She had so many questions and not enough answers. One thing she did know was that they needed her, and she had the power to refuse them. There was nothing else they could do to her that would be worse than what had already been done. It felt good to have that power over them. Yet, if she refused them, she would ultimately be consigning six of her prior kin to certain death.
She didn’t know the vampires involved. She shouldn’t care in the least… but just knowing that there was a chance she could save them had her hesitating to refuse. Reasa had always been alone with her gift, had never had the chance to share it with anyone. She was not only being handed that chance, but also being granted the opportunity to learn more and become stronger.
Should her circumstances change and she eventually become immortal again, she would be one of the strongest European vampires. Even Louis wouldn’t be able to touch her. The thought of her former coven leader sent a shiver down her spine, and her eyes clouded over as she realised what she had done.
Reasa opened her mouth to speak… faltered and swallowed hard. “I called Louis, my coven leader in Europe,” she said quietly, her voice devoid of all emotion. “I spoke with Michael who was the other vampire with me when we captured Pietro. He told me Louis had excommunicated me. I tried to lure them here by saying I have knowledge of a threat against the covens. Someone will come, possibly even Louis himself.”
Shocked silence greeted her words, broken by Freya who rose up from her chair. “Louis won’t come, though he may well send people to eliminate Reasa. He never was one to tolerate betrayal.”
“You know this Louis?” Caleb asked as he joined her and reached for his phone to dial Demetri’s number.
“I resided in his coven for a while, a long time ago. I doubt he has changed much, though. I’ll alert Rafe.” Freya was already heading out of the house.
“What about the poison, Reasa?” Liam asked in a quiet tone, his expression serious.
She met his gaze, a myriad of emotions flickering across her face before she took a deep breath and looked down at the table. “It degrades quickly which is why you’re having trouble synthesising it. It has to be stored below freezing, otherwise it is useless. We call it Amort: Death. I fashioned two bullets that I dipped in the poison and used to shoot you. I had to work quickly because I knew it would become ineffective in a short period of time.”
“So there isn’t any left?” Caleb barked out the question after he asked Demetri to hold on.
Reasa blanched at his abrupt tone, unable to stifle a shiver of fear. She didn’t know what had prompted her to volunteer the information. It was one thing to agree to try to help heal the injured vampires, but another to suddenly start revealing all her secrets. She was truly betraying Louis now, as well as placing her coven in danger.
“They are not your coven anymore, Thereasa. You belong here, with us now. It is okay to speak. We will protect you.”
Horrified green eyes turned to stare into Rhianna’s glowing lavender gaze. Realisation dawned, and Reasa uttered a startled gasp. “You… you… you’re a Dream Walker!”
Rhianna nodded slowly. She placed a hand on Reasa’s arm and ignored the fact that she flinched and pulled away. “Yes, I am, Thereasa, though nowhere near as powerful as Liam will be. I’m sorry I had to loosen a few of your inhibitions, but we had to know what it was we were facing. I haven’t lied to you. I mean what I said. You belong here with us now and we will protect you, no matter what the cost. All you have to do is let us. Take that leap of faith.”
“You invade my mind and ask me to have faith in you?” Reasa scurried away from the table, trying to put as much distance between herself and the others.
“Isn’t that what you did to Pietro, and the countless others you have over the centuries?” Elina asked with a curious expression.
How could she argue with that? She had done precisely that on numerous occasions, all the while telling herself it was for the protection of the coven. How could she berate Annie when she was only doing the same thing? As her eyes flitted wildly from one to the other, Reasa knew that whatever she chose to do next, there would be no turning back.
Her gaze finally settled on Liam’s face and the concern she saw there made her heart stutter. No one had ever looked at her that way before. No one had ever placed her needs before their own, but twice now the Varcolac had done just that. Twice, he had proven that he would defend her, against even those he loved the most.
Louis was coming to kill her. She was as certain of that as Freya was. They both knew him very well and he hadn’t changed since the Ancient had known him. If she left, she was dead. If she stayed, she had a chance at becoming immortal again. Being able to dream walk would help ensure her survival, and she might be able to help the injured vampires at the Praetorian Compound. Everything was pointing in the one direction and yet she still hesitated, afraid to commit.
“Are you in my mind, Annie?” The words were whispered out, but everyone heard her.
“No, Thereasa, your thoughts are your own,” the petite redhead answered, her voice soft and somehow reassuring. “Our need to know what was coming our way was paramount, but your choice of what you want to do with your life is your own.”
Reasa slammed up every mental defence she had built up over the years. She closed her eyes and turned her thoughts inwards, searching for any sign of deceit, anything that would prove Rhianna was lying to her and was still inside her mind. She found nothing, could detect no trail of any thoughts other than her own. Rhianna was telling the truth.
Opening her eyes once more, she turned to Caleb, reaching her decision before she could second-guess herself. “There is an abandoned building about an hour’s drive from here, heading due south. It’s hidden in the forest and looks rundown. I have no idea how it has electricity but it does. Inside you will find a small portable refrigerator that has the last vial of Amort.”
On the other end of the phone, Demetri cursed loudly, startling Caleb. “You heard that?”
“Yes, I heard it and I know the place. It’s where I took Mara when we first met. I’m the one responsible for the fucking electricity supply that she used to keep the poison viable.” Demetri cursed some more, so incensed everyone else could hear him.
“You weren’t to know,” Caleb interjected as he dampened down the impatience that had begun to build. “Just get over there and get the vial back here as quickly as possible. This should hopefully help us formulate a cure, unless Reasa can tell us anything else?”
“I was simply told how to mix the ingredients, Caleb. I don’t even know what the plant is; I was merely given it in powder form. I believe it’s some exotic plant found somewhere in Romania, but that’s all I know.”
“Fine; get to it, Demetri, and return here as soon as you can.” Caleb disconnected his cell and tucked it back into his pocket.
“You’ve made the right decision, Reasa,” Rhianna smiled, her expression glowing with approval.
“We’ll see when Louis sends his assassins after me,” the other woman snorted. Uncertainty still darkened her expression, but she seemed a little more convinced that she had made the right decision. “I want to learn to dream walk. I want to try to save the vampires up at the Praetorian Compound. Perhaps if I do that, I will be granted back my immortality. What I’m not doing is agreeing to mate with anyone.”
Her glare was for Liam, who grinned back at her, completely undaunted by her words. “I mean it, Liam. I am not doing this for you. I am doing this for me.”
“Okay,” he shrugged, a goofy grin still splitting his face. “I can wait until you’re ready.”
When she opened her mouth to say something further, he turned and picked up the book from the table. “Should we get started?”
Snapping her mouth shut, Reasa nodded and motioned towards her bedroom. “We will need privacy and quiet for me to teach you how to focus on individual minds. Distance from other thoughts will help too in the beginning. Come on.” Without a backward glance she stomped out of the room, Liam smiling as he followed her.