Chapter 128: Chapter 128

As Violet arranged everything, Ryder left the house and waited outside in the driveway. He called Edgar and asked the entire clan to meet him, to which they agreed. As he waited for them to arrive, he leaned against his car and gazed at the dark sky. The temperatures had dropped since the sun had set—Elena would have been cold had she been here with him, and he would have lent her his jacket as he usually did.

She never left his thoughts, even when they were separated. Although she was not a vampire, he had grown accustomed to the different needs her body had. Perhaps her being less resilient had increased his protectiveness of her. He couldn’t stand the thought of Elena being held in a dark and cold place where he couldn’t provide any kind of comfort to her. A sigh escaped him. He stared at the pebbles on the ground and wondered how all of this would end. It was clear he needed as much help as he could get to take on Louis, Jacob, and the rest of the clan. Therefore, he was relieved about Violet’s willingness to work together.

Ryder knew he couldn’t do this alone. He was losing his strength and wouldn’t accomplish much in a fight. Every day that passed without drinking blood took a toll on him. He tried not to show it in front of his clan members so as not to unsettle them, but it was difficult. Sometimes his hands began to shake without warning, and his vision blurred momentarily, making him falter—typical symptoms of blood deprivation. It would only get worse from here on, and he wasn’t looking forward to it. The burning in his throat was a constant distraction, and his desperate need for blood hindered him since he should be focusing on finding Elena instead.

“Damn it,” he uttered. “I just need another day. Just a bit more.”

His red irises gazed at his hands, took note of how transparent his skin looked. At the moment, he wasn’t even able to run at vampire speed, much less defeat another of his kind. How should he protect his soulmate at this rate? Ryder was torn from his thoughts when his ears picked up a familiar noise. His head snapped around just in time to see nine of his clan members arriving at the gate. They approached him, Edgar’s worried expression standing out.

Instead of greeting him, he cut to the chase. “Do you have news for us?”

Ryder took a breath and told them about the progress he made. He explained Violet’s plan and what Louis’s goal was. Naturally, the other vampires were enraged by what they heard—especially those who were close to Elena.

“They want to kill one of our clan members,” Chump growled. “They’re begging for trouble, and we won’t disappoint.”

“It’ll cost them a lot to make up for this,” Helen agreed. “We could start by taking their lives.” Though the vampire never shared such violent ideas, none of the remaining clan members was bothered by it. Not even her soulmate Edgar, who wholeheartedly agreed with the sentiment.

“Violet permitted to use any means necessary to stop them,” Ryder added.

“How much longer do we have to wait, then? Where’s this bastard hiding, hah?” Chump yelled.

Ryder’s eyes drifted to the mansion’s vine-covered façade. “She is about to find out—it’s only a matter of hours, maybe minutes if we’re lucky. That’s why I asked you to come quickly.”

“You’re running out of time, aren’t you?” Dorian commented quietly and directed everyone’s attention to Ryder’s pale complexion.

The vampire crossed his arms and scoffed. “I’m okay. Waiting for one more day won’t make a difference.”

Edgar shared a look with Clitus, Thorny, and Chump—no words were needed to know what all of them were thinking. Their friend was lying. He showed all of the early signs of starvation. Not only was he worryingly pale, but his senses had dulled, and he no longer relied on his vampiric speed—he was the only one of them who had come here by car. There was no way he could hide his condition from his closest friends. However, none of them mentioned his obvious lie. There was no need to start a meaningless argument when he wasn’t feeling well.

“Since Ms. Violet’s plan sounds promising, I doubt we will need another day, Ryder,” Edgar replied with a calming smile. “You’ll reunite with Elena soon, and then everything will be okay. It’s great you involved the leader of the council in this; otherwise, we would have never found out who Louis is and why he wants the Stone.”

Not long after Edgar spoke these words, the garden in front of the house was lit up by the headlights of a car. The council members Declan, Harry, and Violet arrived, all dressed in black from head to toe. Their attire revealed their intentions—they were prepared for a fight. Minutes later, more and more vampires arrived at the council’s headquarters. Ryder wasn’t familiar with all of them, but he knew they were either council members or belonged to one of New York’s resident clans. Violet must have called her most trusted allies, which could only mean one thing—she was setting her plan into motion.

About thirty vampires were gathered in the driveway, silently conversing about the situation. What Ryder understood from listening to them was that they didn’t know the whole story. Violet had left out the most important detail: the Philosopher’s Stone. Only a few people knew the truth. It was the best way to handle this. Ryder would personally destroy the scroll for the ritual when he got his hands on it.

The crowd fell silent once the heavy wooden doors of the mansion opened and Violet stepped outside. The grim lines on her forehead revealed a fraction of her inner turmoil as she turned to the crowd. Stopping on the stone stairs, she had an important message to share.

“Thank you all for coming here so quickly. I appreciate your loyalty and your resolve. As you know, Louis has been a menace to the council. We expelled him many decades ago after he attempted to assassinate the former leader of the council. He disappeared and made us believe we won, but behind our backs, he started plotting his revenge. He revealed his true colors when he ordered his clan go on a killing spree in New York, almost revealing our existence to the human population.

There is no excuse for such actions—he and his clan disregarded the most important of our laws, and for that, they need to be punished. The time has come to stop Louis once and for all,” she announced. Her voice dropped, became colder than ice. “I was able to narrow down the area where he is hiding—mark my words, we will find him by daybreak.”