I jumped out of the armchair and found myself by Caiden's side, staring at the screen. Someone named Matt sent themselves a message in the website's inbox. The message contained nothing except for a PDF file.

"What if it's a virus?" I whispered.

Caiden narrowed his eyes at me over his shoulder, "Do we care?"

"No, you're right. Open it."

Caiden clicked on the file. An intricate web of drawn tunnels opened up in front of us. My heart jumped up and down in my chest as I took in the names of the rooms; armoury, cells, living rooms, blood storage, council room, and a whole bunch of stairs and elevators. I took out my phone and called Thomas.

He answered after one ring, "Yes?"

"Get over here." I said and hung up.

"Do I answer?" Caiden looked at me, his eyes wide.

"We should."

In the matter of seconds, Thomas, William and Ian descended to the lounge bar and gathered around the computer.

"What is it?"

"What did they send?"

"Answer it!"

"Shut up!" I shouted and pushed them away. "Give the man some space. Alright, we need to print this."

Caiden clicked and clicked, "Done."

The printer in the corner roared and started spitting out papers.

"You're wasting paper." I murmured.

"One copy for everyone." Caiden shrugged. "The soldiers are going to need their own, too."

"Where are the exits?" Ian leaned over Caiden's shoulder and looked at the screen.

"Three exits." Caiden counted. "And the main entrance."

Thomas took out his phone, "So, four groups for all the exits. It should be fine."

"You have to write something back to the person who sent this." William reminded us.

"What do I tell him?" Caiden clicked back on the site. There were no new messages from Matt.

"That we'll spare him." Ian said. "Tell him he can come out the moment we arrive and we won't do anything to him."

Anxiety surged through me, "What if it's a trap?"

"We have no choice but to believe it's not." Ian answered. "Either way, the plan remains the same."

I stepped away form the table, "What?"

Ian looked up, "The soldiers will guard the exits and the vamplings will come in with us inside. If we know where we're going, we can chase them out without risking getting stuck inside."

Suspicion gnawed at me, "Alright."

"I texted Sargent Jonas." William said. "They're ready to go whenever we are."

"We'll be ready soon. The vamplings need to feed before we go." Ian moved away from the computer.

"Caiden, you should go into the armoury." Thomas said.

"Okay." Caiden sent the message to Matt and stood up. "I hope this works."

"You've helped us greatly." William extended his hand to Caiden, which took him by surprise. "This wouldn't have been possible if it hadn't been for you. Go to the armoury and guard the house."

Caiden took William's hand and nodded, "Thanks."

His eyes briefly jumped to me, but I refused to acknowledge him.

"Good luck." He said to no one in particular before he left.

"It's time to move." William took the papers off the floor and handed one to Ian and the other to Thomas.

My eyes narrowed to slits and William gave me the paper.

Ian shifted beside me, "Chloe..."

"I'm not talking to you."

"That doesn't matter, you're staying here."

"Fine." I crossed my hands on my chest.

William glanced at me under his eyelashes, letting me know he was well aware I wouldn't be staying here.

"When are you going?" I asked, ignoring William's stare.

"An hour?" Thomas looked around. "It's going to take soldiers some time to get here."

"We've got enough time to feed the vamplings." William nodded. "Ian, you should take the salvia divinorum and the dead blood from the lab. We're going to need it."

"So, an hour." Thomas's lips tightened. "In that case, get out of here."

The three of us looked at him.

Thomas arched his eyebrow, "Everyone besides Chloe."

Confusion spread between us.

"Uh," Ian cleared his throat, "Is there any particular reason for that?"

"Yes." Thomas opened the door for them. "Chloe and I are going to have a drink alone and the two of you are going to prepare everything."

An awkward pause ensued as Ian glanced at me, expecting me to say something, but I couldn't speak just yet.

"We'll meet up here once the vamplings are ready." Thomas held the door open for Ian and William.

"Alright." Ian clenched his fists and walked out without looking at me again.

"See you soon, then." William followed Ian and Thomas closed the door behind them.

I sat back into the armchair and tucked my hands beneath my thighs, not sure what to do with myself. Thomas walked to the bar without a word and pulled out a bottle of gin.

"You want another?" He asked as the liquor seeped into his glass.

"Sure." I smiled. "Why not? It's not like I'm going into the fight."

"I know you're going to go." Thomas smirked at the glass. "I know you better than you think."

"Then, why did you say I shouldn't go?" I stood up and approached the counter.

Thomas put the gin glass in front of me and looked up, "Because someone had to be on Ian's side."

"Oh, come on." I rolled my eyes. "You just wanted to spite me."

"Maybe." Thomas chuckled and clinked his glass against mine. "Cheers."

"Cheers." I sat on the barstool and looked over Thomas.

In a way, all of this started with us. If I hadn't made out with him at Brenda's Halloween party three years ago, I wouldn't have stormed out and the car wouldn't have hit me. Ian would have never turned me into a vampire and we'd all stay happy and clueless for the rest of our lives.

Except, I would have known something about Thomas was off and my curious ass wouldn't have been able to let it go. Ian and William would have still dragged Brad to campus and everything that's happened might have still happened. I just wouldn't have been a part of it.

"Why did you want to have a drink with me alone?" I asked, observing his facial expressions.

Thomas frowned slightly, then his face relaxed, "Believe it or not, you might be the only one in this house I can actually stand."

My eyebrows shot up, "That's ironic, considering you fight with me the most."

"That's only because I enjoy pushing your buttons." Thomas sipped his gin.

"Well, believe it or not, you might be the only one I'm not mad at." I admitted. "So, thank you. For not giving me a reason to resent you."

"I want them all out of here after this fight." Thomas said. "I'm tired of all the vampires and guards and so-called friends."

I sighed, "Me too."

Thomas eyed me, "Do you think everything can ever go back to normal?"

"I don't know." I leaned against the counter. "William is right, we've been using the cultists as a buffer between us and what's really bothering us."

"William is always right." Thomas smiled.

"This group is a complete mess." I said. "Fighting the cultists isn't going to fix that. Tomorrow morning, we'll still have all the issues and nothing to use as an excuse not to deal with it."

"I just want some peace and quiet." Thomas mumbled. "For once in my life."

"Cheers to that." I saluted.

"So," Thomas shuffled the glass in his hand, "You're going to fight, aren't you?"

"Of course." I said. "There's no way in hell I'm letting you guys go alone."

"You mean, you're not letting Ian go alone." Thomas smiled. "Why won't you let him have this one? Why won't you stay out of it?"

"I can't." My voice sounded strained. "I have a really bad feeling, ever since he told me I should stay here. It's like... something bad is going to happen if I'm not there. I know that might sound insane, but I can't risk it. What if something happens and I could have helped?"

Thomas let out a sigh and his eyes fell on the lacquered counter. He had no words of comfort to say to me and he couldn't offer anything I haven't already heard.

"Ian doesn't understand." I continued. "I can't lose him again."

"Alright, listen." Thomas shifted on the barstool. "Two years ago when Vilmus captured us, you had to choose between Ian and your friends, right?"

"Don't remind me." I grunted.

"You made the right choice." Thomas spoke. "It was a difficult one, but it was rational and reasonable. And because you chose us, we're all alive and well right now."

I raised my eyebrow, "Don't jinx us."

Thomas ignored me, "Imagine if the roles were reversed. What would have happened if Vilmus wanted you instead of Ian?"

"What would he want with me?" I chuckled. "After all, I'm impulsive and unreliable."

"I stand by my words." Thomas eyed me. "If the roles were reversed, Ian would have sacrificed all of us to save you."

"That's not true." I shook my head, but doubt flickered within me.

"It's true and you know it." Thomas pushed. "And it doesn't stop with us. If the two of you go in there and Vilmus captures you or threatens to kill you, Ian will let the entire world go to shit to save you."

I took a moment to think about his words.

"How would you even know this?" I asked.

Thomas shrugged, "Ian and I drink alone together sometimes."

I squinted, "I'm beginning to think love-hate relationships are your default."

"The point is, Ian doesn't think you're too unreliable to fight. He thinks he is."

My lips parted with realisation.

"He doesn't want to hurt you." Thomas continued. "That's why he went with the cultists in the first place. He knew he'd hurt you if anything happened to your friends."

"You're right about that." I took a sip of the bitter gin. "He has a weird saviour complex going on. If it were up to him, none of us would participate in this fight. He'd rather take care of it himself."

My eyes widened.

Thomas glanced at me, "What?"

I jumped off the stool, "Oh, my God. He's going to go alone."

"What?" Thomas stood up as well. "Are you sure?"

I called William and pressed the phone against my ear, "He's going to try to kill Vilmus alone, without any of us intervening."

"Fuck." Thomas cursed. "Idiot!"

"Hello?" William answered.

"Where is Ian?" I asked and stormed to the door.

"He went to get more weapons." I could hear confusion in William's voice. "What's wrong?"

I pushed the door open and ran down the hallway to the armoury, "He's going alone to fight Vilmus."

"What? Why would he do that?" William asked, I heard his footsteps echoing through the phone.

"Because he's a moron." I growled and opened the door to the armoury. "Where is Ian?"

Caiden, Angie, Sheila and Tina all looked at me.

"We didn't see him." Sheila said.

I slapped the steel door, "Fuck!"