"I still can't believe I just witnessed that, Princess." 

Amber said as they stepped outside the temple, the sun resting behind the clouds. If she hadn't asked for them to come there themselves, she would have concluded that they were dreaming. 

"Yeah." She answered breathlessly.

"So, we have one underground Vampire still alive. Does that mean several of them still existed?" Amber asked, glancing around.

"I doubt that," Lyne answered absentmindedly.

"Maya survived narrowly, but then her son..." She ransacked her brain to know whether it was possible to speak with mother Earth now, to help with their war. But that would be stupid. Maya could be speaking in parables, or worse, lying. 

When she and Zeidan were still in Los Angeles, Roderigo had explained the same way. The way Maya had told them how much she loved him. However, she felt betrayed, contrary to what Roderigo thought. According to her, Roderigo had chosen the Onyx over her and her son. Was she still mad over that and had decided to vent her anger on people using her mission which is to get back at those who stole the Onyx? 

"Are you okay?" Amber asked. She was standing in front of her, her round eyes gazing over her. Amber's curly strands of hair fell on both sides of her face in an attractive wind-swept style. With dark eyes and high cheekbones, Lyne wondered if she was indeed over a hundred years old. Lucky vamps. She thought.

She cleared her throat. "Yeah. Why?"

"You have a look on your face that I've never seen before."

She nodded. "Just thinking about a lot of things. It's not important, though."

The other woman frowned. "Want to share?"

"It's actually about the war." Lyne lied, not wanting to dwell more on Maya's case. "I was wondering if Shelbrooke were to come back, with a harder force this time, what would he do first? Who would he target first?"

"Well, from what I know. I'm sure Shelbrooke is somewhere right now, tending to his wounds."

Amber answered and she nodded.

"Are you going to talk about..."

"No, but thanks."

She blinked. "Okay." And dropped it.

Guilt clawed at her. Amber was a good servant and an excellent aide. And it was quite possible, the longer she kept her mouth shut, the safer it is for her and her baby.

"Sorry, Amber, I just need to think for now. I may want to talk about it later."

"It's all right. And Maya's case? I mean, the woman's story? Should we tell the King?" They walked back to the city through the clearing between the tall trees. "I'm thinking only the King can understand the mystery behind the stones right? The only thing I know about it is that one of the twelve brothers came to the surface and gave it to our ancestors before he died from too much exposure to sunlight." Lyne was pinning every point down in her mind, resolving to reshuffle them when she gets back home. But which home? The one where her husband had refused to do one thing that will make her happy? 

"Everything has been going on well until she came into the picture. Now, everyone will be in disarray once they find out an underground Vampire still exists." Amber said. "You think we should tell Chloe?"

Lyne met her gaze. "Yeah, I do."

She frowned. "Okay, then."

Chloe was the only one in on the secret that was let out. The only one who now knows her mother's killer. Having one more person at the party would further complicate things. Therefore, Amber should be kept in the dark about everything until it's safe to sweep it under the carpet.

"We can't tell Chloe about anything Maya has said except I choose to, okay?"

Amber touched her arm. "Trust me."

This woman read her like a book. She was worried, about a lot of things, and while she could hide it from the rest of the world, only two people could know. Zeidan and Chloe. She nodded. "The training."

Right now, the only thing that should be on her mind is to stay alert and prepare for the battle ahead. Even though she so much wished she could live a normal life like her sister and Azrael, she couldn't ignore the visions that always send fear up her spine. 

"Right." Amber jerked her away from her thought and together they moved away to the City field.

★★★★★★★★★★

One by one, they'd coaxed the men from the houses of their families and passed them off to other soldiers dressed in striped uniforms, with grim faces and no more than a word.

"Seventy men," Reyns said. He leaned against the tree from where he had been watching the activity going on while Gorge was going about pushing off the women who weren't happy with releasing their sons to the military.

"Eighteen and above. We don't want any men younger than that!" He ordered.

Gorge finally came to stand beside him while the women finally accepted their fate and watched their sons being bonded away to serve the city. They were assured that everything is fine but as some of the boys proved stubborn, they had to cuff them on the wrist and throw them in the back of a cart. 

"Sometimes I hate my life," Gorge muttered as he removed a stick of cigarette from his back pocket and flickered a lighter over it. "Is there any hope of a good life?"

Reyns raised a brow at him. "Yes. This. And you're not committing a crime by hating yourself — I'd do the same if I were you. We're just supposed to take these guys and bound them into the cart and ride away, not urge the parents to leave the kids. Sometimes, you have to leave your emotions out of it."

"You sound like my Grandma."

"No, thanks. I smell way better."

He huffed a short laugh, exhaling a large puff of smoke. "Because you're the boss's favorite? Yeah. Leave your emotions out of it?" 

Reyns shot him a sideways glower and he smirked, knowing full well that he was letting his emotions get in the way as he wouldn't want the boss to kill him, rendering his poor mother broken. They fell silent. He finally sighed. "That was a good one, Gorge. Stop questioning yourself."

His troubles gaze met his. "It's scary to know that we can't run or hide." He removed the stick and with a trembling hand swiped across his face. "We don't have a choice. It's either them or our lives."

"I know that and you know that as well. The question is, why do you feel worried about it?"  Every single time he had to choose to take a life, he grieved the loss until he finally come to terms he'd done what he had to do to save his own life.

He gave a subtle shrug. "I don't. Not really. I just regret that we are doing the same to people that we were once victims of. No opportunities to make things right."

"That's for you, Gorge. As for me, I'm happy doing my thing. As long as I'm not affected. And you're not a kid anymore. Sometimes, be mindful of what you wish for before the King pushes a pointy claw through your throat and feeds you to the vultures." Reyns stepped back and sighed. "I doubt he'll do that. He's quite occupied with the war."

He relaxed a fraction. "Yeah, I know."