She was right. Elyssa nodded and sucked in a deep breath to combat the flood of tears threatening to shatter her forced composure. She squeezed Bella's hand in gratitude and happiness.

Dad is alive. Justin has to be alive. And I'll save him.

"Maximus has heavy backing," Thomas said, "and he has numbers. Today we saw him attack with scroll casters, nearly a hundred untrained foot soldiers—ammo fodder, in truth.

"He's obviously built a coalition with malcontents from other Overworld factions," Thomas continued. "If we don't attack fast and finish him now, his army will be too large for one Templar legion, and we'll need to ask the Synod for reinforcements."

Christian Salazar stood. "May I have the floor, Commander?"

Thomas replied with a curt nod. "Of course, Commander."

The Colombian Templar faced the room. "Due to unforeseen circumstance, I altered our original plan to attack Maximus's main force. The original attack was scheduled over two weeks ago." His eyes held Elyssa's gaze for a moment.

She remembered. He'd ordered them to divert to capture a high value target. The target turned out to be Justin. Of course, she hadn't even remembered having a boyfriend at the time thanks to taking the White and having her memories of him wiped.

"We'd hoped to keep this conflict strictly non-lethal. It appears Maximus has other plans. We lost three good people in the fight today, and could have lost more if not for Templar Meghan Andretti and Adam Nosti supporting us with their arcane abilities." He gestured toward the couple where they sat near the front.

A loud "HOOAH!" went up from the gathered Templars. Meghan blushed. Adam was busy doing something on his arcphone. Probably programming in a new spell. The guy was gawky and a bit of a nerd, not to mention a conspiracy theorist, but he'd helped her and Justin out before and seemed like a good guy. Meghan, on the other hand, despised most spawn except for Justin. Somehow, her boyfriend had that effect on most people, winning them over despite their prejudices. Unfortunately, there were just as many people who wanted him dead.

"Where's Harry?" Bella asked.

Elyssa couldn't find him in the throng. Then again, he might still be off doing his own thing.

Christian continued. "Operation Staunch will be a two-pronged assault on Maximus's stronghold, located here." He activated an all-seeing eye on the table in front of him. A 3D holograph flickered on in the air above the table, showing an overhead view of the city. Elyssa felt a sudden sense of déjà vu, having seen an almost identical briefing not more than a week or so ago just before they diverted to capture Justin.

Christian continued the briefing, outlining how the attack would commence and calling on his two best infiltration squads to start the assault, followed by a clean-and-sweep from the main force.

"Our infil squads will take out sentries and surveillance with non-lethal force while the main force will surround the compound and contain any escape attempts. We have a high degree of confidence Maximus is on-site." Christian paused and looked around the room. "Any questions?"

A Templar near the front raised his hand. "What if we come under fire from scroll casters or other lethal attack?"

"Use the Lancers to knock out targets whenever possible. If you are under direct threat, lethal force is authorized."

A young woman stood up. "Sir, why are we going non-lethal?" Her fists clenched as she spoke. "They didn't show us any mercy, so why should we?"

Murmurs rose around the room and Elyssa saw quite a few nods of agreement at the Templar's questions.

"We deserve some payback," Fausta said, almost under her breath.

Elyssa agreed with the sentiment in some regards. Maximus didn't deserve to draw another breath. Neither did the scroll casters. But so many of those vampires were hardly her age and had probably been brainwashed or lured in by the romantic notions of being a vampire.

Christian motioned for the murmurs to cease and spoke. "I understand how you feel, Sallah," he said. "I lost a friend and a colleague today. But Maximus has convinced many of his newest followers that we're the evil ones, the ones who want to kill them. He's convinced them we're in league with the Red Syndicate, and want to destroy them. We have no way of countering his blatant lies, but we can fight clean."

From the murmurs in the room, it was clear many Templars didn't agree.

A pale man Elyssa hadn't noticed stood in the front of the room. "Commander, if I may?" His voice oozed with condescension.

Christian looked at the man for a moment before giving a curt nod.

"I am Luciano Pavarotti, special envoy from the Red Syndicate." He smiled, but it was a cold smile, devoid of any real emotion.

Fausta snickered. Elyssa didn't have time to ask her why before the vampire continued.

"My leaders are firmly against Maximus's rogue actions. But they have made it equally clear the Vampire Nation will not tolerate the deaths of innocent vampires who were lured into Blood Rush under false pretenses. The Red Syndicate recognizes all vampires as citizens of our great nation and regrets the loss of life the Templars suffered at the hands of a few isolated terrorists within Maximus's faction."

Sallah jerked to her feet. "A few isolated terrorists? We were swarmed by hundreds of Maximus's terrorists. If the Red Syndicate is so concerned, why haven't your leaders stepped in and stopped them? Why do we have to risk our lives to solve a vampire problem?"

"That will be quite enough," Thomas said, eyes stern.

Elyssa studied his gaze. She could tell he wasn't angry with the Templar, but Thomas set great store by keeping his people in line, no matter what.

Luciano gave Sallah a patronizing smile. "My leaders regret their lack of manpower to deal with the situation, but the Arcanes' unprovoked attack on the Vampire Academy has strained our resources. Once the Templars have taken care of Maximus, we will take control of the orphaned vampires."

Elyssa hadn't heard of an attack on the VA. Only a week or so ago, vampires had attacked the Dallas branch of the Ezzek Moore School for the Gifted and killed several children before the teachers could kill the attackers. The Arcanes blamed the Red Syndicate. Apparently, the Arcane Council had escalated the conflict. She had a suspicion Maximus's people were behind the attack, pinning the blame on the Reds so they'd be too busy to stop his recruitment efforts.

Adam Nosti, and Meghan with him, stared with open disdain at the vampire.

"This vampire is a liar," Bella said, her voice low and angry.

"About what?" Elyssa said.

"Unprovoked, he says? One of my friends lost a nephew in the attack on the Ezzek Moore School. He was so bright, and so very young." Bella dabbed at an eye.

"I'm sorry," Elyssa said.

"Please know that my leaders greatly appreciate all the Templars do to support the Overworld Conclave," Luciano said. "I am here to monitor the situation and report back once there is a resolution." The thin man smiled once again and took his seat.

Elyssa stood before Christian could open his mouth.

"You realize Maximus has a prisoner, right?" She cast a stern look at her father when she said it. "He has Justin. Is there a plan to get him safely out?"

Christian folded his hands behind his back. "We will rescue him if all goes to plan, Recruit Borathen. Unfortunately, we have no inside knowledge as to where Maximus is keeping him."

"Shouldn't we gather more intel before we strike?" She crossed her arms. "Why don't we commit our full force to an all-out assault instead of stealth? There are too many vampires to—"

Christian held up a hand to silence her. "A full frontal assault would not work for a number of reasons, recruit. I suggest everyone get some shuteye. The operation starts at high noon tomorrow. We're expecting a sunny day, and the vampires will be at their weakest then."

Elyssa ground her teeth. It was obvious nobody gave a crap about Justin's safety. Attempting to nullify Maximus with two squads wasn't going to work. Who knew how many vampires stood between the Templars and the leader of Blood Rush? Quite likely too many.

"This will work out, dear." Bella patted Elyssa's hand and smiled.

"Yeah right," Fausta said, standing. "They let Maximus build up and prepare for too long without a response. His activities demand an overwhelming Templar response, not this tip-toeing around."

"That's what I told them," said a familiar voice from the aisle.

Elyssa glanced right as she stood and saw the chiseled face of Beck Andrews grinning at her. "Told who?" she asked. "Yourself in the mirror?"

"Ha, very funny." He crossed his arms. "In case you hadn't noticed, I'm one of Christian's top advisors now. Your father recommended me for the position."

"Define 'top'," Fausta said with a smirk. "Because they obviously didn't listen to your attack plan."

"My father recommended you?" Elyssa felt her eyebrow arch in disbelief. "Payback for telling him about Vadaemos, right?" A group led by Justin had captured a wanted spawn criminal and taken him back to the United States to answer for his crimes. Justin had told her he'd done it to prove spawn weren't responsible for the Thunder Rock massacre all so he could gain her father's approval. Beck, however, had wanted credit for the capture and told her father prematurely. Her father had nearly killed Justin in a duel.

Beck looked away from her. "Sure, I guess that's part of it."

Elyssa got out of her seat and pushed past Beck, resisting, with great effort, the desire to shove him down the auditorium stairs.

"Where are you going?" Bella asked.

"To sleep."

Elyssa stepped out the door, and sensed a cold presence come up next to her.

"Elyssa Borathen," said the cool slithering voice of the vampire envoy, "I'd like a moment of your time." He had an Italian accent, though not as strong as Fausta's could be at times.