“Yes,” Aria said.
Max drank down the rest of his wine and scowled at his wrist when his sleeve fell back to reveal his scars; the ever-present reminder of Katrina. She was dead, but he would forever bear her marks. Whatever Hell she was in now, he knew she was laughing over that knowledge. He poured himself another glass despite Daniel’s disapproving look. Maybe it wasn’t the best time to get sloshed, but he really couldn’t think of a more appropriate one.
Daniel, Timber, and William exchanged looks but no one prodded him further. Aria’s nails dug into her thighs as she gazed at him. Xavier stopped pacing to stare at Daniel for a minute before resuming his stalking movements.
Lord help Daniel tonight, Max thought and couldn’t stop himself from chuckling as he drank the wine and poured himself another glass. At least the wine made Katrina’s laughter in his head die down some.
“Is it helpful information?” Daniel prodded.
“It’s helpful,” Max replied.
“Well…?” William inquired.
“It is Sabine,” Aria confirmed, drawing all of their attention to her. “Whether she did die and rose again or not, we don’t know, but that is the woman’s name. I’m sure there have been many Sabine’s over the years, but judging by her vast amount of power and her looks, she has to be Atticus’s mother.”
“You’re sure that’s her name?” William inquired.
In his head, Max could hear them repeatedly asking the vamp for the woman’s name. In the beginning, the vamp had claimed not to know it. Then he’d claimed he’d never reveal it. In the end, he had sobbed Sabine’s name repeatedly. Never once had they suggested the name to him before he confessed it on his own.
“We’re sure,” Max replied when Aria remained silent, probably recalling the man’s cries too. “She has about ten to fifteen thousand troops.” The vamp had told them twelve thousand. They’d agreed he was most likely exaggerating, but it was better to be safe than sorry. “Right now, they’re divided into three different towns until they’re ready to go after the palace. She has some of her followers traveling in smaller groups, circulating through areas and acting as scouts who report back to her. She moves often, sometimes in extremely large groups, sometimes in smaller groups as she always deviates her patterns. We were lucky she was in a smaller group the night they discovered us.”
“There’s easily ten thousand within the palace walls right now. If Melinda was able to evacuate the border towns before Sabine got to them, there will be more,” Daniel said.
“Including those we are gathering, our numbers are about equal with hers,” Xavier said. “Our source could have been lying about their numbers, most likely was, but it will be close.”
“You have a source?” Tempest asked.
“We did,” Aria confirmed. “He no longer lives.”
Max drank another glass.
“She’ll be ready for the palace soon,” Daniel said.
“She’s moving on the palace within the week,” Aria replied.
“Your source told you this?” William asked.
“No, he said they wouldn’t be moving until next week. We believe he lied.”
“Won’t she seek out more followers first?” Tempest asked.
“Arrogance is one of her biggest weaknesses,” Aria murmured. “I think she believes she can turn some of those within the palace to her side.”
“She may be able to,” Xavier said as he stopped his pacing. “Fear is a powerful motivator.”
“Are we going to warn them?” William asked.
“We’ll figure out a way to do so,” Aria said.
“Should we bring our troops in sooner than planned?” Timber inquired.
“No,” Aria replied. “The palace is going to have to defend itself for a few days if she moves before we’re ready. The Council will be able to keep it together for a few days, especially if they have the better position and the walls to defend from. It will also take time to bring Jack here.”
Blood spilled from Aria’s palms as her fingers tore into her flesh with those words. It dripped onto her pants, but she didn’t notice it and no one commented.
“I don’t think we can get Jack here before she marches on the palace. There simply isn’t enough time,” Aria continued. “When he does get here, we’ll send the runners to the safe houses to start gathering our troops.”
“We will return for Jack tomorrow,” Daniel said. “If all goes well, it will only take us a day to get there.”
“Yes,” Aria said.
“Did you learn anything else?” William inquired.
“Goran may be her other big weakness,” Max said. Their informant had let that one spill in order to keep his other eye. “They’re rarely apart.”
“Is that it?” Timber asked.