“You know...as far as negotiations go, this is not that bad. I think...” Katie raised her eyebrows as she wiped her shoes against Royce’s headless body. “So...now what?”

Cara took a deep breath and looked around the room. She and Katie were the only two beings alive in the chamber. Two vampire sentries laid dead at the door. The corpses of over a dozen vampire elders littered the floor. Many of these bodies were all over the place. A leg here. A head there. A sea of human and vampire blood coated the floor. And then there was the Dark Pantheon agent who Katie murdered in the most bloody way possible. 

The pair walked into the room with the intention of convincing the elders to join them. Now everyone is dead, especially the elders. Something told Katie the other Lances wouldn’t be too happy with all this…

“Hmmm…” Cara tapped her chin thoughtfully. They could just fight their way out, but that would only work to turn the Lance family against the Alliance. It wouldn’t look too good either to all the families still watching on the sidelines. Suddenly, she had an idea. One that would not only ensure the two of them could get out of all this mess unscathed, but also push the Lance family to the embrace of the Alliance.

“Do you think the vampires outside know about the deal the elders made with the New Factions?”

“Probably not.” Katie shrugged. She remembered what she saw on the way here. It was clear the foot soldiers in the family weren’t in on this. “If they did, at least some of them wouldn’t be content with this decision. We should’ve heard at least rumors about it.” 

“In that case…” The vampire turned to Katie. “How good are you at lying?”

At the same time, the squad of vampire sentries was still standing guard outside of the chamber. Like Katie suspected, they weren’t aware of the secret deals between the Lance elders and the Dark Pantheon. The elders had no intention of making their assassination of Katie and Cara obvious either, so they placed a concealment spell upon the chamber so that none of the fighting would alert the outside world. 

They did this so they could dispose of Cara and Katie easily, but this also resulted in the unfortunate result that all of them were ripped to pieces with their people outside not having the slightest idea. 

As the chamber door was pushed open, one of the sentries turned and glanced inside. Once he saw what was in the room, the man froze. For a second he thought he was hallucinating...somehow. 

“What’s wrong…” The other sentries frowned and looked inside as well. Soon, they were also staring at the site of the carnage in horror. 

“Oh god…” Another sentry found his mouth hanging open. Was it appropriate for a vampire to mention god? Probably not, but he didn't have time to think about it! The chamber they were tasked with securing was turned into a slaughterhouse, and not the type vampires liked! And the elders they were tasked to protect…

That was when Katie and Cara slowly made their way out of the room. The sentries drew their weapons and confronted them. They were the only outsiders in the chamber, and they were also the only ones alive. For a second, the sentries wondered if they should attack the women or if they should throw aside their weapons and swear their allegiance. Power to the strongest...right?

Thankfully, they didn't have to make this decision as of yet, because Katie held her hands up innocently and made a declaration. 

“Gather everyone. We have something to announce.” 

The guards exchanged confused looks, but some of them lowered their weapons. If Katie was indeed the assassin...which type of assassin would kill their targets and then summon their people? A few of them quickly dashed away to inform all the members of the Lance family as the others kept an eye on Katie. They were just sentries. Foot soldiers. They weren’t usually the decision-makers...although most of the decision-makers in the family were in that room. 

Either way, at the end of the day, Katie and Cara found themselves in a large underground room and facing hundreds of vampires. Old and young. Men and women. These were members of the Lance family that were close enough to arrive. There should be hundreds more of the family scattered across the underground network. 

Nonetheless, this should be enough for now. Katie took a deep breath before she started lying. 

Her narrative was simple. After she and Cara got into the room and the door shut, the two of them started talking to the elders. Just as they were discussing a potential alliance, a Dark Pantheon Dominator suddenly came out of nowhere and attacked. After a brutal battle where the elders and the two external vampires worked side by side, the villain was defeated. 

Unfortunately, by then, all of the vampire elders were dead.

“They were heroes! The elders died fighting for our race! Fighting for the future of the vampires!” Katie called out to countless Lance vampires. Even as she said those words, she had to try really, really hard not to burst out laughing. Ha! Heroes? Really? Then again, this was probably the ultimate insult to those ignorant bastards! Using their death as a rallying call to their families! Still, she did her best and continued. Seeing the look of loss on the face of some of her audience, she pushed on.  

“All the New Factions are wicked, but the Dark Pantheon is the most vicious of them all! This is Los Angeles! This is our stronghold! Yet their agents came and went as they pleased! They assassinated your elders, your leaders, in their own home! They have no respect for us vampires! They see us as nothing!” She did her best to look furious in front of the Lances. See? As an outsider, I am embarrassed for you! Shouldn’t you guys be even more furious? 

Finally, as the atmosphere in the room reached a peak, she got to what she really wanted. 

“We have to make them pay! We have to make the Dark Pantheon and the New Factions pay! Yet, we are nothing divided! Our only chance is to stand together! To fight as one! Our only chance is an alliance!” She turned and glanced at Cara. You’re up. 

Cara Cull nodded and took a step forward. Just as she was about to bring up the Alliance of the Old, a few of the vampires in the audience suddenly stepped forward. Katie had noticed them for a while. While the others looked furious, these particular vampires simply looked confused. It was clear they weren’t buying Cassie’s story of the Dominator assassinating the elders. 

Why? Simple. These vampires were the most trusted lieutenants of the elders. They might not be nearly as old or as powerful as the elders, but they were also in on a lot of secrets. They knew very well that the Dark Pantheon and the elders were working together. So the two parties suddenly killing each other didn't really sound right. 

One of the vampires, a woman with a goth hairstyle, raised a challenge. 

“This is ridiculous!” She called out, not facing Cara and Katie but instead turning to her family members. “Things have been fine for years, and the day these two met up with the elders, something went wrong? And how come these two survived while all the elders died? The elders are much more powerful than these two women, and not one of them lived!” 

Ok...now this was just ironic. Katie thought to herself. Not long ago, she was questioning Harrison and Jake Culls for surviving. Now she and Cara Cull were the ones getting questioned? God she hated karma! Still, Katie was in a much better situation than the Culls. 

As the Lances were still pondering the words of the goth girl, Katie started her countering. 

“First of all, let’s talk about how the Dominator got in here in the first place!” She shifted the topic. “I think we can all agree that whoever helped the Dominator get in undetected is the one conspiring with the Pantheon, right?”

Nothing wrong with that argument. The Lances all nodded. That was when Katie grinned confidentiality, and the goth girl suddenly had a terrible feeling. 

“Well, considering neither Cara nor I have ever been down here...it’s obvious we aren't traitors.” She chuckled. “As a matter of fact, correct me if I’m wrong, ladies and gentlemen, but aren’t the only vampires down here members of the Lance family? So if there are any traitors in this room…it’s not us. That’s for sure.” 

The goth vampire found herself out of words. In a few quick sentences, Katie was able to control the narrative. To be fair, Katie came prepared. She knew which points to strike when she opened the door to the chamber, and the goth girl? She never saw this coming a mile away, and the arguments she scraped together weren’t a match for Katie’s words. 

“Perhaps...perhaps he got in without assistance?” 

The goth vampire said hesitantly, her voice getting lower and lower as she continued. This was an argument she didn't believe in herself, much less the others. The underground dwelling of the Lances has been worked on for a long, long time. It was a fortress, and every single entrance and exit was carefully patrolled. Dominators weren’t exactly known for their stealth, especially not against vampires. 

The goth vampire and her fellow lieutenants went through all the possible arguments. They knew they couldn’t allow Katie to keep talking about how the Dominator got past the defenses. After all, it was they that diverted the patrols and helped the Dominator get to and hide in the elder’s chamber, and they were acting on the orders of the elders themselves. Yes, the same elders that the Dominator supposedly killed.

At this point, the lieutenants were still very confused as to what the hell was going on here. Some of them even thought that maybe the Dominator did massacre all the elders for some reason. Still, these lieutenants were determined to surrender, and they wouldn’t let Katie bring the Lance family into what they saw as certain doom. 

Another lieutenant changed the topic, although he was still trying to target Katie and Cara. 

“Even if the Dominator did assassinate the elders, who is to say you two weren’t working with him? Or that you two didn't stab the elders in the back?” He scanned the field. “Why are we listening to the words of two outsiders? We are proud members of the Lance family! We don’t need to listen to two American vampires…”

Katie snickered. The lieutenants were getting desperate. It had to feel bad to be in their shoes. They knew very well that the Dominator and the elders were on the same side and that it was Katie and Cara who murdered everyone. Yet they couldn’t tell the truth, as that would easily make them the enemies of the family. 

As for his accusations...just as she was thinking, Cara started talking already. 

“First of all, if we were working with the New Factions, we wouldn’t have formed the Alliance of the Old. Without an organization, the Old Factions didn't stand a chance against the New. As for why we didn't stab your elders in the back...why would we? The Dominator made an attempt on their lives. The elders were already established as our allies.” 

She suddenly grinned and moved the battle to the lieutenants. Sitting back and taking a beating without fighting back was never her thing. 

“Perhaps a more important question, whatever your name is, is why are you trying so hard to challenge us. We are on the same side here. Culls and Lances...we are both vampires, and whatever our backgrounds were, in this war, we are on the same side unless we both want to be wiped out!” She snapped to the group of lieutenants. “The only ones who would benefit from our division would be agents of the New Factions...so tell me, are you guys working for the New? Are you the ones who let the Dominator in to assassinate your leaders?”

The lieutenants found themselves turning pale as many of the vampires turned to them in suspicion. Indeed, they weren’t fools. Many of them have heard about the Alliance of the Old. Cara could definitely be trusted. These lieutenants, on the other hand...they have been acting very suspicious in this meeting. Perhaps they were indeed traitors. 

The lieutenants were about to defend themselves, but Cara, as sly as she was, didn't even give them the opportunity. You want to argue for your innocence? Nah… 

“Traitor or not, it doesn’t matter for now.” She raised her voice and cut off the protests of the goth vampire, an action that made the lieutenants want to punch someone. Even worse, she acted like she was simply minding the bigger picture. “The most important thing now is to repel the New Factions, and for that purpose, I am inviting all vampires to join the Alliance of the Old. We already have the support of hundreds of vampires, and we have been in talk with Angels and Witches alike. Together, we still stand a chance. Stay divided, and we will fall!”

With that final declaration, Cara and Katie proceeded to make their way to the door. They have done their job here. The problematic elders were all dead. Good. A Dominator was taken out. Even better. The Lance family, and likely many more vampires, would be leaning toward and possibly join the Alliance. Now that was just the cherry on top!

Katie decided she deserved a little cutting session when she got back to somewhere private…

None of the vampires tried to stop them. As she walked away, Katie threw a glance at the group of lieutenants, who were being stared at suspiciously by their fellow vampires. Sure, they would do their best to defend themselves, but the seed of doubt has been planted already. Plus, were they really innocent? Unlikely.  

These lieutenants were really fucked, and that made Katie really, really happy.