"Marcus! What have you done to the American Coven?!" Selene barked into the microphone.
"My, my. Impatient, are we?" When no answer came through, Marcus spoke again. "Pray tell, Selene. What would you like to know? How I assassinated a entire half of the whole Coven in a period of hours? Is that what is bothering you, Selene?"
Still no answer. "Very well, Selene. I shall tell you a small tale. Then tell me whether or not I have answered all of your questions.
I am sure you know by now that Viktor was quite a liar. He promised me that he would help me capture William if I turned him; that he would use his army's strength to bring back my brother without harming him. Of course, Viktor lied. He somehow was able to persuade Amelia – who had been on my side until then – to lock William up, and condemn my brother forever.
Using his whole army, Viktor forcibly gained custody of my brother. But there was one thing neither he nor Amelia knew – that I had a small force loyal only to me, just like he did. Mine, however, was a secret and has remained so into today. After I was resurrected, I contacted the leader of my little group, Pegasus, and ordered him to assassinate the entire American Coven."
"Why?" Selene asked.
"Well, Corvinus forbid you get them on your side and band together to destroy me. It seems much more fair if it's just you and Michael."
"And your army?" Michael spoke this time.
"What about them?"
"Will they be used against us?"
"Of course. I do believe the whole reason to go through all of this trouble was to tip the scales in my favor, no?"
After a brief silence, Selene spoke again. "So you've killed off all of the American Coven, as well as the one here?"
"Was I not clear?"
"No, you were."
"Good. Farewell, then."
Marcus's screen blacked out.
Silence sliced in to the safe-house.
Breaking the silence, Michael spoke. "Now what? There's no fucking way we'll be able to handle Marcus AND his whole damn army, no matter how big or small it is!"
"Who said we had to do it alone?"
"Goddammit, Selene! Weren't you listening? Marcus has killed, as in PERMANATLY, your whole coven. Overseas, here, EVERYWHERE! There's no one left to help us!"
"Not true. There's one group Marcus completely forgot about."
"Who? The Cleaners? THEY'RE ALL DEAD."
"No, I'm talking immortals."
"ALL OF WHO ARE DEAD!"
"Lycans are immortals, too."
"Wait… what are you thinking about?"
"I know that the Lycans won't be entirely… welcoming and eager to go on our side, but they're our only chance."
"No offense, Selene, but… didn't you kinda… lower our chances A LOT by killing them for six-hundred years?"
"I said I know that they won't be completely open to the idea, but it's worth a try."
"Is it worth us dying?"
"Better by them than by Marcus."
"How do you know?"
"Believe me, Michael. Marcus has a horrible temper – you DO NOT want to test him."
"Worse than the Lycans?"
"At least we haven't shoved any of them into the blades of a helicopter and killed their brothers."
"True."
Selene took a deep breath. "Michael, I know that this… everything… is a lot to absorb. But if there's anything I've learned over the years, it's that you have to pick a side early on and stick to it. The two sides here are dying and living. I know that I'd like to live. The second most important thing is that after you have picked a side, you have to figure out what support areas there are to keep you on that side. And in this case, we no longer have my kind to turn to, and we don't have the Cleaners. Short of the regular humans, the Lycans are the only ones we can turn to. Do you understand what I am saying?"
"Yeah." Selene's had more experience, right? Mind as go with what she thinks. It's not like Michael had any better ideas.
Michael decided to ask a question that'd been bothering him. "Selene, what'd you mean that Marcus has a horrible temper?"
"Well, one example would be that he once caught Kraven having an orgy instead of attending an important meeting. Marcus got so angry that he ripped off all five of the women's heads – he made Kraven watch – and then he put them on display."
"What do you mean, 'put them on display'?"
"It was towards the end of October, so he put them on the spikes on the gates for Halloween."
"How did Kraven react? Was he angry?"
"No, actually, Kraven was pretty apathetic about it. He simply got more women and made Soren take down the heads after maggots started to form on the heads around Christmastime."
"You're kidding."
"No, it was a turn-off for mistletoe that year."
Both shared a chuckle.
"How are we going to get the Lycans to fight Marcus and his army with us?"
"I don't know, to tell you the truth. We should just go back to the sewers and see what comes of it."
Selene and Michael left the safe-house, and headed back towards Budapest as the sun began to rise. Marcus, at the same time, was heading to the exact same place that Selene and Michael were heading to. And the Lycans had no idea that there would be a huge clash in a few short hours in the underworld.
Author's Note
Sorry this chapter took me so long – Life got in the way.
Foreshadow
A big battle is about to happen in the underworld between Marcus and Selene/Michael… The outcome and what happens during the battle will determine whether or not the Lycans will be with or against Selene and Michael…