“When I entered the palace through the tunnels, he was supposed to wait for me there, but when I came out, he was gone.”
“Shit!” Thomas cursed. “Have you tried his cell?”
“It’s going straight to voicemail.”
“Do you think he warned the palace of your coming?”
“We have to assume that,” Cain admitted.
“It doesn’t make sense,” Eddie chimed in. “Why show you the tunnels so you can enter the palace, bypassing whatever security they have, and then alert them to your presence?”
“What are you suggesting?” Cain asked, staring at the blond biker.
“What if somebody snatched him?”
Cain shook his head. “The only people who know about the tunnels are he and I. Nobody would have been able to find him there.”
“You can’t know that,” Eddie insisted. “All you have is his word that you and he are the only ones aware of the tunnels. We must assume he lied.”
“I agree,” Haven spoke up. “In either case, whether John betrayed you or whether he was overpowered by somebody, the palace might already know that you’re here. Which doesn’t give us much time. If whoever planned your assassination is still in the palace, he’ll prepare to fight you when you come back. Let’s not give them time to mount an attack. We’ve gotta go in now while we still have the element of surprise. Did you speak to Faye?”
Cain shook his head. “She wasn’t alone. I couldn’t risk it. Nevertheless, I’m certain now that I am the king. I recognized my surroundings from the dreams.”
Haven nodded.
When making his case to Samson about needing men to check out John’s story, Cain had informed his boss about the dreams he’d been having. No details of course, but only what Samson needed to know: that the woman in the picture John had presented was the same woman as the one in his dreams.
“You’re right,” Cain now said to Haven. “We can’t allow them to mount an offensive. We have to go in now. But we’ll split up.”
“No!” Thomas protested. “We’ll go in with full force. You’ll need as much protection as possible. We have no idea how many vampires we’re dealing with, and how hostile they are.”
“It’s not wise. Two of us will stay back,” Cain ordered, firm in his decision. “Eddie and Blake won’t enter the palace grounds.”
Thomas glanced at his mate, then clenched his teeth. “Why them?”
“Because Eddie is your mate. If anything happens in there and we’re unable to use cell phones to communicate, you’ll still be able to convey that we need help via your telepathic bond. And nobody in the palace will even realize it.”
Slowly Thomas nodded his agreement. “Fine.”
“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean that I have to stay back. I want to come,” Blake complained and pointed to Wesley. “Why does he get to go?”
Cain put a calming hand on his shoulder, knowing he had to placate Blake with something so that he didn’t feel left out. “I need you out here with Eddie. The two of you will search for John. Should we find him in the palace, Thomas will send a message to Eddie, but if he’s not in the palace, we need to find out what happened to him. I rely on you for that. You’re human. You’ll be able to go places that Eddie can’t.”#p#分页标题#e#
Blake’s chest swelled, and a proud smile formed on his lips. “You can count on me.”
How easy it was to manipulate the young human. Cain almost felt a little guilty, though he knew it was for the best. He had no idea how the presence of a human would be taken by this clan. Would they attack him because they saw him as the enemy? In any case, Cain didn’t need the added hassle of having to protect a human whose fighting skills were inferior to those of a vampire. Wesley would have a better chance at holding off any hostile vampire: they would smell that he was a witch and would be cautious about approaching him, fearing he could cast a spell against which not even a vampire had protection. They had no way of guessing that Wesley’s magic was weak. Perception was everything, which brought up another point: Cain’s memory loss.
“Another thing,” Cain now cautioned his colleagues. “The only way for the guards on the outside to even let us into the palace, is to make sure they know who I am. There can be no doubt in their minds when I approach them. When we are around them, you’ll need to address me as Your Majesty. I reckon they’ll recognize me, but we have to make sure that nobody suspects that I have amnesia. If they do, it weakens my position and may play into the hands of the assassin.”