Anna had no family that I could find. I took her back to the States anyway, shoving as many forms of ID onto her person as I could find. I couldn't stand the ladies of the Ordo not knowing. Someone should remember her. She should have a resting place befitting a woman of her caliber. I couldn't give her that.

Hannah had seventeen broken bones. The Reds who'd come for her had taken turns sticking her with knives, breaking the tips off inside of her, carefully avoiding the blood vessels nearby to keep from ending the fun too quickly. It was going to take her time and physical therapy to ever recover enough to fight again. There was an option for full healing, but it'd take time.

I didn't sleep for the next three days. I hadn't stopped moving since leaving the compound. My brain wouldn't stop spinning like an out-of-control carousel, trapped on a constant lyrical loop of;

"They need to die, wipe them out, kill them all..."

Over and over. I couldn't shake it. I couldn't stop my heart from hitting like a snare drum every time I closed my eyes and saw the image seared behind the lids. Anna, with her throat torn open. Anna, who'd done nothing but try to love me. Anna, who deserved justice.

I didn't have enough power. Damn it. I had a Fallen on my side and I was still limited. I couldn't destroy the entire Red Court alone. I needed help. Needed allies. But who did I turn to? The White Council? Hardly. They weren't strong enough either, most likely. The Faeries? No. They had no dog in the fight, and the debt that would incur was astronomical.

The other vampire courts? No. They were allied with the Reds at the moment.

The Knights? Not an option either. Knights of the Cross did only what they were commanded to do by God. And somehow I didn't think the big man upstairs was going to support my vengeance quest.

But there was another caliber of Knight. Another accorded nation with enough power and knowledge to help me. Hannah agreed it was worth it during the brief periods of lucidity she had between rounds of morphine. She wanted in on it too, would have come with me to make the request if she'd been capable.

Hannah took my hand on my pass by her bed and pulled me to a standstill. I'd been in and out of her room a lot in the last few days, checking on her. She couldn't be kept at a regular hospital, because she kept fouling up the technology. I'd found this out of the way place and had her transferred as soon as she was out of surgery.

She looked sunken and pale, but her eyes blazed pure fire at me.

"You find him, Catherine. You get him to help us."

I'd need leverage. I knew what would sway them. It'd take a little time and a lot of research, but I'd find what I needed.

"I will. Sleep. I'll give you updates when I have them, okay?"

Hannah sank off to sleep a few minutes later, her grip on consciousness always a little precarious these days.

I'd get my leverage in the form of coins. Collect enough to make Nicodemus Archleone sit up and pay attention to our demands.

I stormed out of the room, fire racing under my skin, off to make a deal with the devil to save the souls of humanity.