Midnight Surrender-Chapter 76 A plan (AVOT)

Tiberius, flanked by the wolves, had successfully apprehended the two hunters who had infiltrated Rhain’s sanctuary. With time ticking away, he resorted to brutal interrogations, seeking any information that could lead him to Slaine.

Killing Slaine would eliminate any reason for Lysander to harm Daisy and awaken Roy. But his methods yielded nothing; the hunters remained frustratingly silent. In a last-ditch effort, he let Ravager, the alpha among the wolves, sniff the captives, hoping to pick up a scent they could track.

As he prepared to depart, Ravager and the other wolves tensed, their hackles rising. Even before turning around, Tiberius sensed the palpable shift in the atmosphere—Lysander had arrived.

What brought him back here, Tiberius wondered.

Lysander’s eyes narrowed into icy slits as his gaze fixated on the house. "Where is Rhain?" He spoke, his voice tinged with a venomous hiss.

Tiberius felt his muscles tighten. He didn’t know? So Rhain was... with the hunters?

They looked at each other, both coming to that realization and worry creased Lysnader’s brows.

Tiberius’ ire flared uncontrollably. Did he worry now?! "Where is Daisy?" he countered. "There’s no point in saving Rhain if you’ve harmed her!"

Lysander’s look could freeze hell over, yet Tiberius was too incensed to care about the ancient vampire’s potential wrath. Then, Lysander’s expression shifted subtly. "You’ve forsaken humans before," he pointed out.

"That was by my choice!" Tiberius retorted through gritted teeth.

Lysander’s eyes iced over again, but this time Tiberius sensed something calculated behind that icy glare. Something that made Tiberius worry "Since the hunters are still around here, perhaps I should bring Daisy into this."

"That would be recklessly endangering her," Tiberius countered.

"And Rhain is endangered as we speak. Vampires and Daisy will be in perpetual danger unless I intervene. It’s either this, or I awaken Roy."

"Aren’t you even concerned about recovering Rhain first?" Tiberius pressed.

Lysander’s lips curved into a sinister smile. "Rhain will survive. He’s not an easy target. Moreover, he has... even more reason to live now."

Tiberius frowned. Had Lysander discerned the depth of Rhain’s feelings for Daisy?

"So you’re willing to compromise that reason?"

"I don’t operate without a strategy," Lysander asserted, his face turning stony. "We’ll set a trap using Daisy."

Tiberius shook his head in disbelief. "Slaine won’t fall for it; he’ll send his minions."

"He’ll have no choice but to come personally if he knows I have her," Lysander argued. "His men are no match for me."

Tiberius felt a moment of confusion. Was Lysander privy to some secret regarding Slaine?

"Do you actually think he’s audacious enough to challenge you?" Tiberius questioned.

"Slaine is no ordinary hunter, and he’s motivated by a dangerous quest—to awaken his omnipotent father. Believe me, you don’t want that to happen."

Tiberius couldn’t shake off Lysander’s ominous words. Clearly, this mysterious father was a threat even greater than Slaine.

"His desperation to awaken his father is also his Achilles’ heel. That’s why we’ll use Daisy as the bait," Lysander concluded.

Tiberius felt cornered. His best option was to assist Lysander, thus minimizing the risk to Daisy. But as for Rhain’s safety, he couldn’t share Lysander’s confidence.

"What’s the plan?" Tiberius inquired, his voice tinged with caution.

"The hunters keep coming back here, so they must anticipate finding Daisy at some point. They’ll likely employ whatever means they’ve used before to locate her," Lysander began, laying out his strategy. "We’ll bring Daisy here, but under the cover of our vampire forces. We won’t launch an immediate attack, nor reveal our full strength. I will stay hidden, observing. You will be the one visibly guarding Daisy. When they believe they’ve gained the upper hand and commit to a full assault, I’ll identify whoever makes the first move on Daisy. That has to be Slaine."

The plan seemed laden with peril. Tiberius couldn’t easily dismiss the risks.

"You don’t need to worry," Lysander reassured him. "Slaine won’t kill her outright; he needs to abduct her. That’s when I’ll seize my opportunity."

Torn between conflicting emotions, Tiberius weighed the situation. Rhain would never approve of such a tactic, and the inevitable fallout could be catastrophic for their relationship. Daisy and her mother would likely despise him as well. Yet, this strategy appeared to be the only viable path toward a long-term resolution.

Encouraged by Lysander’s newfound willingness to consider alternatives to killing Daisy, Tiberius sighed, "Alright. Let’s do it."

With that affirmation, Lysander departed to set the intricate trap in motion. After killing the captured hunters, Tiberius assembled his own troops, instructing them to remain concealed in strategic positions. Lysander also dispatched his vampire forces, but only Tiberius and two of his men would be openly present for the bait-and-switch operation.

In the meantime, Lysander returned to where Daisy was being kept. As he entered her chamber, he found her emotionally spent, slumped near the door where she had evidently been pounding and sobbing. The moment she realized he was there, she sprang to her feet, her eyes ablaze with an array of human emotions—vigilance, anger, and a fervor that struck Lysander as intensely expressive.

There was an undeniable vitality in her gaze—a life force that was both animated and incandescent.

Lysander had initially thought that he could simply awaken Roy and obliterate Slaine for good, bypassing the complications that Daisy introduced. He’d assumed that perhaps Rhain’s attachment to her was but a fleeting distraction, a temporary diversion to momentarily breathe life into his undead existence. Yet as he looked into her eyes—eyes so charged with emotion—he reconsidered.

Here was someone who seemed to genuinely care for Rhain, offering the kind of unconditional care that Lysander knew had been absent from Rhain’s life. Lysander had known such love once—from his own family—before his thirst for blood led him to annihilate those he held dear. The emotional ache he once felt had long since metamorphosed into a dull numbness.

As Daisy scrutinized him, her eyes brimming with wariness, Lysander sensed that she thought he had come to end her life. Birth and death was the cicle of human life that he had taken for granted. Perhaps he should think of his own death. How did he want to die, and when?

"Come with me," he commanded.