“But how would anyone know?” Benedict leaned forward, bracing his forearms on the table. “Do you stop, too? Or just the people around you?”
A whoosh of sensation passed over me, and everything around us froze. I snapped my gaze back toward Olivia, whose head was thrown back mid-laugh. The soda Annika poured from a can never reached the glass, and even the lights of the cities underneath us ceased to twinkle.
“What the fuck?” I muttered as Benedict's jaw dropped.
“I freeze time however I want. To everyone outside this group,” he motioned to the circle we formed in the back of the plane, “time has stopped. We’re in the space between heartbeats. I can choose to expand that power to a point, or to limit it to just myself.”
“Wow.” Benedict blinked. “Alek is going to love you.”
“How do you think we caught up on your speech patterns so quickly?” Zachariah flashed a grin. “To you, we’ve only been awake for a couple of days, but Ajax has given us a considerable amount of time to adjust while you weren’t looking.”
“That’s incredible.” I’d never seen a power like his…hell, any power like any they held. They were all unique, all capable of great or terrible things, just like we all were.
“Can you?” I asked Zachariah, motioning toward Ajax.
“Hell no.” He shook his head. “I can only absorb the powers of the vampires I kill.”
“Plus, the fucker can’t kill me.” Ajax smirked. “He’s tried a few times over the centuries when I piss him off.” He winked, and time resumed its normal rhythm around us. Incredible.
Zachariah rolled his eyes. “Right. Why don’t you tell us what we’re up against in the defense of our new king?”
New. I couldn’t remember a time when Alek hadn’t been on the throne, and yet these vampires hadn’t so much as met him. They’d only served Alek’s father.
Each of the hunters leaned forward, but Saint shifted his weight and studied the others. He reminded me of Xavier—the demon king—in a way I couldn’t quite put my finger on. It was almost like there was a prowling menace just under his skin, like he hadn’t quite decided if he was going to use his powers for good…or to burn the world down just for the fun of it.
His twin, Samuel, nudged him with his shoulder, and Saint leaned in, leaving his hands under the table.
Hawke flipped his knife end over end, his attention locked onto Saint’s every move.
I gave them our latest news as we flew over Europe under the cover of night, heading for Edgemont. The enemy we were up against was formidable, their weapons evolving at a deadly pace, and we were right in the crosshairs of their sites.
“So instead of hunting bloodmad vampires, we’re supposed to believe you woke us to fight…humans?” Talon asked, cocking a brow.
“Humans with guns,” Hawke clarified. “Guns that fire night thistle bullets and can kill the strongest of us without us even seeing them.”
“Maybe you can’t see them.” He smirked, and an instant later, a giant fucking leopard sat in his seat, chuffing lightly, and glaring at us with Talon’s glacial blue eyes.
“Holy shit,” Benedict whispered.
“Talon, knock it off,” Zachariah lectured.
The leopard flashed, and Talon appeared in the chair like he’d never left it. “What?” he asked Zachariah with a shrug. “Humans have never been a threat.”
“Humans in large numbers have always been a threat,” Dagon clarified. “One vampire has never fared well against a horde of humans with a torch.” He ran his hand over his trimmed beard. The guy looked like he belonged at the head of a motorcycle club, and not on a private jet. Luka—the king of the lycans—would love him.
“Well, their torches move faster than we can wend,” Benedict stated. “And they couldn’t give a shit about innocents. The assholes attacked a school.”
“Younglings?” Samuel asked, his eyes widening, revealing a slightly red rim around his pupils. Bloodshot eyes were a clear sign of exhaustion.
The strain of watching after his twin must already be wearing on him.
“None killed, but all terrified,” I answered.
There was a grumble of anger from the Hunters.
The conversation broke into small groups, Benedict talking with Ajax and Talon while I answered questions from Zachariah and Dagon.
Only Samuel and Saint held themselves apart.
“Take a deep breath,” Samuel whispered to his twin.
I kept one ear on that conversation while listening to Dagon explain exactly how he wielded the power of the elements.
“I’m fine,” Saint growled. “Just…” He sighed hard enough that I felt it in my bones. “Just don’t go far.”
“I won’t leave you,” Samuel promised.
“That’s what you said last time, and look what happened,” Saint snapped.
“I failed you,” Samuel whispered. “Don’t you think I know that? This is a fresh start. A new time. A new world. We’re here with our brothers—”
“You need to rethink your priorities, brother,” Saint hissed. “You promised.”