Mer hadn't undressed for bed yet so she was good to go. Rush came to Forest's side and removed his shackles, tossing them to the bed. Forest formed a staff that had to be his mage weapon and tapped it on the ground for the transportation spell. It wrapped them in magic that she wasn't used to, and it was uncomfortable on her skin. Rush's transportation spells were all dark magic, as were her father's, and her own were mixed. It wasn't painful, just shocking to have light magic envelope her.

Its fading was a breath of relief, and she opened her eyes to a dank bunker of some kind, dark magic pressuring her to one side and light the other. In the middle of the split, she found her father at the head of a table with Neil seated in front of him.

Before hopping off like a giddy idiot because she hadn't seen him in so long, she tapped Rush's arm to make sure he wouldn't get all protective, and he bid her go. She chose the side of the table that the mages were near to head around and jump into her father's arms. With everything going on, she'd been so worried about him.

"Meredith," Damien touched the sides of her face and kissed her on the forehead, eliciting a growl from Rush that tapered off as their eyes met. If Damien was not blood related to her, Rush would have jumped him with all of his territorial rage.

"Lorenzo de Fleur," Rush more of questioned than greeted.

The man stood in a far corner with his general, impatiently tapping his fingers on his arms. The light blue of his hair lit up the corner almost as if it was part of the sky, but his eyes were darker with suspicion of this gathering. Mer was glad to see him. Just like Talamayas, the man had been pleasant to her during their time together, but she hadn't noticed any hidden vicious side like the Sol leader had.

"Remus Shade." The man spoke fewer words than Rush unless prodded, much warier of this meeting that even Rush was. That hadn't changed since the council meeting. Lorenzo was prudent, which she supposed Rush was too.

"I find it strange you are considered within the confidence of Neil's secrecy," Remus prodded, sweeping the room and landing on Cael with a split expression. On one hand, Cael was her golden guardian were-meat, but on the other, he was a nothing that could paralyze every vampire in this bunker long enough for the mages to kill them all.

Neil spoke up in answer for Lorenzo. "I trust him enough not to leak any of our plans if he decides against allying with me." Neil leaned forward on his elbows. "Lorenzo has too much self-respect to be a turn cloak, and his army rivals even the Zehir's in number and strength. I need the numbers, so it's worth informing him for a potential alliance. We share an interest in preserving the mage order."

"No one is really comfortable here, so let's get these talks over with," Luna said.

Mer turned to her aunt with a smile. The glow of her white hair was unmistakable, tied up in a long ponytail behind her back, and she was clothed in the black and silver of the Aurions. Moons adorned her mage garb, as was her calling. Her aunt returned Mer's smile halfheartedly and was seated with Torin, or Slate as his mage name was, at her side. Slate was a bit more normal, with light brown hair and eyes, and no great house to represent. He'd taken Luna's last name.

Lorenzo sat with his general, Asmodeus, on one side of the long rectangular table, and Rush took his seat with her next to him, leaving the right side of the table populated by Luna, Slate, and three other mages she didn't know. She recognized Ash Cinder from back when they'd had the peace treaties with the Shades, all grey hair that cut off at his ears and darker ash eyes, but the other two were unknowns.

One was a woman with hair that was a tangle of brown curls with a few streaks of cerulean dyed through, and the last was a man older than civilization. With age worn grey hair, unlike Ash's solid natural sheen, the old man had dark, hostile eyes that never left Neil where he sat next to Damien. Forest sat on the end of the table with the mages and relaxed as he normally was. It must be nice to be that calm all the time.

"As has been communicated, the vampires are coming for the mage order," Neil started but didn't get far before a mage interrupted.

"And out of the goodness of your heart, you want to protect us?" Ash jabbed and the old mage next to him muttered something. Even Slate gave Neil a doubtful look while Luna remained as stoic as she could manage.

"No, I want them dead," Neil said with a low growl that was not directed at the mages. "Your enemy is mine and neither of us will do well against the Zehirs and their allies alone. Together, we can wipe them out and solidify an alliance that will be able to stand against future challenges. While we might be able to kill the vampires coming for you now, the decree from the council to allow knowledge of vampires into society will not be annulled by their passing. You will need to either ally with your supporters on the vampire side or perish alone."

"Forgive me if I'm skeptical of the Arcs as allies," Luna said with some tension, but she had good reason too. The Arcs had tried to destroy the eastern complex a few years ago, injuring her in the process.

"I have enough respect for my second in command that I have promised I will not pit him against his family," Neil responded. "That means that if I have to choose a side in this scuffle, it will be with the mages. Damien cares for you, and I know you don't outright hate him. I have my own vested interests in not wiping out the mages, and the Shades and Arcs have been a party to your peace treaty for a while. Lorenzo de Fleur is well-known for his sympathies toward human kind, so I know his intentions are not with doubt."

"Saying we did trust you only as far as to keep us alive. What do you propose?" Slate asked, keeping his fingers laced together on the table in a trained calm.

"As it is, the numbers are even if the mages I account for fight with us," Neil said. "If we–"

"They're not." Rush spoke next to her, and Neil looked to him. "The numbers. They're not even. With the Fluers, the Shades and the Arcs, we are outnumbered by the five remaining houses. Talamayas Sol and Tanya Zehir hold the largest armies in the battlegrounds, and the remaining two northern houses don't fall far behind. The Shades are a smaller house, though we have a decently sized army, and the Arcs are already suffering losses from the many scuffles you had with Vincent. You can add every mage here and their houses, and it won't make a difference."

"The number are even," Neil repeated. "I have one further vampire house supporting me who will remain anonymous until the time is right. It gives us a decent enough chance, though with the reduced numbers of the Arcs and Shades, we will need the mage houses to make up the deficit. Without them, we will ultimately run out of men if the fight drags on."

"Which vampire house?" Lorenzo de Fleur asked.

"I can't tell you," Neil said with a snap of his fangs. "That is the agreement if they are to support us."

"That's thin ice, Neil. How can we be sure you even have them to back you?" Remus asked more reasonably than with suspicion.

"I will confirm it for the mages' ease, but you will have to take Neil's word, Remus," Forest spoke. "I've been among the remaining vampire house that is pledged to our side, and they will no doubt be there with everything they have."

"I too will attest, if it will make anyone feel better, though I seldom do," her father corroborated, and Mer smiled pityingly. That was the truth of it with her father. No one seemed to want him around. "What we need is a situation that will force our enemy's hands," Damien said to her aunt, and she nodded. "It was stipulation by the vampire council that there be a fair and forthright fight between houses, so they have limited options as well. They will seize a chance to wipe us out as one."

"You want to give them a target," Slate slapped his hands on the table, and the mages looked from each other and then back to Neil.

"Yes," Neil said, while Mer tried to figure out what they were talking about under their words. "If we facilitate a meeting of the mage heads and seconds, it will lure the Zehirs out to claim their lives."

"You propose that all the mage's internal structure come together where we can be eliminated?" Luna Aurion tapped her hand on her arms impatiently. "If we lose, we lose. There will be no coming back from that fight."

"That is why we will make sure the odds are stacked in our favor," Neil said, tossing a map of society up on the table. "You have complexes, here, here, and here. Five in total spread out throughout your country. They are too far for use to protect all of them without significant casualties. The best hope we have is fighting here in Levisca. The town is sacred mage ground and no dark magic transportation spells can be cast there."

"How does that work to our advantage?" Luna asked, still not liking this. "I doubt the invaders will just waltz in on easily targetable magic circles even if it wasn't sacred ground."

"That's not the point," Lorenzo said kindly, looking over the map. The man certainly was devoted to working with the mages peaceably. "The vampires will see opportunity. All the mage heads alone, without the ability for even a vampire to get in an attackers way. They will be unable to not take the bait, and too blinded by our racial divide to expect mages to bring vampires in."

"You are proposing we make out stand in Levisca?" Slate asked, leaning back in his chair.

"Yes," Neil said. "The vampires will sense only light magic and descend on you. If a few mage generals ferry vampires into the fray after the northerners arrive, we will have the element of surprise."

"And what keeps them from fleeing right back out the way they came?" Luna asked, finally getting on board with the idea and trying to figure it out.

"First off, we will give them something they can't turn away from. There are parts of my plan I cannot divulge to all of the mages, though I have been through them with Forest Copse," Neil said." They will be unable to depart from the frontline without destroying the further bait I will be planting. They will invest their forces, and we will flank them. There are a number of things that can't be planned ahead of time, but all I am asking is for the mages to be the frontline to their own complex. You will have to hold it with the Fleurs while we set the rest of it into motion."

"You want the Fluers on the frontline? Where will the Arcs and the Shades be?" Lorenzo asked curiously more than accusatory. It could be seen that way, placing a house that wasn't their own in the front to take on more losses.

"I intend for the Shades to help with a flank, and I myself will be taking up a position that will ultimately end up in the middle of the chaos. I can't have the center of the fight be anyone else but me because I will be utilizing the Copses and the Cascades, and they are not familiar with your magic. I don't need any friendly fire incidents turning anyone against their own."

"So the only position you expect the mages to hold is the complex?" Slate asked, looking over to Luna with approval of the plan. "It does leave us in the most protected position if the vampires are fighting amongst each other out in the city. There is a large enough flat area for the ritual grounds that leads to the forests, so it will minimalize civilian casualties. We will be unable to evacuate the city though because that would give our attack away. This is risky, but not a bad plan."

"Why are the Cascades and the Copses already informed of your plans? Even the ones that you can't tell us?" Luna asked, and the other mages looked to Forest.

"With all the scuffles in which we helped out the Arcs and because of our peaceful interactions with them thus far, I agreed to a peace treaty with them within the battlegrounds. We have been interacting and comingling for the better part of a year and a half."

"That had to be approved by mage council." Ash Cinder opened his mouth only to complain it seemed.

"I am aware of our laws, which was why it was informal in regards to other mage houses, but a commitment nonetheless within our own. I know you wouldn't have approved it, which is why I went ahead and did it myself. There are barriers to peace with the vampires because of our order, and many of our rules will have to fall for our survival in the coming days. If you don't get on board Ash, you can burn with the other mages who are left out of our alliance. We can only protect those committed to coexisting, mages included."

"Are you severing yourself from the order?" the old man asked, his creaky voice serious as he folded his wrinkled hands together.

"Yes," Forest said sternly, and every mage sat up straight and looked from one to the other. "That being said, I am only doing so in the hopes that the other mage houses interested in peace will leave the old mage order behind and build up a new one with the Copses and the Cascades for peace. There is too much fault with the old one that will not be conducive to the alliance we need with our vampire allies.

"Hell, Luna, just look at your own niece, stuck between the man she loves, her father, and her family who cares for her. No one needs to be pulled in that many directions. There needs to be allowance for intercommunication, for exchanges of knowledge and culture, a unison to pave the basis for all relations in the future. The time has come where humans will know vampire kind, and we need it to be on a good note, not bloodshed and a racist divide that will be our downfall."

"Forest Copse has a point, as much as I hate to admit it," Rush spoke for the first time in a while and Mer focused on him. "Neil and I are in an alliance with the old mage order that barely serves anyone. The Shades are open to a new alliance with the mage order. As much as it turns my stomach to think of working with you, Meredith is my mate, and you are her people. Something has to change or she will be miserable, and her happiness is as important to me as my houses continued survival. We could serve both purposes by forming a new alliance and a new order."

There was an ugly silence as Luna focused hard on her. This was the first any of the mages were hearing about Rush accepting her as his mate. Mer dropped her eyes, gripping Rush's thigh under the table. His hand materialized over hers and she grasped it as she glanced over to her father who was staring out into the wall with a lividity she'd never seen on him before. Couldn't he just be happy she wasn't stuff anymore?

Luna sighed, rubbing her eyes, and Slate put his hand on her shoulder. "The Aurions are open to negotiating a new alliance. I imagine the other houses will know how much they can commit after this fight. If you prove honorable in protecting us with the conviction are speaking today, I see no reason why we can't all work toward continuing our survival. Let's discuss the date and time of this mage meeting to lure the vampires. We need to know who and when so this will work."

"Thank you," Neil said, bowing his head in appreciation that didn't go unnoticed by her aunt and uncle.

Neil had grown over the years, learned humility, and was here with a thought out strategy for everyone to make it through alive. If someone had asked her the day she's met Neil if she thought he could lead a single person across the street, she'd have laughed at how ludicrous that was. Now, her father and Lorenzo flanked him on either side, Rush was regarding him as an ally, and several mages were devoted to working for his cause. Forest even seemed committed to Neil aside from a mere alliance. The words Neil had shared with Forest about his concerns of Rush had been those or the closest friends, and there was more to these mages than they had let on.

They had a chance to have real peace because of Neil, and she was determined to see it through with her mate. For peace between mages and vampire, for the benefit of their relationship, and to protect their allies. For a moment, warmth swelled in her chest. She felt like a person, an important piece to a puzzle made up of their collective strength, and she squeezed Rush's hand. Rush glanced to her with a faint smile but turned back to the conversation ahead.

They both did.

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Word Count: 3030