Darek leaned forward, his elbows on the table as he clasped his hands. The thrall spoke of the person behind the letters, someone of power and desire for more that was clear. He or she was a mystery and that was no surprise, saying it was a great risk to start this subversion was an understatement. Targeting the barons would be delicate work and fraught with risk. Silently he went over what he knew about Lenore and the Friesian, none of it comforting.  He listened and watched as the female thrall made a phone call, curious as her dull aura flickered with something more. 

The power hit him like a shockwave, he could feel it down to his bones. The auras around his fellow vampires exploded into brilliant shimmering light, a variety of colors rippling along the ubiquitous violet, like oil sheens on puddles. Darek could see the emotions of them flicker and change as the power surge hit them as well. Long hidden desires and fears bubbling to the surface for that moment, exposed to him without their knowledge. He blinked slowly, sinking back in his chair as the rush of his own emotional powers exuded outward.

A slow smile formed on his lips, the dimple deepening on one side of his face as he locked eyes with Willa that sat across from him. Small, scared and weak he had judged her but at the moment he saw something ripple through her aura, faint but there. As the rush faded he turned away, glancing at the pretty blonde next to him, the colors fading into the lush purple of her aura. 

No doubt they had all felt it and wanted more. Like any drug that brought a heady rush, it was easy to desire it again but no doubt it had a price. That price was their blood and loyalty. Darek rubbed a hand over his mouth, still unsure of the group but what did he really have to lose? Besides, he was a sucker for a lost cause. With a sardonic grin, he raised his hand, “Alright, I’ll bite. We know there are no guarantees, that goes without saying. What does this X want us to do first?”