THE UNDYING | TWILIGHT

28. Sundown

"Thank you," replied Santiago as he graciously accepted her gift, and then he slipped out the back door and kept to the alleyways, as all vampires knew to do. Upon reaching the nearest manhole, he lifted the cover and dropped into the sewers, where he would continue his passage in secrecy.

✧ ✧ ✧

Beneath the city hall, Felix and Demetri had gathered all the lesser guards into the great hall in order to prepare them for the night's battle. While the high-ranking guards defended the city hall, everyone else would be on the front lines, facing the beasts head-on. They would be the first line of defense, whether they liked it or not.

Felix stood atop the dais with Demetri at his side. "What do you know about werewolves?" he asked the group of them. "And please don't just regurgitate what you've seen in movies."

His question was first met with silence as all the guards glanced about with uncertainty. Then one member hesitantly answered, "They only transform during the full moon?"

Felix nodded. "Yes, their transformation cycle is linked to the lunar cycle. It begins during the new moon. At this time, the infected begin to exhibit extreme strength and aggression as their bodies prepare for the transformation. Now, the transformation itself only lasts for a few hours, but during that time they will be at their strongest and most dangerous. Imagine the strength of a newborn vampire and amplify that by ten. That's what we'll be up against tonight."

Demetri stepped forward then and took over. "The end of the full moon, however, marks a period of great vulnerability for them. At this time, their instincts will compel them to seek shelter, to go into a state of hibernation, essentially, until the next new moon. This part of the cycle is also known as the sickness cycle for newly infected werewolves."

"We don't need a biology lesson," interrupted Antony with a smug smirk. "I only need to know one thing: how do I kill it?"

"You don't kill it," answered Caius in a booming voice as he emerged from the eastern doorway. All the guards fell silent in his presence. "You can't kill it, not during the full moon at least. Their strength is too great. But that should be the least of your concerns. The Children of the Moon carry venom in their teeth and claws, a venom which is extremely lethal to us. All it takes is a scratch—one single scratch—and you're infected."

At that, twenty jaws dropped, including Antony's.

"Tonight," Caius went on, "you have only one objective: prevent the infection from spreading. Most of you, I suspect, won't survive the night. But you will fight, regardless. You will protect the city and the coven because that is your job."

Before taking his leave, Caius conveyed one last very important piece of information. "If any of you are thinking about fleeing and saving yourselves, consider this: all deserters will be executed."

✧ ✧ ✧

Dahlia blinked in the darkness, her deep brown eyes boring a hole through the front door of her apartment. She was waiting for something: a knock, a phone call, anything, but after two days, she had yet to receive even the briefest word about Santiago's condition. They wouldn't even tell her what had happened to him.

When she arrived at work yesterday, Heidi had sent her home, told her she had the next two days off, but she wouldn't say why.

"Heidi, what's happening?" Dahlia had sked. "What happened to Santiago?"

As soon as those words left her mouth, Heidi firmly clamped her hand over the girl's lips and hissed, "Nothing happened. He's fine, okay? If you so much as whisper his name again, I'm going to rip out your tongue. Understand?"