"What?" I jolted and gripped the column next to me. "Then we have to get her out. He'll kill her for sure."
Marcus grunted. "Unlikely. Torture, yes. Killing would be too merciful for them."
"All the more reason to get her out of there," I reiterated, preparing to launch myself from my hiding place.
"No, wait." Rayne held his hand up. "I don't think he plans to do either." His brows furrowed as we watched Piper climb up onto the stage. They spoke some more and one of the hunters on the ground jumped up a few moments later, waving his arms wildly in the air.
"What? What's going on?" Allister hissed at Rayne, not liking this helpless feeling either.
"The president wants to make a deal with her." Rayne frowned tightly. "Something about trading our safety if she worked for them."
"What the fu—"
"Someone's coming!" Allister cut me off, shoving me to the side and back into the shadows.
If we had to breathe, this would be the time we would be holding our breath. As it was, we simply stayed quiet and waited for the hunter to pass by. When he was gone, we relaxed, turning back to the scene before us.
"What'd we miss?" I asked, anxiously watching the exchange. The president seemed more than thrilled to have Piper there, and even went so far as to get up close and personal with her, even with her blades drawn.
"Nothing much. Just talking her up. Trying to get her to be his spy for the organization." Rayne's brow furrowed. "He wants her to help him take out more vampires like Boris. Take out more of those human trafficking rings like in Frankfurt."
Marcus grunted. "Makes sense."
I gaped at him. "How can you even think—"
"Hey! You!" A shout rose up from behind us. We all turned at once, finding ourselves faced with a dozen or more hunters.
Lifting my hands, I cracked my knuckles and grinned. "This is it, boys. The final showdown. This will decide the fate of all we hold dear. Including Piper."
Allister groaned at me. "Way to state the obvious, brother. Can we please focus on not dying?" He shifted into a fighting stance as the hunters began to close in on us.
Not wanting to bring the fight to Piper, we moved out of the auditorium. There was more space outside to fight anyway. None of us liked to fight when we were backed into a corner.
No matter how much my brother detested my words, they'd been true. Our whole future, our lives, depended on this very moment. It was fight or die. While I didn't know about brothers, I didn't intend to go down without taking some of these bloodthirsty hunters down with me.