From out of the front pocket of his jeans, Orlando withdrew two priceless golden coins, tossing one to each of them.
"That's my truce to form my Allegiance with you both," Orlando proposed. "We fought alongside each other in both wars. Now, we must do it again for Victoria's survival. But it's crucial that I get Kai's help."
Vampires didn't sign contracts or treaties on paper. Instead, they contributed treasured items like precious gemstones or golden coins. In more serious matters, they would offer female minions or vamp babies born from their minion slaves.
"Kai won't cooperate with you!" Levi bluntly refuted relatively acerbic while pocketing the coin in his jacket.
Orlando's plan of kidnapping Victoria makes any collaboration with Kai very unlikely.
"You have to trick him," Orlando declared, sensing Levi and Mitchell's reluctance to embrace that idea.
"No, we must warn him!" Mitchell trenchantly retorted.
"Go ahead, I've already tried, but he refused to answer me," with a sneer shaping his lips, Orlando challenged him.
Mitchell scoffed at him for his jeering remark while he took out his phone as Levi did the same. They each tried, calling him one at a time, but Kai's phone was off. Kai was home, so there was no real reason for him to keep his phone on when most of their Coven was still celebrating Coraline's birthday.
"I told you he won't answer," Orlando mocked.
"I have someone else in mind," Mitchell snipped as he texted Quin, Kai's cousin. By marriage on his wife's side, Quin was considered his cousin-in-law because he married Elizabeth's cousin Laura.
"I can't wait to see who this will be," Orlando replied with sarcasm, rolling his eyes as they waited for Kai's cousin to respond.
As the falling snow thickened, Quin texted. "None of us will speak to Orlando. Whatever he wants, tell him to buzz off! We'll deal with the Rebellion ourselves!"
"Okay, that failed," Mitchell announced as he tried calling him, but even Quin shut his phone off.
While texting Chester and Henry,
Levi emphasized, "Like I said, Kai won't work with you."
Unfortunately, Levi received the same sentiments from them before they silenced their phones. It glaringly indicated that the Collins knew Orlando was seeking them about the Rebellion, but they weren't interested in appealing to his efforts to reach them.
"Forget about the Collins! We don't have time to deal with their stinginess. We must create this Allegiance as of today! Then we'll reach Kai after that," Orlando snarled as his voice thundered.
"If he's not answering you now, then he won't cooperate with you at all," Levi told him straightforwardly.
"I'll talk to him in person," Mitchell declared, and Orlando vehemently growled.
"We don't have time for that!
We just need to trick him!" Orlando asserted, pulling out a tiny glass bottle from his jacket.
Levi differed as he snarled. "He has to be warned about the severity of the matter!"
The Collins knew about the Rebellion, but they didn't know about the Vampire Covenant's plan to seize Victoria, either before or after they detained Kai.
Orlando proclaimed, tossing Levi a thin glass bottle, "If we do this right, then nothing will happen to her. Get ahold of Kai's other allies to help us. The day they take Victoria, have Devon kidnap Kai and take him to his planet. Pour that extract substance on him to conceal his scent there."
Unlike most of Kai's friends, Devon was the Alpha who didn't fear Kai and would willingly kidnap him.
"This is illegal to have!" Levi snapped, clenching the tiny bottle in his palm.
"It's not on Devon's planet. Pour it on him there, I said." Orlando instructed.
Mitchell growled, "Victoria will be taken!"
Orlando intensely eyed them."She is getting taken either way. There isn't anywhere to hide her unless you have somewhere!"
"We don't." Mitchell sighed, wishing he did.
"None of us have time to find a safe place to hide her while we do everything else. We hardly have a week to form this Allegiance." Orlando concluded, and they understood that.
"What's the plan?" Levi asked, acknowledging Orlando meant everything he said.
Orlando briefly explained, "Assemble all of our allies and the allies of our allies to form the Allegiance. A group needs to select the rebellion's planets to destroy, preferably ones that have the weakest numbers. Once we mark these planets, another group must spare as many human babies as we can before we annihilate the planets on the day they seize Victoria. This way, it doesn't backfire on us with the Vampire Covenant."
"You better pray nothing does backfire," Levi snorted, and then he whistled with two fingers in his mouth.
"What are you doing?" Orlando asked, getting impatient since they needed to leave.
"My sons can help move things along," Levi curtly replied.
Not a moment later, a pack of wolves hustled out of the woods as they trotted toward Levi and his advisors. With Levi's son at the front of his clan, the wolves shifted into their human-like features as they walked the remaining way to Levi.
Ryder, Levi's son, was a little over nine hundred years old. Despite his younger age, he was far more mature than Troy and Rome. He was tall like his dad and had inky ebony hair, almond sharp golden eyes like his mother, a refined narrow nose, and a diamond face like his father. Between his older and younger brothers, Ryder was the most respectable one, and Levi biased him for it.
"He's too young," Orlando distressed, and Levi ignored him.
"Gather your older and younger brothers. Find planets that have fewer numbers who aren't voting for Victoria," Levi briefly instructed him on what he needed to do as Ryder listened intently.
"We won't let you down," Ryder affirmed, knowing what to do. Then he just vanished with his clan.
For being young, Ryder was already a fearsome and strategic warrior from battling single Coven wars. He wasn't born during the worldwide wars, but he was trained well by Levi.
"I hope he has what it takes," Orlando queried about him.
He had a son about his age, and there was no way Orlando would give him such a mission when Victoria's life was at stake.
"Ryder knows what he is doing," Levi affirmed with a hiss.
"Whatever you say," Orlando expressed his wariness about Ryder before he disappeared to get things rolling.
"Shouldn't we talk to Kai in person?" Levi asked Mitchell since Orlando and his advisors were gone.
"There's no time," Mitchell sighed because he knew Kai wouldn't listen. Then he raised his hand and opened a portal.
After they left, Levi opened a portal to Devon's home planet. He figured this was going to be an interesting conversation when he tells Devon that he has to kidnap Kai by this coming Sunday before the Vampire Covenant reaches him. Despite the unfortunate circumstances, Devon will surely get a kick out of this one.