Ashes rained from the sky as Kai defensively growled upon spotting an enormous group of vampires approaching them from the smoky horizon. However, he quickly calmed himself as he recognized it was just Sean, his Headmaster named Connor, Devon's Headmaster named Zander, and their respective clans that had found them.
"You need to get out of here," Headmaster Connor warned. "The Lopez Coven is pursuing you."
"Pursuing me?" Kai raised a questioning brow as he growled beneath his chest.
Headmaster Connor replied, "Headmaster Matt Lopez raised Bella, Roxy, and Brandon. You got caught in his web after Bella weakened your connection with Victoria. They've been tracking you since you left Earth. After they get rid of you, they'll destroy your Coven."
"How could you know any of that?" Kai asked, bewildered by it.
Usually, he was the one who pursued vampires to detain them, but now this was a new experience for him to be the one stalked. Although, it wasn't the first time he had been snared in another vampire's web.
"Never mind that for now. You need to return to your Coven. It's no longer safe for you to travel between worlds," Headmaster Zander strongly asserted.
"We're leaving," Kai determined. Before he could open the portal, Matt Lopez and his clan spotted him from afar in their flight as gargoyles.
"Go now!" Headmaster Connor yelled. "We'll hold them off!"
Kai quickly opened the portal as his allies began to battle Matt and his clan in the sky. Before stepping inside, Kai had his guardians and his three advisors enter before him.
"Find your Headmaster!" were some of the last words he heard Headmaster Connor shout before he stepped into the portal.
Back on Earth, Kai gnashed his teeth in utmost rancor after closing the portal. He despised the concept that he couldn't help his allies with battling against Matt and his clan. Yet, he wisely recognized he couldn't risk getting detained. Without him around, Victoria wouldn't have any likelihood of surviving.
~~~
Back at the Collin grand mansion, Mr. Collin sat at his desk in his spacious office as he engrossed himself with signing a few documents that would authorize lucrative business deals to primarily benefit the profits of the Coven without the humans realizing it. Any investments he ever made always went to the Coven. The Collins prioritized the needs of their members over avarice for wealth. They were more altruistic when it came to their members' well-being.
Things were quiet in the late hours until Kai suddenly busted through his office door as he demanded loudly, "Grant me authorization to have control over the Coven army!"
Speechless, Mr. Collin was taken aback by Kai's obnoxious intrusion and assertive demand as he barged into the office. On top of that, Mr. Collin arched his brow from the vivid phosphorescent glow that glittered on Kai's skin and his gothic suit. Behind Kai, his five friends tip-toed in more quietly. Notably, Mr. Collin noticed Ivan, Jack, and Rome were shimmering too, whereas Glenn and Ace were glitter-free.
"Dad!"
"Hold up a second," Mr. Collin spoke out, rousing attentive when he heard Kai's voice. "Where have you been? And why are you shining in glitter?"
Kai rolled his eyes. "I've been traveling worlds. I met Devon to talk with him until we were attacked by the Lopez Coven's Headmaster and his clan. Headmaster Matt's recent attacks on me and my wife declared war on our Coven, which is why I need your granted permission to take over the army. Headmaster Connor said Matt raised the last three royals from the Silverdawn Coven. He's responsible for warfare on us."
"He attacked you?" Mr. Collin outwardly collected. "How can this be true? Our allies found Matt Lopez's detained body over forty years ago in a cave. Are you sure it was him? Wait, are you saying they raised Bella, Roxy, and Brandon the whole time? He set this whole thing up for Bella to kill Victoria!"
Kai cocked his brow because this information about Matt is new to him since he slept for far too long. Meanwhile, his father was gathering a conclusion about the last three Silverdawn Royals.
"It's true," Ivan vouched, dropping into the conversation. "Our allies must've found the wrong vampire and his mate. Brandon used an illegal extract plant to cover his scent at the college. Matt must have done the same when our allies thought they found his slumbering body. Andrew came back when we thought he was gone. We already know they're allies with Seth's Coven. It appears they thoroughly thought this plan through to take Kai down."
"I can't believe he's back," Mr. Collin sighed in stress.
"Now that you know he's back, you need to give me control over the army. If Vlad was awake, he'd give it to me," Kai refuted.
To grant Kai control over the Coven army would mean he would be second in command over the Coven under his dad's authority. By the regulation of the Headmaster, Mr. Collin has full control over the whole Coven, but he could share that power if he wanted. Alas, he knew his son was right because Vlad always put Kai in the second command while he remained in the first command of the Coven. When it came to war strategies, Kai knew how to achieve victories, which was why Vlad always put him in charge of the army while he led the Coven.
"Before I just hand you over the second command, I need to know what you are planning," he pressed to know.
Appointing Kai with such power could spell doom since they have granted humans in their Coven. At the same time, Kai was clever, and since Matt and Andrew had already attacked, it meant the Collin Coven's granted humans are at risk either way.
Kai answered, "Headmaster Matt is impulsive like Andrew. He attacked before the Blue Moon. To get him to back off, I will only need to kill a few of his granted humans, and by that, I mean the little ones."
"Isn't there another way?" Mr. Collin sighed at his desk since he hated the idea of children getting killed because of their Headmaster's careless decisions.
It came to anybody's surprise that Headmaster Matt's Coven hadn't fallen yet because he abused his power. Most of his original members had joined different Superior Covens due to that reason. Having strong connections with his allies and many enslaved female breeders had kept the Lopez Coven from falling.
"I need to nail them where it hurts the most. Killing adults won't send a message," Kai explained as he saw the pain in his Father's eyes. He still couldn't fathom how soft his dad had gotten over the millenniums.
"Fine," Mr. Collin sadly sighed. "Speak with Alpha Miles, and the army is under your command."
"Why do I have to speak with Miles?" Kai growled.
His Uncle Zen became allies with his Coven. Other than the vampiresses, the vampires in Kai's clan didn't get along with them.