Curious about the other battles unfolding across the planet, Orlando flew into the distance and braced his footing upon a towering cliff to inspect the planet's devastation. With keen eyes, he efficiently discerned the destruction ravaging various regions beyond the horizon. Beneath his feet, he felt the faint tremors coursing through the planet's crust while his ears caught the anguished cries of those humans and vampiresses.
Upon confirming that Zach's report of the world is indeed spiraling into mayhem, a smirk of satisfaction charms his lips. Despite the minor setback of their initial battle, the forces of their Allegiance remained unshaken. As Orlando prepared to return, Troy suddenly appeared, planting the bare soles of his feet on the cliff.
Inquisitive about Troy's unexpected appearance, Orlando cocked his head to the side as Troy posed his question, "Can you honestly help me and my offspring if I were to join you?"
Briefly assessing Troy's demeanor, Orlando sensed his underlying concern as he scanned his distorted face and tensed posture.
"Of course, my offer still stands. What changed your mind?" Orlando responded, purposely speaking in an insincere tone as he remained composed.
"My father!" Troy growled with frustration. "My entire family made me form a bridge marriage with Grant Somerset!"
"Really?" Orlando feigned surprise, widening his eyes in a pretense of shock.
"Yes! My wife is Grant's mate!" Troy snorted as his anger bubbled to the surface. "She's carrying his offspring!"
To get on Troy's level, Orlando empathized with him, "Boy or girl?" he nonchalantly asked.
"She won't know until next month," Troy mumbled, suppressing his outbursting anger back into his heart.
"Hmm, I understand your frustration. If you choose to join me, I'll be sure you have Isabel to yourself. Becky and your offspring will also be safe as yours," Orlando proclaimed, carefully concealing any hint of his true intentions behind his reassuring words.
Troy negotiated his terms, "I will join your Coven, but only if you spare my friends, the Coven members, and as many female family members as possible, especially my mother, siblings, my sister's family, my grandmothers, and great-grandmothers, along with all the young males."
"My family will spare every female in your family and the Covens' members, including all the young males. Only the warriors will be detained, but they can be reawakened after the Collin Coven and the O'Donnell Coven are under our control," Orlando lied, saying what he needed to earn Troy's trust.
"I understand," Troy frowned, feeling a pang for his family and the members of his great-grandparents' Covens. However, his anger towards his father burdened him far worse.
"Of course, I do need to establish trust with you," Orlando proclaimed, keeping his grin concealed. "Trust works both ways. I have to be sure you won't betray me."
"Name what it is that you wish to acquire from me?" Troy consented, swallowing hard. In the back of his mind, his conscience screamed as the strain of his betrayal tugged at his heart.
Without hesitation, Orlando nonchalantly answered, sensing Troy's slight reluctance, "You'll have to keep me informed about Victoria and any battle plans your family has."
Troy's palpitating heart coyly resisted the urge to share, yet his resentment for his father corrupted his emotions. In his internal struggle, he sighed deeply as the lingering bitterness clouded his better judgment.
"I know where Kai plans on hiding Victoria," without a hint of remorse, he confessed Evan's and Kai's greatest secret as his heartbeat steadied into a calmer rhythm.
Years ago, Troy helped Evan construct that secret underwater compartment, which is how he knew about its location. Being an Alpha, Evan couldn't put Troy under his alpha authority, and Rome was forbidden to obliviate any of the Collin Alphas' memories with his first gift.
Only the Headmaster's authority granted him that kind of power over his royal family members, but the Alphas under the Headmaster did not conceive the capability of manipulating an alpha tone on each other. Hence, Troy had the freedom to divulge the secret to whoever.
In his excitement, Orlando's ears perked up immediately, completely captivated, "That would work,' he approved, forming a mischievous smile curving his lips.
Hardening his heart, Troy revealed, "Evan built an underwater chamber at his beach house mansion. If the votes carry forth, anyone from your Coven can easily claim Victoria there."
Orlando chuckled at the irony.
Hadn't Kai not been so obstinate in avoiding him earlier, he could have hidden Victoria there this whole time without the Vampire Covenant ever knowing about it.
"So Kai did manage to find a safe haven to hide her," he mused, amused by Kai's stubbornness. "Thank you for the information. We should head back before anyone suspects anything. I'll be in touch."
"Sounds like a plan. I wouldn't want my dad to find out," Troy agreed as an achy pang of regret needled at his heart. However, he pushed his guilt aside as if it had never existed.
At separate times, they returned to the battleground, smoothly merging among the crowd without raising suspicion. By now, some Covens had already regrouped after completing the transfer of their detained friends and family members back to their homeworlds.
Beside Kai, Chester queried upon seeing his son approaching them through the crowd, "Where have you been?"
"I was scouting," Troy lied, grazing past his dad's shoulder to reach his clan. All the while, he discreetly sails a sidelong glance at his Uncle Kai, who took notice of it.
Ashes of the fallen animals and humans obscured the sky, a sure signal that it was time to set their course on the next target.
"It's time to move on to the next planet. This one is breaking apart," Dylan declared to Chester and Kai.
Suddenly, a violent quake shook the ground, escorted by a distant rumble of thunder. As Alphas opened portals, the ground convulsed with more intense tremors. Unnoticed by many, the ocean had previously receded further into the sea, revealing the bay, but now the tide reversed towards the shoreline with a deafening surge.
"We need to leave now!" Chester's frantic voice boomed, eliciting Kai and Troy to glance back.
Behind them, a towering wave loomed over everybody's heads.
"Get out of here!" shouted multiple vampires.
Herds of vampires rushed into the portals, ensuring none of their Allegiance were left behind to continue the war on another planet.