Page 33 of Roman

The only answer Roman had got out of him when he questioned his behavior wasold enemies.After that, he’d stared at a picture of Charlotte’s roommate that was stuck to the front of the fridge.He’d looked tormented as Roman watched him brush a finger over her image before snatching it from the fridge and jamming it in his coat pocket.

Roman knew better than to press his brother.Thousands of years ago, Maalik had gone off on his own, creating his own sired lines.The first bloodlines of his race.Purebloods, the angels called them.They were stronger, faster, and harder to kill than any others that came after them.Just like Maalik, his purebloods possessed the gift of walking in the sun, a trait that they had attempted but failed to pass on to their sired lines, condemning them to roam the night.As far as Roman knew, the original blood houses Maalik had made were the only vampires his brother had ever turned.

A lot of bad things happened in Maalik’s life back in those dark days.Roman knew little about that time in his brother’s life, except that whatever events had taken place were the reason he’d never sired another vampire to this very day.

“It will be Caral then.”Armaros’s deep voice pulled Roman from his musings.“The Ancient Pyramid in Peru.That’s the closest gate.If this goes wrong tonight and they get Charlotte out of there before we can get her, that’s where they will take her.”

Phoenix rolled his eyes.“I fucking hate Peru.”

Lucian smirked, slapping Phoenix on the back.“Aw, come now, Sun God, these people worshiped you for thousands of years.I’m sure the locals would love for their flaming god to return.”

“Shut the fuck up, Lucian.That is one time in our past I wish we could bloody erase,” he said, shaking his head.

Roman gave a small smirk, remembering the chaos the two had caused in Peru.Lucian and Phoenix had settled in many parts of Mexico and South America during a time when they had majorly fallen off the rails, causing whole civilizations to worship them, thinking they were gods.Phoenix, the God of the Sun, and Lucian, the God of the Moon.When the Incan people started human sacrifices to appease the two false gods, the two of them came to their senses and fled the country.As far as he knew, they had never been back.

“Well, if no one fucks up tonight, you won’t need to go there, got it?”Roman told them.

“Copy that, boss,” Phoenix replied, wiping his hand down his face as if trying to wipe away old memories.

“Ariel and the others will arrive in a few hours, so when we go in tonight, it will be all of us.I will lead one squad, and Ariel will lead the other.Ariel’s team will be the usual.Cael, Ramiel, Marius, Sabriel, and Turel, while you will all be with me.They will take out any outside guards and surveillance and draw the demons to them while we enter through the roof with the information the Lycan has given us.Lucian, tell us what they’ve found.”

Lucian nodded, his blue eyes glancing around the table.“The Lycan sent in scouts, said there are eight demons patrolling the outer perimeter fence, then there are two doors located at the front.Two guards per door, all packing AR-15 semi-automatic rifles.They all have at least six magazines strapped to their belts, as well as a 9mm Glock 17 with at least four magazines each.There are no doors around the back, and there is no one guarding the roof because they’re stupid.There is one trapdoor on the roof, which will give us easy access to the warehouse.Basically, we will drop right in on them while they are in the middle of fighting Ariel and her team.Should be a piece of cake.”

“Well, they are definitely expecting us to try something with all that firepower,” Grigori said, leaning forward on the table.“They knew we would come for her.”

“They would be stupid to think we wouldn’t try to stop them.I think after we hit their underground bunker and took Charlotte a few days ago, they’ve increased their security and firepower in all their establishments and hideouts,” Maalik told them.

“They can increase their firepower and security all they like, but it won’t help them.We will kill every one of the demons.They are nothing but vermin,” Phoenix added with hatred.

“We need to be careful.I have a bad feeling the witch will be with them, protecting Lucifer’s prize.She is powerful and will be able to hurt us.We all need to be wary of her.Her power is… unnatural,” Armaros added the last words almost in a whisper.

Roman was worried.He could clearly see this witch made Armaros uneasy, and if something worried him, then they all needed to be concerned.Hell, the angel was almost indestructible with his magic.

“Noted,” Roman said, nodding at Armaros.“If anyone comes near the witch, approach with caution and let Armaros deal with her.Only intervene if you see he needs help or if she is distracted by him, then kill her.The witch coven has confirmed she is a rogue, and if she is working with the demons and Lucifer, they said they want her dead, as she is a traitor to their race and their ways, so we have the green light to take her out without causing any problems with the peace we have with them.We will have another sit-down in the morning to ensure Ariel and the others are updated on our plans.We need this to run smoothly, no mistakes.We don’t want to be getting on a plane to fucking Peru because we fucked this up, does everyone understand?”he asked, looking around the table.

The fallen all nodded in agreement.

“Good.Okay, get some rest.It’s been a hectic couple of days, and we can’t afford any mistakes,” he told them as they all rose, leaving the dining room.

Maalik remained sitting next to Roman, having another sip of his whiskey, then placing his glass on the marble table.He turned to his brother with a slight frown.“Tell me, brother, do you think this will work?Will she still even be in that warehouse?”

“Of course it will work.The demons are no match for us, and she will be there.The demons won’t risk moving her in the light of day.They know we have eyes watching the streets.Don’t worry, brother, it will all run smoothly, like always.”But even as the words left Roman’s mouth, he had a bad feeling.Something just didn’t feel right, but for the life of him, he couldn’t work out what it was.

12

Charlotte stood on a hill, frozen in a state of disbelief and shock as below her, the city burned, the fire glowing bright against the night sky.Everything everywhere, as far as she could see, was on fire.The screaming was endless.She couldn’t see anyone below in the burning city, but she could hear the terrified screams of thousands of people.

She realized it was familiar—it was Los Angeles, and it was destroyed.Tears started streaming down her face.She couldn’t handle the anguish and pain in the screams rising from below her.It sounded like they were being tortured.

As she scanned the devastation below, she noticed movement in the flames.Distorted beings, their eyes glowing yellow, crawled in and out of the fire, triggering her fear that rose like a tidal wave.In one slow, spine-chilling movement, every single creature down in the flaming city stopped moving.Turning their heads slowly, they looked up.Thousands of glowing yellow eyes watched her.Before she could take a breath, they all started running in her direction, weaving their way through the city toward the hill she was standing on.

“Oh my god,” she whispered, backing away from the edge in panic, her back slamming up against something hard.Charlotte screamed in fright, spinning around, ready to run for her life, only to stop still in surprise.There, standing before her, was Armaros.He towered above her, his dark hair hanging loosely around his shoulders.He wore only black jeans and his big black combat boots.Intricate tattoos covered his massive, muscled chest, displaying images of wonder and writings in a language she did not understand.Around his neck hung a sparkling black stone in the shape of an oval.He was staring at her, his violet eyes glowing dimly in the dark.

“Charlotte, it is not safe for you here,” he told her, glancing down at the burning city.

“Armaros, what’s going on?Why are we here?Those creatures… they are coming for me.”

“It’s a dream, Charlotte.You are seeing a possible future,” he told her.

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