She walked closer to the group. "So that's how it's going to go with all the covens. Or at least that’s how we hope it goes. As long as there is daylight, we will continue to purge the covens. Once night falls, we will rest. Sally and Jacque" —she pointed at each girl—"I'm making an executive decision. You two will not be going into the covens. The only reason we would need Sally is if we find any survivors. Jacque—sorry Red—but we don't need your waddling butt in the thick of a battle with vampires. If you argue with me the way you argue with your mates, then I will flash your butts back to Romania and lock you in the pantry with two large buckets."

Jacque was glaring at her. "I agree that I wouldn't be any help but couldn't you at least give us a real toilet if you lock us up?"

"That's what you're worried about? Really?" Jen asked her friend.

Jacque folded her arms and frowned. "I pee a lot. Like, I need to go right now. At least give me the courtesy of a toilet."

Peri pinched the bridge of her nose. "Jacque quit worrying about the damn toilet. If you obey my rules, you won't have to worry about it."

She noted the satisfied looks on Costin and Fane’s faces. She considered zapping them just to wipe the smug looks off their faces. She certainly didn't make the decree for them. Peri actually preferred that the girls defy them, but she cared deeply for them. She'd made the decision to protect them because of that reason.

"What's the next city?" Cypher spoke up.

"Oklahoma City," Peri answered as she, Nissa, and Alston held their arms out for the group to grab on.

They spent the rest of the daylight hours hitting three more covens after the Oklahoma City stop. Each time they rotated which group went down to fight. By the time the sun was finally setting, Jen was dead on her feet.

"You okay?" Decebel asked as he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close. They were standing in an empty warehouse, which made her feel like they were either about to do a drug deal or witness one of those underground cage fights.

"Just tired, and I want to see Thia. Do you think Peri would flash us home so that we could at least be the ones to put her to bed?"

Decebel nodded. "I'm pretty sure she would do anything for you three girls."

Peri appeared in the middle of the group suddenly, causing Cypher to stumble back or be pressed up against the fae. Peri didn't seem fazed in the least.

"We can go back to one of the pack mansions but we have to stay together. We aren't going to be hopping back and forth between them. We need to leave at first light again so it just makes sense to all be in the same location," she told them.

Jen raised her hand.

Peri’s brow rose as she looked at her. "Since when do you raise your hand to speak?"

"I'm turning over a new leaf, shut-up," Jen quipped back. "I would like to ask the group if everyone would be willing to stay at the Serbia mansion so that we could be with Thia?"

Everyone nodded or grumbled their consent. They were all just as tired as she was.

"Thanks," she said with a genuine smile because she really did appreciate it.

Decebel gave her a gentle squeeze. "Thank you," he whispered against her ear.

She looked back at him. "For what?"

"For being the mother of my child, and an amazing one at that."

Decebel didn't pass out praise like Halloween candy, so when he did praise her she knew it was authentic.

She patted the arm wrapped around her waist. "Welcome, babe." Jen turned back around just in time to see Peri and the other fae readying to take them home.

Chapter 10

"When I close my eyes, all I see is blood—blood on my hands, in my mouth, covering my clothes, and splashed about on the walls. The vampire bodies litter the floor around me, but it isn't enough. It doesn't satisfy the darkness in me. I need more—more death, more violence, more chaos. I know what I really need, what my soul and my wolf are crying out for. Mate. I need my true mate. Until I have her, I will not be okay." ~Drake

Bethany's eyes opened slowly and she had to blink several times for them to clear before she was able to focus. When she was finally able to see, she looked straight up at the dirt ceiling of the maze. She couldn't have been unconscious long if she was still there. Bethany felt something shifting down by her feet and she froze. It wasn’t until she finally gained the courage to sit up, slowly, and peer down at the two massive beasts that were sleeping peacefully at her feet that she realized two things: she could see in the dark relatively well and the beasts weren't eating her. Why weren't they eating her? Not that she was complaining.

She searched her brain for anything that could have happened while she'd been down there that might have caused the beasts to suddenly give up their killing ways. She'd been running through the maze when she realized there were two beasts chasing her. Then she'd decided that there was no point in trying to outrun them. Okay, why the hell wasn't she dead?

Words suddenly filled her mind, and she knew she'd heard them before. “I am sorry, my child, but it is not yet your time. There is much for you to do in this life and many people who will love you. You must endure a little longer.”

Who had the power to decide when it was her time to die? God? But the voice had been female. Bethany remembered the peace she'd felt when the voice had spoken to her. Whoever she was, she'd told her that she had much to do in this life, if you could call her existence a life. What on earth could she possible have to do? Lead a rebellion against the vamps? That nearly made her laugh. Then the last statement hit her. She had to endure a little longer. She didn't want to endure. She was tired of being bitten and sucked on like a juice box. She was sick of being belittled and chastised for things like breathing the wrong air.

Bethany pulled her legs toward her and crossed them in front of her. She had only sat there a few minutes, staring at the sleeping wolf like beings, when she heard the telltale sound of the metal door to the maze being pulled open.

"Come out, slave. Your time is done."

"Guess this is when the enduring a little longer starts," she muttered to herself. Bethany pushed herself up to her feet. Her backside was sore from the tumble she'd taken when she'd thought the beasts were attacking her. She pressed close to the side of the wall, trying not to wake the animals as she inched past them.