“You’re not in on this?” she asked.

“Me?” He shook his head. “I’m a grunt. Nobody’s going to listen to me.”

“I thought you did a good job protecting the compound in California.”

“Except the little mistake about missing the Greek agent who was living right next door to you?”

“Well…” She shrugged. “Nobody’s perfect.”

“I’m surprised Katya didn’t have my head for that one,” he muttered. “It was a mistake to not do a deeper background check.”

“What’s done is done.”

He paused. “Are you really okay? I know you didn’t want this. Natalie would tell you I’ve been in a mood for months now worrying about you.”

Makeda took a long breath. “I never would have chosen this,” she said. “And if I hadn’t…” She watched Lucien. “I would have missed him. Missed all of it. So… maybe I need to be thanking my dear friend Philip after all.”

“That would be easier if he wasn’t crab food.”

She sniffed. “I can’t find it in my heart to be sorry about that.”

He nudged her with an elbow. “You’re going to make an excellent vampire.”

“Once I get the hang of it?”

“You’re already most of the way there.”

She turned back to watch the arguing immortals. “How is Katya?”

“Treating your family with kid gloves at the moment. I’d expect that to continue. Nobody wants to piss off Lucien and his mom right now.”

“Has she heard about the Elixir treatments?”

Baojia tried to hide his smile but he couldn’t. “Everyone in the world heard about the Elixir treatment even before it started to work. So yes, she’s heard about it. And no, she’s not happy.”

“There’s no money in stem cell therapy.”

“No. But the fact that you didn’t cure it is soothing the pain.”

She frowned. “What?”

“Testing kits, Mak. People are still ordering testing kits. Until this virus is completely dead, they’ll be ordering a lot of them, and Katya’s the only one that has them. So while curing the virus might have been the goal… maybe just detecting it will pay the bills better.”

Makeda shook her head. “Leave it to Katya to find a way to make money off of failure.”

“Not failure,” Baojia said. “Not even close.”

Lucien met with “the B-Team,” as Baojia had jokingly started to refer to them, after the meeting. Carwyn, Brigid, and Tenzin joined them in Lucien and Makeda’s room again.

“We’re splitting into two teams,” Lucien said. “The main group—with the four ancients, Makeda, and me—will be taking out Alitea with Kato’s new army.”

Tenzin said. “And us?”

“The plants,” Brigid said. “All the factories. They want us to take out the plants making Elixir, don’t they?”

“It’s possible Laskaris has already begun to move his production, but I don’t think so. He’s too arrogant, and Ziri said his informants report Livia’s original plants are still going.”

Carwyn said, “Fleeing would make him appear weak. He can’t do that and retain any of his allies. Not to mention the other members of the council.”

Baojia raised a hand. “Problem.”

“Yes?”

“Do we know if Elixir can be weaponized?”

No one had an answer.

Lucien said, “I don’t think so, but…”

Makeda immediately saw the issue. “If it can, we need to make sure anyone going in is safe. Baojia, Lucien, and I have living sires. Carwyn, Brigid, and Tenzin?”

“I do,” Brigid said. “Carwyn, you’re out.”

“I can—”

“Forget it,” Lucien said. “Brigid’s right. If we need an earth vampire, I’ll go in and you can take my place with Kato and Saba.”

Carwyn sulked. “Fine.”

“Tenzin,” Lucien asked, “what are you thinking?”

“I’ll risk it.” She did a somersault in the air. “I’m a little curious if I can catch it, to be honest.”

“Let’s not make a game of it, shall we?” Lucien looked at Makeda. “I want you to stay with Carwyn and the ancients.”

She was shocked. And a little offended. “What? Why? If you’re going to the plants—”

“Then there will be at least one of us there to make sure we’ve taken everything out,” he said. “But I want you with Kato and Carwyn. Not only can they protect you, but there will likely be far more humans at the plants than on Alitea.”

“That’s true,” Tenzin said. “Hunting is always done off the island. There are very few humans there.”

“You’ll be more focused if you stay with the others,” Lucien said. “And I trust Carwyn to watch out for you.”

“But—”

“Makeda, this is the best option.” He turned and handed a printout to Brigid. “These are the blueprints I have. Do you think we can find anything better?”

Carwyn held out his arm to Makeda, who was still standing behind Lucien, gaping at him.

“Hello,” he said. “My name is Carwyn ap Bryn, and I’ll be your earth vampire for the battle.”