“We were about to think up a plan for getting inside without being placed in a coma when you two showed up.” I eyed Knox and his friend suspiciously. “How long have you been here?” Neither demon answered. “See, I’m thinking you guys watched and waited until the vampires inside were vulnerable. And I think you did it for two reasons. One, it saved you some time and energy. Two, it meant there weren’t many people to interfere with your plans.”

Knox’s mouth kicked up in one corner. “You should have been a demon, Miss Sanchez. You think like one.”

Salem sighed. “We get that you want vengeance, but if you do anything –”

“It could begin a war between our species and yours,” finished Knox, seeming unconcerned. “What you fail to understand is that we’re demons; demons always get even. Do we like war? Not really.” He actually sounded bored by the prospect. “We have better things to do than fight people we have no issue with, so it will be a shame if our species go to war with each other. But demons never let a wrong go unpunished.”

“Speaking of ‘wrong’,” I began, “it was shitty of you to psychically ‘tap’ one of our legion so you knew what he knew.” Ryder had found the evidence of demon interference a few hours ago; the legion member had been devastated to find he’d been involuntarily leaking information.

Knox simply shrugged. “I told you that we demons have our ways of getting information.” At Salem’s growl, he added, “We aren’t here for you. But if any of you or your other vampires attack us, we’ll retaliate.”

“They’re not really in a position to attack you,” I pointed out. “They’re unconscious.”

Knox’s friend, who I recognised from the hotel – if I was right, he’d been one of the doormen – peered inside the window. “How did that happen?”

“One of the vampires with Diane seems to have the power to release a powerful psychic blast. As if that doesn’t give us enough of a problem, another of the vampires can create a psychic shield – that shield is currently surrounding all six of those asshole vampires that are awake.”

“That won’t be a problem for us,” stated Knox, totally confident.

I frowned. “Why?”

He shrugged. “It just won’t.”

“Will you all shush,” said Max, his eyes on what was going on inside the warehouse. “I’m trying to listen here. Coach seems to be doing her best to buy us some time so the nest can get to safety.”

I peered through the window and watched as Diane went to stand before Sam, Imani, and a still unconscious Jared. In the background, Giles was exchanging smirks of triumph with the four Pagoris behind him.

“It’s disappointing how easy it was to bring you down.” Diane studied Sam from head to toe. “You’re smaller than I expected. I must say, the females were a surprise. I take it these are from the brothel and they’ve come for their revenge.” It pissed me off that her victims were so insignificant to her that she wouldn’t even recognise one if they stood right before her.

“A little like you, you mean?” asked Sam. “That’s what the brothel was all about, wasn’t it? Buying the girls, forcing them to work at your brothel, blackmailing the clients…It was about getting revenge on men like those who forced you to do the very same thing once-upon-a-time.”

Diane licked her teeth, as if savouring the idea of biting into Sam’s throat and tearing it out. Apparently she didn’t like to be reminded of her past. Not that I could blame her. “Someone did their homework, I see,” she said with a sneer. “Well, so did I, little hybrid. I learned much about you. About your first years as a vampire. About the rumour that you killed your own Sire.”

“Good for you.” Sam sounded bored.

“Your nest was a well of information. Especially the new leader. He didn’t want to talk at first, but Fritz” – she flicked a smile at one of the Pagoris – “persuaded him to answer our questions.” If I hadn’t seen for myself that Cristiano hadn’t been beaten, I’d be panicking right now.

Imani leaned into Sam. “I once had a dog called Fritz.”

Brows raised, Sam looked at Imani. “Yeah? What breed was he?”

“I’m sure you have bigger things to worry about than pets,” Diane ground out.

“Of course,” placated Sam. “Do continue. Or is this the part where you’re hoping to kill us? I say ‘hoping’, because it would be a delusional idea.”

Giles snickered. “You say that…yet here you are, without the protection of your squad.” Yes, it was easy to look all smug and brave when he had four guards at his back.

“You cannot attack us from inside your shield,” Diane said to Sam. “I learned that from the new leader of your nest.” I doubted that Cristiano had told her a single thing about Sam. Considering how many assignments Sam had been on, it would be easy to find out about her gifts. I wondered if Diane was hoping that mentioning the nest would prod Sam into asking when Diane had spoken to them so that she could then smugly reveal that she had them in her possession.

“Yeah, I believe you already mentioned that you’d spoken with him. I’m tired of that subject now. How about we discuss your surrender instead?”

A loud laugh burst out of Giles. “And why would we surrender?”

“Because you’ll die if you don’t.” It was said with such certainty that both Giles and Diane’s confidence seemed to falter. But only for a moment.

“You can’t hurt us from inside your shield,” Diane maintained.

It was true that Sam couldn’t, but I was betting that Imani could. While Diane and her crew were psychically shielded, however, Imani couldn’t harm them with her gift.

“Your back-up has been disabled,” continued Diane. “You have only your friend here.”

Sam cocked her head. “You don’t think the vampires in this building were the only back-up I brought along, do you?”

“No, which is why I have some back-up of my own.”

“Oh, you mean the vampires you sporadically placed around the warehouse? The marksmen? Yeah, they’re dead.”

Diane’s eyes narrowed. “You lie.”