Chapter Ninety-Five

[Damien]

"Will you men bring chairs down, please?" Octavia asked, pointing to us then motioning towards the upstairs. I nodded and followed Kerr upstairs and into the storage room where Octavia had a long table, made out of a beautiful wood I didn't quite know the name for, with about twelve padded armchairs sitting around it. Sinclair and Kerr picked up the table, while Sam, Richard, Bartholomew, and I carried the chairs back down to the basement.

After bringing the chairs down and setting them at the table, I pulled Bast into my arms, making her jump with a start as she hadn't heard me coming up from behind her.

"Oh, hi babe," She giggled, tilting her head back to smile at me, until Ciaran started crying, begging for attention.

*'Hmm, he will be a mommy's boy, alright. He cannot stand not being the center of attention.'* I thought as I pinched his cheek softly, smiling as he stopped crying. "It's time to sleep now, my son, for we've things to discuss," I mumbled to him as I took him in my arms, rocking back and forth softly.

"You cannot tell a child to sleep, Lucifer, that is not how children work," Sinclair commented, shaking his head as he brought their carriers over to Bast and me.

"Yet he listened," I chuckled as I set Ciaran in his carrier, showing Sinclair that he had, indeed, fallen asleep. Sinclair raised an eyebrow when he saw this, then turned around and walked towards the table.

"Octavia, how far is the elementals kingdom from here?" Sinclair asked as he pulled out a chair for Hanna, motioning for her to sit.

"A few hundred miles, so it's not far. When I thought it would be just me and my pack, I was planning on scoping a place to camp for the night, so we'd be well-rested before the fight. But now that there are so many of us, we will have to find a bigger place where we can hike tents." Octavia responded as she took her seat at the head of the table, where I sat to her right, and Sinclair sat to her left.

"Why would we need to hike tents? It's mimics, recreants, and vampires. You mimics can sleep in your forms, and we don't sleep." Bartholomew asked, then seemed to remember Bast as she sat down next to me, glancing back at Samantha who was watching them by the riverbank. "Well, that's one tent that needs to be hiked. Is the other human coming with?"

*'They are fine, my love. You are an amazing mother, but you worry too much about them.'* I thought as I watched her, but said nothing, as I felt she would be offended if I did.

"Samantha? No, she will not be going." Sam growled, shaking his head vigorously, his blue eyes clouded over in anger.

"You can't make that decision for me! What if I want to go?" Samantha gasped from the riverbank as she glared at Sam, her big brown eyes nearly black as she waited for his response.

"And just what do you think you'll do? Other than be in the way of the useful ones?" Sam spat back, raising an eyebrow.

*'You wish to be single, Alastair? By god, man.'*

"So I'm not useful now? Okay, cool." Samantha said with a nod, then turned her attention back to the babies, despite the fact that they were sound asleep, and didn't require her direct attention.

"I see you enjoy being single, Sam. Should I stay away from my home tonight, if I wish to have any peace?" Sinclair laughed softly, shaking his head before glancing at Samantha.

"Looks like you'll have your turn, Sinclair," I mumbled so only those at the table could hear me, causing Sam's eyes to flash blood red as he glared at Sinclair.

"My turn? I'm not interested in the human," Sinclair responded, furrowing his brows in confusion as he leaned back in his chair, and looked to his left where Hanna sat.

"It seemed as if you were before she and Sam started dating," Bartholomew commented. "Weren't Lucifer and Sam laughing at you for it? You didn't correct them when they did."

"A recreant, wanting to date a human? That's insanity." Kerr said, shaking his head.

"If he'd had his way, Bastet would be his now," Sam said, keeping his red eyes trained on Sinclair as he spoke.

"Why are we talking about this? Aren't we supposed to be talking about the fight?" Octavia suddenly said with a loud exasperated sigh, then threw her hands up in a sign of defeat.

"Yes, sorry. About the camping situation. The recreant forces can pull at least one hundred, likely more if need be. How many do you have in your forces?" Sinclair asked.

"I have about one hundred and fifty in my fighting force, but even if we overanalyze how many we need, I'd rather have too many than too few. A retreat is not something I will allow. My father will know of a pending fight, and he'll have the chance to recuperate. We cannot allow that to happen." Octavia responded, then smiled softly at Bast. "I apologize, I meant our father. Not mine."

"I see. Yes, I believe you are correct. Hanna, at Lucifer's house you said you knew of many throughout the world? How many do you think we cool pool to fight?" Sinclair asked.

"Asking a recreant if they would like to join a fight, is like asking a vampire if they like to feed. I do not know the exact number, as many groups were secretive in fear of being found out. I believe about the same as the alpha's numbers, possibly more or less. You can count on the first hundred. Though, mimic alpha, that is something else we will need to think about when looking for a place to camp. All of the vampires and recreants will fight their best after a fresh feed." Hanna responded, leaning forward in her seat so she could look at Octavia while she spoke.

*'To have achieved so much in her twenty-four years of age, I don't think she realizes just how awe strikingly amazing that is.'* I thought as I turned my attention to Octavia, watching her reactions as Hanna spoke. I could tell she didn't like the idea of the vampires and recreants needing to feed before the fight. *'When you consider the number of vampires and recreants, a minimum of two hundred human lives will need to be taken, and that's only if the recreants limit themselves to one. Though that is a lot of humans to be killed at once, and I can understand her horror.'*

"I own a hospital. We can clean out the blood bank if need be. Killing hundreds of humans before the fight is not a good way to go by unnoticed." I chimed in before Octavia had the chance to say anything. I could instantaneously see the relief in her eyes when I offered my solution.

"Bagged blood? I understand that it is still blood, but it may not be enough. Owning a hospital is useful to be sure, but even if we drank your refrigerated blood, will it truly ready us?" Richard asked, raising an eyebrow at me, his upper lip twitching in disgust.

"For weeks I drank only reheated blood. This may be due to the decades of having nothing, but it helped me. I had one cup and I was returned to my fighting strengths." Sinclair said, holding up his hand to silence Richard before he could try to argue. "Lucifer is correct. We cannot kill hundreds of humans, for the elementals will surely stand on the offense if they caught wind of it. How much do you think you could gather, Lucifer?"

I thought about this for a few moments before responding, recalling the number of donations the hospital received every month. "A few hundred, to be sure. If I pull one hundred fighters, and you do the same for the recreants, I should have no problem pulling at least two per."

"Hypothetically, how many fighters do you think you could gather?" Kerr asked me.

"I suppose that depends on whether I give a choice or not. Without demanding them to, I would say without a doubt at least two hundred. But if I ordered it, thousands."

"There are thousands of vampires?" Bast asked me, shaking her head softly in disbelief.

"Yes, we've our numbers scattered throughout the world," Sam said with a nod, then chuckled softly. "When you think about how big the world is, thousands are not as vast as you may thing. Especially when compared to the number of humans."

"Yeah, you're right. That makes it sound slightly better." Bast said, nodding, before returning her attention to her hands on her lap.

"Are you alright, my love?" I asked softly, taking her hands in mine, looking down into her green eyes. I could tell there was something wrong, as there were clouds in her usually bright and clear eyes.

"Nothing, I'm just tired." She lied, shaking her head, before squeezing my hand softly.

*'I know you are lying, little one. But we are in a room full of people, so I can understand you not wanting to tell me just this second.'* I thought as I kissed the top of her head, then turned my attention back to Bartholomew who was speaking.

"I know the alpha will not need time to gather her forces, and Lucifer will need at least a few weeks as the vampires travel here. Sinclair and Hanna, I imagine you will be needing at least that same amount of time for your fighters to travel into the country?" Bartholomew asked.

"Yes, that should be correct," Sinclair said with a nod.

"I know you guys are having an important meeting, but I think I have an idea if you want to hear it?" Samantha said from the riverbank, drawing the attention of the table to her. When she saw that we all turned our attention to her, a furious blush spread through her cheeks. "I was just thinking, Octavia and Bast need to practice and train too. And since you're fighting elementals, what's better than training with two royals?"

"We are going to be training with them regardless, human," Richard responded with a chuckle.

"No, she means have Bast and Octavia use their abilities against us, as the elementals will be doing during the fight. That is what you meant, right?" Kerr asked, then nodded when Samantha agreed with him. "That is an amazing idea, and one we should have considered before."

"Ingenious. Thank you, Samantha." Sam said, smiling softly at her.

"Guess I'm not completely useless, am I?" Samantha retorted with a roll of her eyes, then turned her attention back to Ciaran who had woken up and was drinking a bottle.

*'Alastair you dumb fool. That girl is likely the one you could have made into your bride, yet you must pick these worthless fights? Absurd and idiotic.'* I thought as I looked down at Bast who was watching Samantha with Ciaran. *'Is this what's wrong? You're missing your children?'*

"Two humans in a matter of months, Sam? You've either no patience or no brain." Bartholomew laughed softly when he saw Samantha's response.

"The first was not of his doing, but with Samantha, I'd say it's pure idiocy," I responded, then looked at Octavia who was shaking her head, clearly upset that our conversation returned to Sam, rather than focusing on the things that were important. "Octavia, the arena you spoke of. Can it hold all of our forces, and withstand the force of you and Bast?"

"Yes, it should. Though, even if it cant, Bast and I can reinforce it. Jacob and Jaxson are coming downstairs now." She said, looking towards the door just before Jacob opened it, then looked around in shock.

"Your pack hasn't seen this room?" Hanna asked her curiously, noting the looks on Jaxson and Jacobs's faces as they walked towards the table.

"No. Before the more recent events, Kerr was the only one who'd seen it, and he was sworn to secrecy. The same goes for all of you."