I thought he was showing he wouldn’t really push, which was a relief… Until he unlocked the door and Moon instantly opened it.
“We got them all,” he informed me. “How do you want to handle this?”
I mentally sighed and walked out of the room. So much for not pushing.
And I was out of patience for any other bullshit with assholes or the Texas settlement. I gave orders and ignored the wide eyes as they put together I was pulling back the curtain.
Damn right I was.
It took less than two hours to get everything I’d said ready. Once we got the word it was all good, we blurred down there out of sight of the settlement and loaded into vehicles.
And yes, I enjoyed how sick it made Donny and his friends. They were restrained and gagged and seconds from tossing their cookies. I wasn’t the only one who enjoyed that either.
We arrived at the settlement, and I got out and addressed the guys guarding the entrance. “I’m calling a group meeting. I know you can’t just bring over a million people to the fence, but I want you to call whoever you can. Whoever is interested in coming with us, wants our help, or out of this settlement.”
“Um, that isn’t the orders Chris gave,” he told me.
“Yeah, well, we had a slight issue with a posse from this place, so now I’m laying down how things will be. I doubt Chris will disagree but I want him here too.” Well, I wanted him there so we could get him the fuck out for good. I knew he’d gone back to handle some shit and start getting the list of good people he wanted to get help, but Tyson was a mess that he was in there and the place was a powder keg.
I was done with that shit too.
It didn’t actually take all that long for a huge group to gather since people were expecting us to come pick up the next load with the buses, and that normally meant some supplies came back. They pulled up, along with the several semis I’d ordered to arrive so we had visual aids.
When I saw we had at least ten thousand, I decided to get started. “Disarm them so we don’t have any accidents.”
People gasped when several of the old vampires who’d come with me suddenly weren’t standing there anymore. There were exclamations of shock, and then they came back with all the guns the guys on duty had been holding.
“Holy fuck,” someone whispered, several others echoing them.
“Make a hole,” Chris shouted. People moved out of the way, and his eyes went wide when he saw me and our guys with their weapons. “We didn’t expect you.”
“Yeah, and we didn’t expect Donny and his posse to make their way up to Albuquerque.” I waved to some of the shifters and they dragged out the humans. “Apparently, the plan was to abduct me and my husbands, tell me they were hostages so I was a weak woman and caved to his demands, but really he was going to kill them.”
“And force you to admit you were wrong and sinful, your marriages were a sham, and you realized your true place after Donny educated you in the truth, the real way of things,” Moon drawled.
I slowly turned to look at him, not even hiding my shock. “Well fuck, I missed that part.” I walked right over to Donny and kicked him in the nuts. “Fuck you, asshole. You were talking kidnapping, extortion, murder, and a whole list of sins.”
“We came to check on our people,” Donny lied, getting the gag out of his mouth. “And you and your goons attacked us. Did something to us. You drugged us or—”
“No we didn’t,” I grumbled, sticking the gag back in his mouth. I didn’t want to hear anymore of his drivel. “So, his bullshit story is he came to check on the people of the settlement we’re helping after we said he wasn’t allowed in our territory, and he brought a bunch of friends.”
“And weapons,” Cerdic added, bringing out the bag of them and tossing it down. “They didn’t come on the buses, so they took a vehicle from here?”
Chris nodded. “We realized they were gone not long ago and took a few of the trucks. They lied and said they were doing some hunting I approved of, but—”
“But, you’ve got someone disloyal on that watch as you guys aren’t stupid to have survived this long,” I interjected. “You would check orders and make sure, not just open the doors now. So, this place is seriously about to blow.” I shook my head. “I’m done with this shit.”
“Wait, please, don’t deny us help because of Donny,” a woman called out.
“I’m not, I’m simply done pretending I’m human,” I replied, letting my fangs come out. I ignored the gasps and exclamations and gestured to the others. “None of us are human. That’s how we’ve survived. That’s how we can kill corrupted like you can’t.” I smirked at Donny’s pale face. “And that’s why your plan was truly stupid.” I pulled the gun from my holster and pointed it at Vitor.
But I couldn’t pull the trigger. I knew we needed to do this and I knew he said it would be fine, but I couldn’t shoot my guard.
I must have muttered that because Cerdic chuckled, taking the gun from me. “I can. Did you eat the last of the gelato I had labeled in the freezer that I was planning to have as a midnight snack with Inez?”
Vitor shrugged. “I was peckish.”
More like jealous. Wow.
Cerdic shot him in the stomach from not even twenty feet away, the noise loud and
