He wasn’t trying to protect Anthony, he was trying to protect me. Since apparently, Trevor was of Anthony’s line, that would make me a decedent of Anthony’s and therefore at risk if Anthony were to die.
If he were to tell the resistance about Anthony being one of the Sires, Sarah would shoot him on site and we couldn’t have that. Nope, not a good idea.
Sarah chewed on her lower lip as she thought about all we had told her. “All right. I don’t see any problem with us helping each other out with a common goal. I suppose, since you told us all about your little organization that we should fill you in on what we are about.”
I could practically feel the tension in the room dissolve as Sarah announced her decision about us.
“But first, I’m putting this right out on the table. I don’t like it at all that he is here.” She pointed at Anthony. Well, at least she didn’t call him it, like she did before. “If he screws up at all, he’s dead, got that?”
Anthony nodded, “I understand. You have nothing to worry about, I am truly here to help.”
“Yeah, we’ll see about that,” Sarah mumbled. She shifted a few papers around on the table before beginning her story. “Our group is much larger than who you see here.” She spread her hands to indicate the others who stood around the room. “Our goal is to become large enough and strong enough to fight the vampires and take our city back. Once we are able to do that, we will move on, taking our people to other cities and helping them to fight.”
I nodded. These were the kind of people I admired. The kind who fought for their lives. This group didn’t just cower in a corner, they didn’t pledge themselves to the vampire council ... they wanted to live and live free. “Well, we’re going to help you. Our first mission is to find Korina.”
Sarah’s eyes flicked between me and Drew and Luke, “I’m sorry, who is Korina?”
“She is the head of the vampire line, the one we are searching for.” I had forgotten that we hadn’t mentioned any names when Drew was explaining before.
“Oh, yes of course.” Sarah nodded. “Anyhow. You are a welcome addition, we are growing, but it is taking time to get the numbers up. A lot of people from the city have already pledged themselves or they are just too afraid to fight. The bastards would rather just hole up and hide from the bloodsuckers.”
She stood. “Come with me, I’ll show you what we have going on here.”
Sarah’s associates with the guns had finally relaxed when she gave her okay about us. Most of them had lowered their weapons, resting them at their sides or putting them away. But, there were a few who held still held their guns at the ready, just in case one of us did something wrong. I was fairly sure that it was Anthony they were most worried about. I didn’t blame them either.
We followed her into the hallway. Two of her guys stayed with us, bringing up the rear of the crowded hall. “Don’t worry about those guys back there. The tall one is Tommy and the other guy is Elliot. They were a couple of the first to be recruited. Found them at their place outside of town. They weren’t even trying to hide from the vampire council, when I drove up they stood right in front of their house aiming their shotguns at the windshield of my truck.” She smiled at the memory. “I knew right from that moment that they would be a good addition for what I wanted to do. I needed people who wanted to fight, not run scared into the swamplands.”
“Hey,” Christina piped up.
Sarah turned only long enough to see who was speaking to her. “Yeah?”
“The topic of conversation has been about why you guys would choose this place as your hideout.”
Sarah stopped and turned toward us. “You know the history of the house?”
Christina nodded. “And I think your bat shit crazy for picking it too. Of all the like … casinos or plantation homes you could have chosen … I don’t get it.”
“This house has withstood so much of New Orleans history, I am determined for it to be a part of the history that is being written right now.”
Dang, Sarah and Anthony should compare notes for their history writing. “But, aren’t you worried about the dangers of being in a haunted house?” I asked.
She shook her head. “No, I grew up in one, like I said before, this is New Orleans.”
I left it at that. They were already here anyway, it’s not like they were going to move locations now.
She swung a door open. “This room is where we have been putting all the weapons we acquire.” The room had rows and rows of neatly hung rifles. Table tops with hand guns, and even another table that held some devices that looked like hand grenades or possibly smoke bombs.