Wes looked at him, genuine surprise in his eyes. “But I’m coming with you! You need me.” Wes pointed at the human. “Why does he get to go? He’s not a vampire! And he doesn’t even have any special skills. I do.”

“Yeah, turning dogs into pigs maybe,” Blake taunted him.

“Shut it, Blake!” Cain snapped. “Or you’re leaving too.”

Huffing, Blake crossed his arms over his chest.

Cain turned to Wesley. “Thanks for the offer, but—”

The witch lifted his hand. “Hear me out first, please.”

Cain sighed and exchanged a look with Haven, who grimaced.

“Leave me out of this,” Haven said. “I don’t want to be blamed later when he screws up.”

Cain shook his head. “Make your case, Wes, and make it quick.”

“So, I was thinking,” Wes started.

Blake scoffed, earning a stern look from Wesley before he continued, “You’re going into the lion’s den.”

“You mean a vampire’s nest,” Thomas corrected him from the back of the plane.

“Yeah, whatever. And you don’t know who’s friendly and who’s not. You need all the protection you can get.” He leaned in and lowered his voice as if the others in the plane wouldn’t be able to hear him then. “I’ve been working on a protection spell.”

“I hate spells,” John grumbled.

Cain couldn’t agree more. Vampires had no protection against spells. And he hated things he couldn’t fight with a mortal weapon. However, Wesley saying he had been working on something didn’t mean he actually knew what he was doing. “Last time you cast a spell, your spell tinted everything red.”

“Which was the intention,” Wesley claimed.

“Granted, at Oliver’s wedding it was. But you turned the pigs red before that, and I doubt that was intended,” Cain reminded him.

Wesley’s lips curled up. “A little mishap. But I’ve got it all figured out now.”

“You say that now, but when push comes to shove, we’re gonna end up with some kind of disaster.”

Wes pointed to Thomas. “I saved Thomas’s life with one of my spells. When he was fighting against Keegan, my spell helped—”

“I didn’t need your help!” Thomas ground out, his normally friendly attitude suddenly changed. Cain knew that he’d been utterly annoyed that Wes had interfered in the fight and not let Thomas prove that he could defeat his evil sire.

When Eddie squeezed Thomas’s hand, Thomas turned and exchanged a look with his mate. Then he added, “However, Wes is correct. His spell worked when it counted.”

Cain contemplated his next decision for a few seconds. Thomas was the most levelheaded of them, and Cain respected the other vampire’s opinion.

“Fine. You may come. But you follow my orders. One instance of insubordination and you’re on the next plane home. Don’t make me regret this.”

Wesley grinned triumphantly. “You won’t. I promise.”

Moments later, when everybody was strapped into their seats, Cain turned to John, who sat next to him. “Now tell me everything I need to know about my former life.”

8

Abel walked through the busy streets. It was shortly after sunset, and the French Quarter was teeming with tourists and locals. He hated the putrid smell in this part of town; that’s why he rarely ventured into this area. He preferred to go hunting in the Garden District or in some of the smaller towns around New Orleans when the urge took him and he needed to drive his fangs into a human rather than drink from the donated supply of blood in his cellars.

Once he was king, he would do away with pre-packaged blood and encourage his subjects to hunt for their food again. How it was always meant to be. Drinking packaged blood had turned them into cowards and weaklings. He would change that and turn his race back into a species to be feared.

No more mainstreaming. No more pandering to the sensibilities of humans. Soon all those things Cain had instituted would be gone, and a new reign would start. Things would be better then. Their clan would become strong again and not be vulnerable to an attack by their rivals any longer. His subjects would be safe again. They needed a strong king, and he would be that king.

“We’re nearly there,” Baltimore said beside him and pointed toward a small alley.

“You’d better be right about this.” He didn’t like to waste his time when there was so much to do before the coronation and the wedding. Abel smiled to himself. Faye would finally be his. Ever since she’d joined their clan, he’d wanted her, but she’d only had eyes for Cain, the hero, the king.