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This meant that by this time, Griffin should have gone to attack the Blackthornes, gotten nothing and came back to see his prisoners gone.

He strode into the entrance hall to see two other men also waiting. Ezra recognized them. They were the leaders of the other two covens under Griffin. He gave them a nod of acknowledgement and they returned it.

His eyes went to the assistant\'s desk. It was occupied by the woman who had replaced Natalia. He suspected that she was also Griffin\'s wife.

After a few more minutes of waiting, the new assistant waved them in. The door was pushed open and the three coven leaders walked into the throne room.

This was the first time Ezra had ever seen Griffin standing in the throne room. Griffin was pacing in front of his throne with Natalia standing quietly beside his throne.

As they walked in, Griffin turned to look at them. His eyes lingered a bit too long on Ezra before he began pacing again.

The three leaders stopped a few meters away from him, bowing slightly. "My lord." They echoed.

"Find them!" Griffin snarled and the three leaders stood straighter. "Find the Blackthornes from wherever hole they\'ve crawled into. I want them before me."

"My lord?" One of the men spoke and Ezra had to admire his courage. "We do not understand."

Griffin turned sharply and the man recoiled in fear.

Griffin calmed himself before turning, walking to his throne and sitting. The count sat, leaving the three leaders standing there in an uncomfortable silence.

Ezra decided to take pity on his fellow leaders and spoke up. "My lord?"

Griffin glanced up at them before giving an absentminded wave, going back to his thinking. Natalia stepped forward, fixing them with a hard stare.

"Two hours ago, the Blackthorne coven attacked the sanctuary while the count was out, taking with them our prisoners, the Maguire coven." Natalia spoke. "You all are to find both covens. Whoever can find them and bring them here to the sanctuary will be greatly rewarded."

The two leaders exchanged glances at that. A great reward? They were on the case. With a nod of acknowledgement, the three leaders turned to take their leave.

Just before they exited the throne room, Natalia\'s voice rang out. "Ezra?" He turned. "A word."

He nodded to the two leaders who left and waited as Natalia walked towards him. She signaled to him and he followed her out. As she walked, she began speaking. "Do you know what led to Griffin leaving the sanctuary?"

"No." Ezra answered, keeping a straight face.

"We got information of the Blackthornes whereabouts and attacked them only to find out that they have already left and attacked us while we were out." She studied his face as she spoke.

Ezra raised his brows in simulated surprise. "Thats…" He didn\'t complete the sentence.

"Now," Natalia spoke. "Do you know where I got the information about the location of the Blackthornes?"

Only Ezra\'s absolute control of his body allowed him to stop himself from reacting in actual surprise. That had been an unexpected question.

"No." He answered.

"From you, Ezra."

Ezra displayed surprise once again from hearing that. This time, it was genuine. He hadn\'t expected her to actually admit it.

"I overheard your conversation with Gen and reported to Griffin. Griffin decided to act upon that information and once he did, the sanctuary was attacked."

"I was planning on telling Griffin when I was sure of the information." Ezra spoke. "I didn\'t want to bring it to Griffin only to find out I was wrong."

"That\'s a valid concern." Natalia hummed. "But don\'t you find it strange? Why did the Blackthornes attack at the very moment that the count was not in residence?"

Ezra held her gaze with confidence. "Yes. It is strange. But it could also be a coincidence. After all, a cornered rat is a dangerous rat and I do believe that right now, the Blackthornes are cornered."

Natalia nodded as she considered his words. "A cornered rat, huh?" She studied him for a moment. "Very well, Ezra Matten. Be informed that I will be moving out of your home by the end of the week. My duties here have grown too large to be ignored. You can go."

Ezra nodded and left, feeling Natalia\'s eyes watching him. She suspected him. That was fine. He won\'t be under Griffin for too long.

At least, he got something good out of it. Natalia would be leaving and he would gain his freedom back.

He nodded to himself as he left the sanctuary. The plan was moving smoothly.

Griffin still thinks the Blackthornes are alive and will spend his efforts searching for them, unable to trust his subjects completely. This would buy Ezra time to act on his plans.

He smiled as he entered his car. Time to touch base with his \'ally.\'

In an hour, he was in a private room at an unknown location, sipping from his glass of blood wine.

He had long since come to the conclusion that all vampires were alcoholics. He grinned as he took another sip. One day, he\'ll try getting drunk on blood wine.

It didn\'t take long for his guest to arrive. As always, she was late.

Helena strode into the room like a force of nature, her anger evident. Whatever it was, Ezra wasn\'t interested.

"How is the Maguires?" He asked. "Where are you hiding them?"

Helena was silent. She grabbed the bottle of wine on the table, poured herself a glass and drank it all. Ezra leaned back, watching her in amusement. He knew the mission had gone off without a hitch so, whatever was bothering her, it had to be something else.

She poured herself another glass and downed it again.

"Hey, easy there." Ezra grabbed the glass and refilled his own cup. "If you\'re that thirsty, go and buy your own bottle."

Helena slammed her empty cup on the table. "Fucking bitch." She spat.

"I\'m sensing some resentment in your tone but unfortunately, I\'m not your therapist." Ezra smirked. "Where are the Maguires?"

"She took them." Helena spoke.

"Who?" Ezra frowned.

"The Arbiter."

"Ah." Ezra made a sound of realization. "I don\'t see how that\'s a problem."

Helena made to speak before her eyes sharpened. She reigned in her temper and controlled herself as if finally aware of her current companion. "It\'s… not." She finally spoke.

"With the Maguires at the Arbiter\'s place, they\'ll be harder to find and this way, I can keep reporting to Griffin that I haven\'t found them yet. Griffin will be distracted and this will give us the chance to execute our plans."

Helena was silent while Ezra was hiding a smile.

It looked like she had uses for the Maguires and had been thwarted by the Arbiter. Just as he had suspected. It had been a good thing for him to inform the Arbiter of their mission.

Ezra leaned back and took another sip of his wine. It was a good day.