of pulling a nuclear-powered ship out of her ass. Not really, but
that was how she always referred to it.
Though, I did understand her reservations about trying to find nuclear elements and fuel. Some things shouldn’t be broken
down into energy beads.
Maybe refurbishing some aircraft carriers? I said as much and was glad when Petre nodded and seemed to agree. Good, I
gave the order to find a few that could be put back online for this secret assignment, for Seattle and Nora, and to tap Trisha for
it.
Next were power and utilities. Seattle was bringing in more power than it was using. So were the outposts in Canada, and
that meant no one was worried about the winter. They did want more fixed batteries that they could charge up just in case
Keres hit them, and then they could just change everything over.
Smart. I approved it and told people to get it set up and on Inez’s schedule through Maggie when ready.
All the outposts had all the weapons and military vehicles they needed now, and people had been trained on them to
Trisha’s satisfaction. She wouldn’t call on them first, but they were good to go if the shit hit the fan. But the nobles wanted to
set up a schedule to check on each outpost during the night.
That was smart. They could take an hour or two out of their nights and hang at an outpost for five minutes, rotating through
them so basically someone old was there every five minutes to alert people of a problem. We had radios set up, but those only
got so much range.
It was only for the time being because the Begley engineers were close to getting military communications back online that
we could use… But not the rest of the remaining US “government.” That would have us more than covered without putting up
cell towers for Keres to just take right back down.
Plus, that wasn’t the best use of time when people were still starving.
But we needed to communicate better to protect everyone. It was all such a balancing act that I hated most days.
I looked at Inez when I had that thought just as I always did. The same smile always came. She was worth it. She was
worth dealing with all of these people and losing my quiet, peaceful life. She was worth being the boss at times even if I hated
it and juggling so much bullshit.
She was worth every headache and tired moment that my patience was tested. Inez was more than worth all of it.
“I love you, my wife,” I whispered before kissing her hair.
“Love you too, old fart,” she mumbled in her sleep.
Brat.
All of the updates were positive and would relieve Inez on how much was getting done. Jamelle had finished mapping the
entire northeast part of the US until what had been DC. They were making good time and the numbers coming in were crazy. We
needed to do a lot of culling. It was honestly shocking, and I didn’t think anything could shock me anymore.
I did thank Aether. So many animals were the one thing that could help us fight back and give people the incentive to want
to help us even if the battle against Erebus wasn’t enough for them.
Part of me thought She’d known that would be something to have ready for Inez to use and… Made all the animals go crazy
overpopulating? It sounded nuts and over the top. Really, it did.
 But was it any more over the top or crazy than anything else She’d already been involved with and had gotten involved
with?
Probably not.
All the gifts were already sent out for the princesses along with the live animals—everything Inez had promised and more.
What we really needed were bullets. We needed to reform a fuck ton of bullets.
We needed anyone who had the gift of working with metals to make a group and start handling this. It was the only way to
get more done. The noble in charge of weapons agreed and promised to get a team together.
Good. It wouldn’t be difficult since that wasn’t a rare gift, plus people wanted to show that they were willing to help after
we accepted ten thousand vampires into the coven. Most seemed to think it was just a thing Inez said, and “guest” meant not
originally from this coven. Or that we were just going to blanket stamp them all in.
So now that we’d taken the next step and not everyone was on it, people were getting with the program better.
Good. I still wanted to kill Llyod because he started too much trouble, but a lot of Safie’s coven liked him. They stupidly
clung onto the idea that he was an honest man because no one could bust him in his lies with their gifts.
Except all the nobles of that coven who had kept those same people safe repeatedly said Llyod was a sociopath and his
lies didn’t register.
Something to handle another day. When? Who knew, but there was never enough time for it all, so sadly it just kept getting
pushed back.
The last update that came in was Keres tried to attack the solar farm being put in at New Orleans but found people working
overnight on it. No one could be completely sure, but several people reported seeing the same thing of a woman with long
blonde hair suddenly being picked up and blurred off.
And they hadn’t sensed either person.
That had to be Keres and whatever noble she’d tricked into following Erebus. Poor soul.
I smiled when Inez woke with the sun just like always. Her eyelids fluttered and then I was staring into those perfect green
eyes I could get lost in.
She winced. “So I did something bad. Did they tell you?”
I snorted. “Chris deserved it. Is your hand okay?”
She burst out laughing, the sound exactly what I needed to hear after all of the tedious updates all night. She gave me a
heated kiss. “I’ve maybe got a bruise on my ass from falling down drunk after I did it. Want to check in the shower? Maybe
fuck your wife to remind her who she belongs to because she touched another man last night even if it was to hit him?”
Yes, yes, I absolutely did. I would always accept that kind of offer, especially when I saw how much she wanted it in her
eyes.
So, I gave it to her twice.
 9

Things had been going well the past several days and we were getting more and more handled. We kept getting reports of
Keres’s plans getting foiled and people seeing her blur off which made me nervous. It couldn’t be an accident that she was
suddenly being seen after weeks of no one catching a glimpse of her at all.
Yes, we had more people guarding, but groups were seeing her and we couldn’t hide ourselves.
So… That was clearly something she was playing at.
Sundar appeared just as I was thinking about heading to bed, having really pushed my power that day to get a lot done.
I swore. No way it was good news.
He nodded. “Fort Knox is under attack. Corrupted are hitting them in droves. We believe it’s Keres.”
“That’s what she was up to,” I grumbled. “She was being seen focused on one thing but really plotting another bigger
something. Bitch.”
“You called it,” Sundar agreed. “You were right to have us keep tabs on the settlements. I apologize for doubting you, My
Princess.” He flinched.
Cerdic and my guards all slowly looked at him like he’d grown another head.
But I had a very different response than all of them. “How many years did you refer to the princess of your coven that way,
Sundar? You were bound to slip and you aren’t the only one who has. I’m not offended or assuming your intentions will change.
It’s just a slip.”
He cleared his throat and dipped his head. “Thank you for understanding.” He glanced away and rubbed his neck. “Yes, I
supposed others would make that mistake as well.”
“What do you want us to do about the attack, Inez?” Cerdic cut in, trying to move us past the blunder and Sundar’s clear
upset.
“We go into lockdown all over,” I ordered. “Just as a precaution in case this is a diversion. Send anyone available to help.
Do not get shot because they are undoubtedly using the big weapons. For immediate relief, slice through the ones they can. I can
worry about the ghosts tomorrow, but I’ve been keeping up working on that and resting. I can handle it.”
“Well, I came back at the right fucking time,” James said from the doorway, his eyes full of worry. “Did I really just hear
from the guard station that Fort Knox is being hit?”
“Yes, and I want to also get jets in the air out of St. Louis and put down my blood away from their settlement so the jets
don’t risk any humans,” I added.
“From what we’re hearing, they won’t win the fight tonight,” Sundar told me firmly.
“So we help tonight and out ourselves tomorrow?” Cerdic asked.
“Let’s get through tonight, and I think that’s up to our Secretary of Defense,” I said easily, giving James a look that I trusted
him with the decision.
Something he really, really liked.
He came over and knelt before me, taking my hand and kissing it. “I missed you, My Princess.”
“Good, you should have. You’ve been gone a while,” I said before moving my other hand to his shoulder. “Handle the jets
with whomever to get my blood down. I want you back right after to report. I want to see the situation myself.”
“I would advise against that, Princess,” Joi said from the doorway.
“It’s the last thing she’d expect given how safely we’ve been playing it,” I argued.
“Yes, but everyone knows how much you want to keep as many humans alive as possible,” she threw right back.
“Agreed, so normally I would push to send you and maybe not defend the castle as much. Remember, no one ever gives me
enough credit.” I smirked at her. “You, Mozell, and Kaci protect this castle and my tree.”
“Please, allow one of us to come with,” she begged.
“I’m just going to draw them away until they can get my blood down and see with my own eyes what Keres is really
capable of. I’m not jumping in the fight,” I told her firmly. “I want to work on my power under pressure.”
“I understand, but two of us to protect your tree with everyone else here is enough. I beg you let Mozell go with you as our
youngest but still someone very old.”
After a moment, I nodded. “Thank you for your advice. I accept. She and Petre will be the ones to bring me and get me out
if it gets too dicey.”
We all moved fast, and I gave three small jars of blood to get the fighter jets different positions to hit. Plus to get some
corrupted away from a different side.
Only a handful had been checking the other settlements and we hadn’t been making a big deal of it. The three that were in
the visions were Keres’s immediate targets, but only an idiot would think that was all she was after.
 The bad guys tended to think everyone else were idiots. Even if He was a God, it stood to reason He might be the same.
Maybe this one time He was, but I doubt it was a mistake He would repeat.
Or she would on His behalf? Fuck if I knew what was really going on.
Right before we were about to leave, Tian showed up and I was glad for it. I went right to him which clearly shocked him,
but there was something important I wanted him to specifically handle.
“You can cloak yourself too, and I would hope you’re older than any noble she might have tricked,” I said quietly as if
others in the armory couldn’t hear us. “I would bet she’s there with her soldiers. I would be. She was last time.” I waited until
he nodded. “I want you to try and track her. The moment we arrive, I’ll try to sense her, but if she’s smart—”
“She’ll flee because there’s no way she has enough to handle what we’re coming with,” he muttered, nodding when I did.
“I will try my best, but I did not sense her last time.”
“I know, and they’ll dart around if they even have a hint they’re being followed, but it might be able to tell us something.
Even if we can figure out what fucking direction they’re heading. There has to be something. She doesn’t come from another
fucking realm and just appear. We need to start looking for a trail or getting information on her.”
“I agree.”
I figured Tian would. He still sighed like he always did, but I was pretty sure it was at himself for being stupid enough to
try and track Erebus’s champion and possibly get on her radar.
I honestly didn’t blame him for that.
Everything was a mess when we arrived. The amount of gunfire was overwhelming and clearly it was all hands on deck.
The gobs of corrupted made me shiver. She’d really gone all out with this battle. I couldn’t think it was just to take down this
huge settlement with the rest of the US government that we had nothing to do with.
Had we really killed so many in North America that she was desperate for the numbers? I was pretty sure there were over
five million people at Fort Knox and Louisville, but… My gut was telling me there was something more to this.
Right then, I had to focus on what was in front of me. Corrupted immediately sensed me and the ones nearest turned
towards me.
I wanted to work on what I’d learned with Vitor and Petre’s help the night I’d taken out Bahati and used again since. I
wasted energy putting up a dome. I didn’t actually need a dome since nothing was coming from up above.
But I’d been able to feel more in the ground between growing my tree and the freaky times blood touched my energy beads.
Stuff like that was all in my arsenal of power.
So I knew I could be smarter and not waste my precious power.
I hoped I could at least.
I focused on the ground and felt my power sort of build. The way I visualized it was a circle five feet around me.
Then ten.
Then fifteen.
Each time adding five feet to the diameter until I felt confident the circle was built solid but without wasted energy.
“Wait,” I told Kristof when he was about to go out and handle the ones closest to me. “Please, I want to work on this. You
can move me if it doesn’t, but I have to stop wasting so much energy to—”
“I understand, my love,” he whispered. “You need to know the range of your gifts. I support you. I just wish you wouldn’t
do it in circumstances so extreme.”
“It seems to be the only way I can unlock the next level,” I grumbled. Though I agreed with him, and maybe I just needed to
take a day to play and really try different ideas that the people I trusted could spitball.
Right, in our spare time.
It did work. I felt the first corrupted hit about thirty feet away from us. Then I could build it, gasping when I got so many so
fast. I glanced at Kristof and nodded. Now that I knew it would work, he could thin them out.
Or knowing him, kill them all if he could so I didn’t have to push.
But I still would with the ghosts the next day, so it didn’t really matter.
Everyone that we could spare came to help it seemed.
I saw Winston and all the nobles of visiting princesses. I had questions about that, and Sebastion said that each was doing
two laps around the outside of the hordes of corrupted and then racing to each outpost to check on the lockdowns. Plus, make
sure they weren’t getting attacked, so every two minutes or so they should be checked on.
Wow, that was a lot of running and not the most efficient way to handle all of this.
Well, now that we were going to be out soon to Fort Knox and who was left, we wouldn’t have to worry about them
listening in on us… We could just take over all the military communication soon.
Yay us?
Yeah, I doubted it. There was definitely going to be drama involved with that.
I studied my circle, able to see my power almost like a fog that was coming up off the ground. I started visualizing ways to
play with it. I extended just a line from in front of me to go another twenty feet or so and then moved that line around my circle
in place.
It sort of worked. Like it seemed to do something to the corrupted. Maybe turned twenty percent of their bodies into energy
beads? They felt something because they all stopped running.
“What are you doing, Princess?” Mozell whispered.
“I have no idea,” I admitted. “Trying to add more weapons to my arsenal.”
“You’re damaging them but not killing them,” Petre muttered. “It’s like your energy is a chain-link fence going through them
instead of something solid they’re running into.”
“That’s a good weapon to have to slow them down and not get overrun,” Mozell praised. “Try to build that power out from
you, ten feet on either side, and see how far you can push it out. The circle you have has to take massive power to maintain.
Wounding them means more can be killed faster from those zipping around.”
“She’s right. You have it mastered to only target corrupted,” Petre agreed.
Still, I hesitated. “Smaller, maybe five feet each side.” I was glad when they both nodded. I pulled in my power from the
circles and changed my visual. It was ridiculously easy compared to what I’d been doing.
Fuck. Yeah. I was always about working smarter and not harder.
Harder was tiring.
Kristof came back and was filled in on what I was doing and studied it curiously.
“If you dare test it out, you will not be welcome in my bed for a very long time no matter what you fucking heal from,” I
warned him when I saw the curious look on his face. The idiot would absolutely try to get the answer they would want to
confirm if the power could hurt them.
“I already tested it out,” Ceawlin announced as he joined us. “I heard from Winston what was going on and just ran through
it.”
“How do you know you did if you can’t see what she’s doing?” Kristof questioned.
Ceawlin didn’t argue, simply shrugging and moving about twenty feet away. “Run it over me.”
“I can’t,” I whispered, too nervous. I glanced at Kristof when he moved his hand to my shoulder. “It’s Cerdic’s twin. I
can’t.”
“I’m much older than your husband and can endure being hurt in twenty percent of my body,” Mozell said before standing
where Ceawlin was and telling him to guard me.
Fine, just fine… Pushy fuckers.
I waited until Ceawlin moved near us and then let out a slow breath.
“It will be fine, my love,” Kristof said under his breath.
I nodded and moved my power in her direction, closing my eyes when it went over her.
“She’s fine,” Kristof chuckled. “She’s giving you a thumbs-up, Inez.”
My eyes popped open and relief filled me when I saw she was. “Nothing? You didn’t feel anything?”
“I felt nothing painful, but it was like something moved over me,” she said before darting closer. “I don’t know how to
describe it. It wasn’t really hot, but it was sort of like when certain electronics are turned on around you and you can feel it?
Almost like vibrations past me. So I could sense it, but it did not affect me in the slightest. Well done, Princess.”
Awesome. That was seriously, seriously, awesome.
And a way to help big time in these kinds of situations. I played with it a good ten minutes before I listened to Kristof and
shut it down. I would need all my energy tomorrow to handle the ghosts this would give me.
Also, Mozell said she would come with the Sisters and kill even more once I was safe at the castle so it wasn’t too many
ghosts for me tomorrow.
Done and done.
She was gone the second we returned and I wanted my tree for some reason. I wasn’t sure until I reached it.
Then I cut my hand and knelt at the tree, putting blood on it even if that did—and would always—gross me out.
Aether, thank you for giving me time to heal until the next battle. Thank you for giving me gifts that have options and I
can adjust. Thank you for giving me so many to help who want to join in this battle. I know Keres is up to something more,
but I feel confident we can manage what is being thrown at us.
I know that might not always be the case, and I’ve come too close to breaking, but I believe we can… Survive. Endure?
Win sounds like this is a game, and it’s not a fucking game when so many lives are on the line but yes, you win wars and
battles. It just sounds…
I shook my head, getting off track, and that certainly wasn’t what I wanted to be praying to Aether about. It was just
something always on my mind.
I prayed a bit more asking for any gentle signs we were on the right path or what She thought we should handle next. We
were ready for more humans, and the timing made me think it wasn’t an accident.
Flinching when I realized I wasn’t alone, I let out a slow breath and relaxed when saw it was Kristof. I turned and smiled
at him, but saw he had his eyes closed, clearly praying as well.
 And not just him.
Shocked rocked me when I saw Darius was there.
Jaxon.
Cerdic.
Even Branko but slightly back.
Then several of my knights and other nobles of the coven. All of us were praying to Aether in thanks. I wasn’t sure, but it
felt like the coven was holding strong and we had somewhere safe. We weren’t all parts of crazy anymore, a team trying to
keep moving to better.
Fuck, we really just needed to cross the line into post-apocalypse. We’d gotten so damn close before Keres and realizing
Erebus wasn’t just going to let us win.
But if we all stood together and kept fighting as a team, I knew we were on the winning side.
Even if it wasn’t a fucking game but the fate of the world.
 10

I was really glad when word reached me that the fight at Fort Knox was over. It didn’t look like anyone had been infected,
but we would have to check for sure because corrupted had breached the last fence while we were helping. Someone could
have gotten scratched or bitten and hidden it.
Eddie was going to set up a closer listening post with several others because we needed to know what was going on inside
there, not just burst transmissions from the bugs someone had snuck in. They had to know someone helped them from the fighter
jets alone.
Seriously, there was no keeping it quiet anymore that others were out there with more than them and we were watching.
That was a problem for tomorrow.
Tonight, I was handling a situation that I’d let go on for too long and I was done being passive on.
I received all of the updates as they came in, commending everyone for their hard work and how they handled the situation.
Everyone had jumped in and done exactly what they should. That was amazing, and I made it clear that everyone should be
praised.
“Think of what people would like,” I told those gathered. “Even the guests. Something fun. Maybe a bunch of tablets we
can load some movies on to take to your covens or people can have for the kids. We can make the time and take a day of power
—even from the ghosts tomorrow—to have something extra. I think it’s important we take those moments.”
“We would like more repaired Kindles for the guards from our coven at the warehouses,” Sebastian said. “Vance has been
collecting a library of digital books? Did I hear that correctly?”
I nodded. “Wilson believes he found two of Amazon’s servers.” I smiled when people gasped. “Yeah, so we don’t know
what’s all there, but for now he’s got it all tucked away somewhere completely safe that can’t be damaged. I think only Kristof
knows or Petre too. But what Wilson went through so far was part of digital something, something that is books.”
Everyone agreed more Kindles and tablets with books or movies would really help all around to raise moral. I didn’t
remember any of that, but I could see just holding something as a reminder that things were getting better… Well, it helped me a
lot, and I was glad to give that hope as a reward.
“James, follow me,” I said in front of everyone as the meeting wrapped up before turning and leaving, not giving him a
chance to respond.
“What did you need?” he asked as he joined me in my tower, giving me a curious look.
“You.” I bit back a smirk when he did a double take, ignoring his reaction and hitting the button for the elevator. It opened
right up and I got on.
He hesitated.
“Get on my elevator, Knight. That’s an order.”
Something a bit dark filled his eyes, but he still did it.
Kristof rode up with us and gave me a soft kiss once we were in my room. “I leave you to spank your naughty kitty, my
love. I have some things I want to handle before your ghosts tomorrow.” He gave me a heated look that stopped me in my tracks
to say he didn’t have to be the one to be with me then.
I knew the truth though, and it was half heat and really half worry how bad the ghosts had gotten most recently after Keres
did something. I nodded, thanking him for handling so much for me and promising to make it up to him tomorrow.
“I’ll hold you to that,” he chuckled before leaving.
“James, follow me,” I said… As I peeled off the vest I’d been wearing against the cold.
“Inez, I don’t know what’s going on, but—” he muttered as he followed me into my bathroom.
“What’s going on is I’ve made the mistake of letting you think you’re the boss of a bit too much.” I closed the door behind
him and then started the shower before putting my boot on the counter and unlacing it. “You are in charge of our military, but
you answer to me.
“That is the line you have kept well, but others have crossed it a bit because of the crazy. So I’m making it obvious who the
bosses are on that and loudly.” I met his gaze in the mirror as I took off the boot and switched, making it clear I wanted an
answer from him.
He nodded, crossing his arms over his wide, muscular chest.
“But see, the mistake I made was letting you think you’re the boss of so much more because I was being patient with you.
And what has that gotten me? No answers from you. A lot of shit about how I’m a doormat and a fool to keep letting men treat
me however.”
“I don’t think—”
“Silence,” I whispered, my voice cold. “You had your chance to talk and explain… How many weeks ago? How long ago
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 East. At Pao-Ting Fu, where women were said to have suffered
indescribable brutalities before being slain, investigation by
an American military officer convinced him that "there is no
evidence of any peculiar atrocities committed upon the persons
of those who were slain"; and the American Board of
Commissioners for Foreign Missions has publicly announced:
"While forced to believe that our missionaries in Shan Si and
at Pao Ting Fu were put to death by the Chinese, we have never
credited the published reports concerning atrocities connected
with their slaughter."

CHINA: A. D. 1901 (March).

Withdrawal of American troops, excepting a Legation guard.

The following order was sent by cable from the War Department
at Washington to General Chaffee, commanding the United States
forces in China, on the 15th of March: "In reply to your
telegram Secretary of War directs you complete arrangements
sail for Manila with your command and staff officers by end
April, leaving as legation guard infantry company composed of
150 men having at least one year to serve or those intending
re-enlist, with full complement of officers, medical officer,
sufficient hospital corps men and, if you think best, field
officer especially qualified to command guard. Retain and
instruct officer quartermaster's department proceed to erect
necessary buildings for guard according to plan and estimates
you approve."

CHINA: A. D. 1901 (March-April).

Discussion of the question of indemnity.
Uneasiness concerning rumored secret negotiations of
Russia with the Chinese government relative to Manchuria.

As we write this (early in April), the reckoning of

indemnities to be demanded by the several Powers of the
Concert in China is still under discussion between the
Ministers at Peking, and is found to be very difficult of
settlement. There is understood to be wide differences of
disposition among the governments represented in the
discussion, some being accused of a greed that would endeavor
to wring from the Chinese government far more than the country
can possibly pay; while others are laboring to reduce the
total of exactions within a more reasonable limit. At the
latest accounts from Peking, a special committee of the
Ministers was said to be engaged in a searching investigation
of the resources of China, in order to ascertain what sum the
Empire has ability to pay, and in what manner the payment can
best be secured and best made. It seems to be hoped that when
those facts are made clear there may be possibilities of an
agreement as to the division of the total sum between the
nations whose legations were attacked, whose citizens were
slain, and who sent troops to crush the Boxer rising.

Meantime grave anxieties are being caused by rumors of a

secret treaty concerning Manchuria which Russia is said to be
attempting to extort from the Chinese government [see, in this
volume, MANCHURIA], the whispered terms of which would give
her, in that vast region, a degree of control never likely to
become less. The most positive remonstrance yet known to have
been made, against any concession of that nature, was
addressed, on the 1st of March, by the government of the
United States, to its representatives at St. Petersburg,
Berlin, London, Paris, Vienna, Rome, and Tokio, as follows:

"The following memorandum, which was handed to the Chinese

Minister on February 19, is transmitted to you for your
information and communication to the government to which you
are accredited: "The preservation of the territorial integrity
of China having been recognized by all the powers now engaged in
joint negotiation concerning the injuries recently inflicted
upon their ministers and nationals by certain officials and
subjects of the Chinese Empire, it is evidently advantageous
to China to continue the present international understanding
upon this subject. It would be, therefore, unwise and
 dangerous in the extreme for China to make any arrangement or
to consider any proposition of a private nature involving the
surrender of territory or financial obligations by convention
with any particular power; and the government of the United
States, aiming solely at the preservation of China from the
danger indicated and the conservation of the largest and most
beneficial relations between the empire and other countries,
in accordance with the principles set forth in its circular
note of July 3, 1900, and in a purely friendly spirit toward
the Chinese Empire and all the powers now interested in the
negotiations, desires to express its sense of the impropriety,
inexpediency and even extreme danger to the interests of China
of considering any private territorial or financial
arrangements, at least without the full knowledge and approval
of all the powers now engaged in negotiation.
HAY."

----------CHINA: End--------

CHINESE TAXES.

See (in this volume)

LIKIN.

CHING, Prince:
Chinese Plenipotentiary to negotiate with the allied Powers.

See (in this volume)

CHINA: A. D. 1900 (AUGUST-DECEMBER).

CHITRAL: A. D. 1895.
The defense and relief of.

See (in this volume)

INDIA: A. D. 1895 (MARCH-SEPTEMBER).

CHITRAL:A. D. 1901.
 Included in a new British Indian province.

See (in this volume)

INDIA: A. D. 1901 (FEBRUARY).

CHOCTAWS, United States agreements with the.

See (in this volume)

INDIANS, AMERICAN: A. D. 1893-1899.

CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR, The Young People's Society of.

The nineteenth annual international convention of Young

People's Societies of Christian Endeavor was held in the
Alexandra Palace, London, England, from the 13th to the 20th
of July, 1900, delegates being present from most countries of
the world. Reports presented to the convention showed a total
membership of about 3,500,000, in 59,712 societies, 43,262 of
which were in the United States, 4,000 in Canada, some 7,000
in Great Britain, 4,000 in Australia, and smaller numbers in
Germany, India, China, Japan, Mexico, and elsewhere.

{145}

The first society, which supplied the germ of organization for

all succeeding ones, was formed in the Williston
Congregational Church of Portland, Maine, on the 2d of
February, 1881, by the Reverend Francis E. Clark, the pastor
of the church. The object, as indicated by the name of the
society, was to organize the religious energies of the young
people of the church for Christian life and work. The idea was
caught and imitated in other churches—Congregational,
Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist, and others—very rapidly,
and the organization soon became, not only widely national,
but international. In 1898, it was reported that Russia then
remained the only country in the world without a Christian
Endeavor Society, and the total was 54,191. In the next year's
 report Russia was announced to have entered the list of
countries represented, and the number of societies had
advanced to 55,813. In 1900, the numbers had risen to the
height stated above. The Epworth League is a kindred
organization of young people in the Methodist Church.

See (in this volume)

EPWORTH LEAGUE.

CHRISTIANS AND MOSLEMS:

Conflicts in Armenia.

See (in this volume)

TURKEY: A. D. 1895.

CONFLICTS IN CRETE.

See (in this volume)

TURKEY: A. D. 1897 (FEBRUARY-MARCH).

CHUNGKING.

"Chungking, which lies nearly 2,000 miles inland, is, despite

its interior position, one of the most important of the more
recently opened ports of China. Located at practically the
head of navigation on the Yangtze, it is the chief city of the
largest, most populous, and perhaps the most productive
province of China, whose relative position, industries,
population, and diversified products make it quite similar to
the great productive valley of the upper Mississippi. The
province of Szechuan is the largest province of China, having
an area of 166,800 square miles, and a population of
67,000,000, or but little less than that of the entire United
States. Its area and density of population may be more readily
recognized in the fact that its size is about the same as that
of the States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky combined,
but that its population is six times as great as that of those
 States. Its productions include wheat, tobacco, buckwheat,
hemp, maize, millet, barley, sugar cane, cotton, and silk."

United States, Bureau of Statistics,

Monthly Summary, March, 1899, page 2196.

CHURCH OF ENGLAND: A. D. 1896.

Papal declaration of the invalidity of its ordinations.

See (in this volume)

PAPACY: A. D. 1896 (SEPTEMBER).

CIVIL CODE: Introduction in Germany.

See (in this volume)

GERMANY: A. D. 1900 (JANUARY).

-------CIVIL-SERVICE REFORM IN THE UNITED STATES: Start-----

CIVIL-SERVICE REFORM IN THE UNITED STATES: A. D. 1893-1896.

Extensions of the Civil-Service rules by President Cleveland.

"Through the extensions of the Federal classification during

President Cleveland's second administration, the number of
positions covered by the civil-service rules was increased
two-fold. On March 3, 1893, the number classified was 42,928.
By a series of executive orders ranging from March 20, 1894,
to June 25. 1895, 10,000 places were added to the list,
bringing the total, approximately, to 53,000. Meanwhile, the
Civil Service Commission had recommended to the President a
general revision that would correct the imperfections of the
original rules and extend their scope to the full degree
contemplated by the Pendleton Act. After much correspondence
and consultation with department officers, and careful work on
the part of the Commission, the rules of May 6 [1896] were
promulgated. They added to the classification about 29,000
more places, and by transferring to the control of the
Commission the system of Navy Yard employment, established by
Secretary Tracy, brought the total number in the classified
service to 87,117. The positions in the Executive branch
unaffected by these orders included those classes expressly
excluded by the statute—persons nominated for confirmation by
the Senate and those employed 'merely as laborers or
workmen'—together with the fourth-class postmasters, clerks in
post-offices other than free delivery offices and in Customs
districts having less than five employees, persons receiving
less than $300 annual compensation, and about 1,000
miscellaneous positions of minor character, not classified for
reasons having to do with the good of the service—91,600 in
all. Within the classified service, the list of positions
excepted from competitive examination was confined to the
private secretaries and clerks of the President and Cabinet
officers, cashiers in the Customs Service, the Internal
Revenue Service and the principal post-offices, attorneys who
prepare cases for trial, principal Customs deputies and all
assistant postmasters—781 in all. The new rules provided for a
general system of promotion, based on competitive examinations
and efficiency records, and gave the Commission somewhat
larger powers in the matter of removals by providing that no
officer or employee in the classified service, of whatever
station, should be removed for political or religious reasons,
and that in all cases like penalties should be imposed for like
offenses. They created an admirable system, a system founded
on the most sensible rules of business administration, and
likely to work badly only where the Commission might encounter
the opposition of hostile appointing officers. President
Cleveland's revised rules were promulgated before the
Convention of either political party had been held, and before
the results of the election could be foreshadowed. The
extensions were practically approved, however, by the
Republican platform, which was adopted with full knowledge of
the nature of the changes, and which declared that the law
should be 'thoroughly and honestly enforced and extended
wherever practicable.' … Mr. McKinley, in his letter of
 acceptance and in his inaugural address, repeated the pledge
of the Republican party to uphold the law, and during the two
months of his administration now past he has consistently done
so. He has been beset by many thousands of place-seekers, by
Senators and Representatives and by members of his own
Cabinet, all urging that he undo the work of his predecessor,
either wholly or in part, and so break his word of honor to
the nation, in order that they may profit. … At least five
bills have been introduced in Congress, providing for the
repeal of the law. … Finally, the Senate has authorized an
investigation, by the Committee on Civil Service and
Retrenchment, with the view of ascertaining whether the law
should be 'continued, amended or repealed,' and sessions of
this Committee are now in progress. … Mr. McKinley, by
maintaining the system against these organized attacks, will
do as great a thing as Mr. Cleveland did in upbuilding it."

Report of the Executive Committee of the New York

Civil Service Reform Association, 1897.

{146}

In his annual Message to Congress, December, 1896, President

Cleveland remarked on the subject:

"There are now in the competitive classified service upward of

eighty-four thousand places. More than half of these have been
included from time to time since March 4, 1893. … If
fourth-class postmasterships are not included in the
statement, it may be said that practically all positions
contemplated by the civil-service law are now classified.
Abundant reasons exist for including these postmasterships,
based upon economy, improved service, and the peace and quiet
of neighborhoods. If, however, obstacles prevent such action
at present, I earnestly hope that Congress will, without
increasing post-office appropriations, so adjust them as to
permit in proper cases a consolidation of these post-offices,
 to the end that through this process the result desired may to
a limited extent be accomplished. The civil-service rules as
amended during the last year provide for a sensible and
uniform method of promotion, basing eligibility to better
positions upon demonstrated efficiency and faithfulness."

United States, Message and Documents (Abridgment),

1896-1897, page 33.

CIVIL-SERVICE REFORM IN THE UNITED STATES: A. D. 1894.

Constitutional provision in New York.

See (in this volume)

CONSTITUTION OF NEW YORK.

CIVIL-SERVICE REFORM IN THE UNITED STATES: A. D. 1897-1898.

Onslaught of the spoils-men at Washington.
Failure of the Congressional attack.

"During the four months following the inauguration [of

President McKinley] the onslaught of place-seekers was almost
unprecedented. Ninety-nine out of every hundred of them
discovered that the office or position he desired was
classified and subject to competitive examination. The tenure
of the incumbent in each case was virtually at the pleasure of
the department officers; removals might easily be made; but
appointments to the places made vacant could be made only from
the eligible lists, and the lists were fairly well filled. It
is true that the rules permitted the reinstatement without
examination of persons who had been separated from the service
without personal fault within one year, or of veterans who had
been in the service at any time, and that some removals were made
to make room for these. But the appointments in such cases
went but a very little way toward meeting the demand. The
result was that almost the whole pressure of the
office-hunting forces and of their members of Congress was
directed for the while toward one end—the revocation or
material modification of the civil service rules. President
McKinley was asked to break his personal pledges, as well as
those of his party, and to take from the classified service
more than one half of the 87,000 offices and positions it
contained. … But the President yielded substantially nothing.
… The attack of the spoils-seekers was turned at once from the
President to Congress. It was declared loudly that the desired
modifications would be secured through legislation, and that
it might even be difficult to restrain the majority from
voting an absolute repeal. In the House the new movement was
led by General Grosvenor of Ohio; in the Senate by Dr.
Gallinger of New Hampshire. … The first debates of the session
dealt with civil service reform. The House devoted two weeks to
the subject in connection with the consideration of the annual
appropriation for the Civil Service Commission. … The effort
to defeat the appropriation ended in the usual failure. It was
explained, however, that all of this had been mere preparation
for the proposed legislation. A committee was appointed by the
Republican opponents, under the lead of General Grosvenor, to
prepare a bill. The bill appeared on January 6, when it was
introduced by Mr. Evans of Kentucky, and referred to the
Committee on Reform in the Civil Service. It limited the
application of the civil service law to clerical employees at
Washington, letter carriers and mail clerks, and employees in
principal Post Offices and Customs Houses, proposing thus to
take from the present classified service about 55,000
positions. A series of hearings was arranged by the Civil
Service Committee, at which representatives of this and other
Associations, and of the Civil Service Commission, were
present. A sub-committee of seven, composing a majority of the
full committee, shortly afterward voted unanimously to report
the bill adversely. About the same time, the Senate Civil
Service Committee, which had been investigating the operation
of the law since early summer, presented its report. Of the
eight members, three recommended a limited number of
exceptions, amounting in all to probably 11,000; three
recommended a greatly reduced list of exceptions, and two
 proposed none whatever. All agreed that the President alone
had authority to act, and that no legislation was needed. …
The collapse of the movement in Congress has turned the
attention of the spoilsmen again toward the President. He is
asked once more to make sweeping exceptions."

Report of the Executive Committee of the

New York Civil Service Reform Association, 1898.

CIVIL-SERVICE REFORM IN THE UNITED STATES:A. D. 1897-1899.

Temporary check in New York.
Governor Black's law.
Restoration of the merit system under Governor Roosevelt.

"In June [1897]—after the Court of Appeals … had declared that

the constitutional amendment was self-executing, and that
appointments made without competitive examination, where
competitive examinations were practicable, must be held to be
illegal—steps were taken to secure a reduction of the exempt
and non-competitive positions in the State Service. A letter
was addressed to Governor Morton, by the officers of the
Association, on June 8, asking that the service be
reclassified, on a basis competitive as far as practicable.
The Governor replied that he had already given the subject
some thought, and that he would be glad to give our
suggestions careful consideration. On the 4th of August he
instructed the Civil Service Commission to prepare such a
revision of the rules and classification as had been proposed.
On the 11th of November this revision, prepared by
Commissioner Burt, was adopted by the full Commission, and on
the 9th of December the new rules were formally promulgated by
the Governor and placed in immediate operation. … The
Governor, earlier in the year, had reversed his action in the
case of inspectors and other employees of the new Excise
Department, by transferring them from the non-competitive to
the competitive class. … This marked the beginning of a
vigorous movement against the competitive system led by
 chairmen of district committees, and other machine
functionaries.
{147}
Governor Morton's sweeping order of December completed the
discomfiture of these people and strengthened their purpose to
make a final desperate effort to break the system down. The
new Governor, of whom little had been known prior to his
unexpected nomination in September, proved to be in full
sympathy with their plan. In his message to the legislature,
Mr. Black, in a paragraph devoted to 'Civil Service,' referred
to the system built up by his predecessor in contemptuous
language, and declared that, in his judgment, 'Civil service
would work better with less starch.' He recommended
legislation that would render the examinations 'more
practical,' and that would permit appointing officers to
select from the whole number on an eligible list and not
confine them to selections 'from among those graded highest.'
Such legislation, he promised; would 'meet with prompt
executive approval.' Each house of the legislature referred
this part of the message to its Judiciary Committee, with
instructions to report a bill embodying the Governor's ideas.
… Within a few days of the close of the legislative session,
the measure currently described as 'Governor Black's bill was
Introduced. … The bill provided that in all examinations for
the State, county or municipal service, not more than 50 per
cent. might be given for 'merit,' to be determined by the
Examining Boards, and that the rest of the rating,
representing 'fitness,' was to be given by the appointing
officer, or by some person or persons designated by him. All
existing eligible lists were to be abolished in 30 days, and
the new scheme was to go into operation at once. … A hearing
was given by the Senate Committee on the following day, and
one by the Assembly Committee a few days later. … The bill,
with some amendments, was passed In the Senate, under
suspension of the rules, and as a party measure. … It was
passed in the Assembly also as a caucus measure."
 Report of the Executive Committee of the
New York Civil Service Reform Association, 1897.

"Early [in 1898] after time had been allowed for the act to
prove its capabilities in practice, steps were taken toward
commencing a suit to test its constitutionality in the courts.
… Pending the bringing of a test suit, a bill was prepared for
the Association and introduced in the Legislature on March
16th, last, one of the features of which was the repeal of the
unsatisfactory law. … The bill … was passed by the Senate on
March 29th. On the 31st, the last day of the session, it was
passed by the Assembly. … On the same date it was signed by
the Governor and became a law. This act has the effect of
exempting the cities from the operation of the act of 1897,
restoring the former competitive system in each of them."

Report of the Executive Committee of the

New York Civil Service Reform Association, 1898.

"As a result of the confusing legislation of [1897 and 1898]

at least four systems of widely differing character had come
into existence by the first of [1899]. New York city had its
charter rules, … the state departments were conducted under
two adaptations of the Black law, and in the smaller cities
the plan of the original law of 1883 was followed. In his
first annual message, Governor Roosevelt directed the
attention of the Legislature to this anomalous condition and
strongly urged the passage of an act repealing the Black law
and establishing a uniform system, for the state and cities
alike, subject to state control. Such an act was prepared with
the co-operation of a special committee of the Association. …
After some discussion it was determined to recast the measure,
adopting a form amounting to a codification of all previously
existing statutes, and less strict in certain of its general
provisions. … The bill was … passed by the Senate by a
majority of two. … In the Assembly it was passed with slight
amendments. … On the … 19th of April the act was signed by the
 Governor, and went into immediate effect. … The passage of
this law will necessitate the complete recasting of the civil
service system in New York, on radically different lines."

CIVIL-SERVICE REFORM IN THE UNITED STATES: A. D. 1899.

Modification of Civil Service Rules by President McKinley.
Severe criticism of the order by the National Civil
Service Reform League.

On the 29th of May, 1899, President McKinley was persuaded to

issue an order greatly modifying the civil service rules,
releasing many offices from their operation and permitting
numerous transfers in the service on a non-competitive
examination. This presidential order was criticised with
severity in a statement promptly issued by the Executive
Committee of the National Civil Service Reform League, which
says: "The National Civil Service Reform League, after mature
consideration, regards the order of President McKinley, of May
29, changing the Civil Service rules, as a backward step of
the most pronounced character. The order follows a long
succession of violations, of both the spirit and the literal
terms of the law and rules, in various branches of the
service, and must be considered in its relations to these. Its
immediate effects, which have been understated, may be set
forth as follows:

(1) It withdraws from the classified service not merely 3,000

or 4,000 offices and positions, but, as nearly as can be now
estimated, 10,109. It removes 3,693 from the class of
positions filled hitherto either through competitive
examination or through an orderly practice of promotion, and
it transfers 6,416 other positions in the War Department,
filled hitherto through a competitive registration system,
under the control of the Civil Service Commission, to a system
to be devised and placed in effect by the present Secretary of
War.
 (2) It declares regular at least one thousand additional
appointments made temporarily, without examination—in many
cases in direct disregard of the law—in branches that are not
affected by the exceptions, but that remain nominally
competitive.

(3) It permits the permanent appointment of persons employed

without examination, for emergency purposes during the course
of war with Spain, thus furnishing a standing list of many
thousands which positions in the War Department may be filled,
without tests of fitness, for a long time to come.

(4) It alters the rules to the effect that in future any

person appointed with or without competitive examination, or
without any examination, may be placed by transfer in any
classified position without regard to the character or
similarity of the employments interchanged, and after
non-competitive examination only.

{148}

(5) It permits the reinstatement, within the discretion of the

respective department officers, of persons separated from the
service at any previous time for any stated reason.

The effect of these changes in the body of the rules will be

of a more serious nature than that of the absolute exceptions
made. It will be practicable to fill competitive positions of
every description either through arbitrary reinstatement—or
through original appointment to a lower grade, or to an
excepted position without tests of any sort, or even by
transfer from the great emergency force of the War Department,
to be followed in any such case by a mere 'pass' examination.
As general experience has proven, the 'pass' examinations, in
the course of time, degenerate almost invariably into farce.
It will be practicable also to restore to the service at the
incoming of each new administration those dismissed for any
cause during the period of any administration preceding. That
such a practice will lead to wholesale political reprisals,
and, coupled with the other provisions referred to, to the
re-establishment on a large scale of the spoils system of
rotation and favoritism, cannot be doubted."

In his next succeeding annual Message to Congress the

President used the following language on the subject: "The
Executive order [by President Cleveland] of May 6, 1896,
extending the limits of the classified service, brought within
the operation of the civil-service law and rules nearly all of
the executive civil service not previously classified. Some of
the inclusions were found wholly illogical and unsuited to the
work of the several Departments. The application of the rules to
many of the places so included was found to result in friction
and embarrassment. After long and very careful consideration
it became evident to the heads of the Departments, responsible
for their efficiency, that in order to remove these
difficulties and promote an efficient and harmonious
administration certain amendments were necessary. These
amendments were promulgated by me in Executive order dated May
29, 1899. All of the amendments had for their main object a
more efficient and satisfactory administration of the system
of appointments established by the civil-service law. The
results attained show that under their operation the public
service has improved and that the civil-service system is
relieved of many objectionable features which heretofore
subjected it to just criticism and the administrative officers
to the charge of unbusinesslike methods in the conduct of
public affairs. It is believed that the merit system has been
greatly strengthened and its permanence assured."

United States, Message and Documents

(Abridgment), 1890-1900, volume 1.

At its next annual meeting, December 14, 1900, in New York,

the National Civil Service Reform League reiterated its
 condemnation of the order of President McKinley, declaring:
"The year has shown that the step remains as unjustified in
principle as ever and that it has produced, in practical
result, just the injuries to the service that were feared, as
the reports of our committee of various branches of the
service have proved. The league, therefore, asserts without
hesitancy that the restoration of very nearly all places in
every branch of the service exempted from classification by
this deplorable order is demanded by the public interest and
that the order itself should be substantially revoked."

CIVIL-SERVICE REFORM IN THE UNITED STATES: A. D. 1900.

Civil Service Rules in the Philippine Islands.

"An Act for the establishment and maintenance of an efficient

and honest civil service in the Philippine Islands" was
adopted, on the 19th of September, by the Commission which now
administers the civil government of those islands. The bill is
founded on the principles of the American civil service in
their stricter construction, and its provisions extend to all
the executive branches of the government. The framing of rules
and regulations for the service are left to the Civil Service
Board provided for in the act. A correspondent of the "New
York Tribune," writing from Manila on the day after the
enactment, states: "W. Leon Pepperman, who has long been
connected with the civil service in the United States, and who
has made a personal study of the systems maintained by Great
Britain, France, and Holland in their Eastern colonies, will
be on this board, as will be F. W. Kiggins of the Washington
Civil Service Commission. The third member probably will be a
Filipino. President Taft had selected for this post Dr.
Joaquin Gonzalez, an able man, but that gentleman's untimely
death on the eve of his appointment has forced President Taft
to find another native capable of meeting the necessary
requirements. Mr. Kiggins probably will act as Chief Examiner,
and Mr. Pepperman as Chairman of the board:" According to the
same correspondent: " Examinations for admittance to the
 service will be held in Manila, Iloilo, and Cebu, in the
Philippines, and in the United States under the auspices and
control of the Federal Civil Service Commission." At the
annual meeting of the National Civil Service Reform League of
the United States held in New York, December 13, 1900, the
above measure was commended highly in the report of a special
committee appointed to consider the subject of the civil
service in our new dependencies, as being one by which, "if it
be persevered in, the merit system will be established in the
islands of that archipelago, at least as thoroughly and
consistently as in any department of government, Federal,
State or municipal, in the Union. This must be, in any case,
regarded as a gratifying recognition of sound principles of
administration on the part of the commission and justifies the
hope that, within the limits of their jurisdiction at least,
no repetition of the scandals of post-bellum days will be
tolerated. The ruling of the several departments that the
provisions of the Federal offices established in the
dependencies which would be classified if within the United
States is also a matter to be noted with satisfaction by the
friends of good government."

{149}

CIVIL-SERVICE REFORM IN THE UNITED STATES: A. D. 1901.

The "spoils system" of service in the House of Representatives.

The "spoils system" maintained by Congressmen among their own

immediate employees, in the service of the House of
Representatives, was depicted in a report, submitted February
28, 1901, by a special committee which had been appointed to
investigate the pay of the House employees. The report,
presented by Mr. Moody, of Massachusetts, makes the following
general statements, with abundance of illustrative instances,
few of which can be given here: "The four officers elected by
the House, namely, the Clerk, Sergeant-at-Arms, Doorkeeper,
and Postmaster, appoint the employees of the House, except the
clerks and assistant clerks of members and committees, four
elevator men, the stenographers, and those appointed by House
resolutions. The appointments, however, are made on the
recommendation of members of the House, and very largely,
though not entirely, of members of the dominant party in the
House. If a member upon whose recommendation an appointment is
made desires the removal of his appointee and the substitution
of another person, the removal and substitution are made without
regard to the capacity of either person. In case a member upon
whose recommendation an appointment has been made ceases to be
a member of the House, an employee recommended by him
ordinarily loses his place. Thus the officers of the House,
though responsible for the character of the service rendered
by the employees, have in reality little or no voice in their
selection, and, as might reasonably be expected, the results
obtained from the system which we have described are in some
cases extremely unsatisfactory. This method of appointing
House employees has existed for many years, during which the
House has been under the control of each party alternately. We
believe that candor compels us to state at the outset that
some of the faults in administration which we have observed
are attributable to the system and to the persistence of
members of the House in urging upon the officers the
appointment of their constituents and friends to subordinate
places, and that such faults are deeply rooted, of long
standing, and likely to continue under the administration of
any political party as long as such a system is maintained."

The committee found nothing to criticise in the

administration of the offices of the House Postmaster or
Sergeant-at-Arms. With reference to the offices of the Clerk
and the Doorkeeper they say: "We have found in both
departments certain abuses, which may be grouped under three
heads, namely: Transfers of employees from the duties of the
positions to which they were appointed to other duties,
unjustifiable payments of compensation to employees while
absent from their posts of duty, and divisions of salary.
"First. Transfers of employees from the duties to which they
were appointed to other duties.—Some part of this evil is
doubtless attributable to the fact that the annual
appropriation acts have not properly provided for the
necessities of the House service. An illustration of this is
furnished by the case of Guy Underwood, who is carried on the
rolls as a laborer at $720 per annum, while in point of fact
he performs the duty of assistant in the Hall Library of the
House and his compensation is usually increased to $1,800 per
annum by an appropriation of $1,080 in the general deficiency
act. Again, a sufficient number of messengers has not been
provided for the actual necessities of the service, while more
folders have been provided than are required. As a result of
this men have been transferred from the duties of a folder to
those of a messenger, and the compensation of some has been
increased by appropriation in deficiency acts. But evils of
another class result from transfers, some examples of which we
report. They result in part, at least, from an attempt to
adjust salaries so as to satisfy the members that their
appointees obtain a just share of the whole appropriation,
instead of attempting to apportion the compensation to the
merits of the respective employees and the character of the
services which they render. …

"Second. Payments of compensation to employees while

absent.—The duty of many of the employees of the House ceases
with the end of a session, or very soon thereafter. Such is
the case with the reading clerks, messengers, enrolling
clerks, and many others who might be named. Their absence from
Washington after a session of Congress closes and their duties
are finished is as legitimate as the absence of the members
themselves. But many employees who should be at their posts
have been from time to time absent without justification, both
during sessions and between sessions. In the absence of any
record it is impossible for the committee to ascertain with
anything like accuracy the amount of absenteeism, but in our