"Thompson was always sneaky, Lily," Bill said, his voice sympathetic. "Who we saw could've been a son we never knew about."
Lily moved her head side to side. The haunted look in her face broke James' heart. Thompson was her boogeyman. He'd stole her humanity, forcing her to become a lycanthrope. If that wasn't bad enough, Xavier twisted her into the hybrid, a new kind of monster. She had found some peace with his death, but now he'd stolen even that.
"I know he looked younger," Lily said, her tone soft and breathy. It was almost like if she spoke quiet enough, it wouldn't be real. "But I know it was him, James. His scent may have changed, but I can still recognize it! I killed him... I made sure he was dead! I swear it!"
James pulled her into a hug as he said, "I know you did, Lily. It's going to be okay. We'll find out what's going on."
"No, James, it's not! Xavier is alive, and he has Tristen! He has her, and he's going to make her like me," she said, her voice cracking as she started to cry. "She can't be like me! She can't! She has to be normal! She has to go back to her life! She can't..." Lily started to sob harder.
James held onto her tighter, while Bill looked worried. "Xavier isn't going to change her until he's sure it'll be all work. You know how he is," he told her, jutting his chin towards the hotel as a sign for Bill and Donovan to leave. They needed to talk to Nick, and he could help Lily better if there weren't an audience. "We're going to stop him this time," he told her softly. "You and me, together. We'll make sure Tristen can go back home, being as human as she came to us."
"You don't know that," Lily said, sounding more petulant that sad now.
It made James laugh, and he gave her one final squeeze before letting her go. "You're right I don't, but I know we're going to try our damndest. I also know, that bastard isn't going to know what hit him. We took him down once, and we weren't even united then. Now that you and I are working together, he doesn't have a prayer," he told her.
Lily sniffed and nodded as she wiped at her face. "You're right and I'm stupid," she said harshly.
"I wouldn't go that far," James said then grunted when Lily gave him a soft punch to the gut.
"Don't be a pansy, James. I was stupid," she scolded but gave him a smirk. "Let's go see how Nick takes the news."
Nick didn't take the news much better than Lily and immediately put an enforcer to shadow Wendy. James didn't think Xavier would go after Wendy, though.
"I say we just go in like originally planned," Lily said, cracking her knuckles. "I put him in the ground once! I can do it again, happily."
"You need to be careful, Lily," Bill warned her. "I've read the reports on how you... how he died. If he's back, we need to find out how first."
"Could someone have turned him?" Donovan offered.
Bill shook his head. "No, I don't think so. He was a lycan, and not a very strong one at that," he explained. "And you don't get younger when you're turned either. There is something fouler at work here."
"I don't care what he's done," Lily all but growled at him. "We need to make our move tonight. Zander is there with him now. He can only filter our information for so long until he is at risk. If Xavier discovers his connection with Tristen, then he'll be in as much danger as she is. Xavier loves his biblical themes, especially the Adam and Eve ones. Zander is expecting us to be there tonight!"
"Which is why I didn't want to let him go," Bill snapped back, rubbing his face and looking dog tired.
Lily started to snap something back at him when Nick held up a hand. "Good or bad, Zander is there. We'll see what information he can get to us before nightfall, and when Lord Etienne awakes we'll adjust the plan as needed," he told them. "Until then, I suggest everyone tries to get some sleep. Especially you, Lily. You look like you're ready to fall over."
"He's right," James told her before she could argue. "Come on, you need it and before you know it, it'll be time to move out."
"Fine," she grumbled, and James nodded to everyone before leading her out of the room towards their own. "Just you wait and see, James. I'm going to make him sorry!"
"I know you will," he told her, giving her a kiss on the cheek.
Lily groaned as James woke her up. She was still tired, but then she sat up quickly when she realized why he might be waking her up. Surprised, he stumbled back a few steps.
"Holy hell, warn a guy next time," he said, placing a hand over his heart. "About scared the crap out of me woman!"
Lily couldn't help a grin. "Holy hell? Isn't that contradictory?"
"You went from sleeping to sitting up in my face in like less than a nanosecond. I think that gives me some leeway on being contradictory or not," he shot back and let out a breath.
"So what's up? Is it time," Lily asked eagerly, rubbing her face still numb from sleep. She couldn't even believe she fell asleep in the first place.
"Yeah, Lord Etienne is spoken with the others. Zander sent Wendy a text with the basic lay out and the numbers they have," James replied, shaking his head as he pats his chest where his heart was.
"Oh quit over reacting," Lily scolded him with a dismissive wave and got up.
James gave her a bright grin and held open the door. "You look a lot better now that you've got some sleep," he told her then grabbed her arm as she was about to leave. "We're going to get him. Tristen's going to be alright."
Lily returned his smile and gave him a kiss on his chin. "Thanks and I know."
The plan was a simple one, surround the house and close in like a hangman's noose. Much like the first attack against Thompson's compound all those years ago there were going to be four teams. Except this time, Lily, James, Dorin, Nick, and Lord Etienne would all be on the frontal attack team. Donovan would lead the West team, Bonnie was leading the North team, and Bill was on the east team.
"I thought you said you killed Thompson," Lord Etienne asked as they walked.
"I did," Lily replied, her voice bitter sharp. "I don't know how the bastard survived. He looked like hamburger meat when I was finished with him."
"Well, this is certainly unsettling then," the vampire replied.
"You don't think?" James shot back.
"Can you all try to be quiet so that we can have at least some chance of surprise," Dorin shot back.
"Well, he told you," Lily told Lord Etienne.
The vampire lord gave her a charming yet kind of scary smile. "So he did. I suggest we take his advice, though."
They walked the rest of the way but when Lily heard Tristen's cry she started running, ignoring Dorin's demands she stops and slows down. At the edge of the tree line, she saw Xavier hold Tristen. His face filled with cold satisfaction. "Did you really think it was going to be that easy," Xavier hissed in Tristen's ear holding her prisoner against him.