I had planned to help Damin sift through the information we collected, but as soon as we landed in the lab, I remembered seeing Rue and the kids there. Alyssa is going to come across them sooner than later, and I know the blow will be hard. I don't even know if her sister is alive, but I assume she isn't.

Despite knowing she is going to find out very painful information soon, I don't run through the halls. I'm still furious and on edge, so I take the walk at a more human pace in an attempt to calm myself. You can't help someone else unless you are centered, and it is difficult to be centered now.

I'm not even halfway to corridor A when I am filled with a pain that isn't mine. Alyssa is still so young, I can feel her distress. Negative emotions, especially fear and despair, transfer to sires so we can act when our children are in trouble. By the time I arrive in corridor A, the despair and agony have turned to rage.

Her sister is dead then.

Alyssa was the one pushing for peace. It is her plan we are following, her ideas we are developing. If she turns against the peace process, we might as well prepare for war. And, despite everything, I find my taste for war waning.

Finally in corridor A, my senses take me right to her in room seven. Peeking in, I can see they are still crying and connecting. Their grief will lead them to an exhausted slumber soon.

I bypass the room and look for Elder Isis. She will need to know of this latest development. She is elbow deep in assisting with a surgery. The werewolf in question is pregnant, and Elder Isis is using her powers to stabilize and repair any problems with the pregnancy while the surgeons re-break and set improperly healed bones and sew up gashes on her back.

Very few still speak the ancient tongs of egypt, but Elder Isis and I still do. Careful to stay out of the way, I begin speaking in a language only we remember, "Alyssa's sister in law, niece, and nephew were among those taken by the humans. I am not optimistic that her sister survived their abduction. Even now her optimism grows into a deeper and deeper rage."

Isis doesn't look up from what she is doing, but I know she has heard me and is processing what I've said as the corner of her lips turns every so slightly downward. After a time, she responds in the same language, "I suppose it is time to decide if we wish to abandon our experiment with the humans and write them off as a lost cause, or if we would prefer to seek a more peaceful and unifying solution."

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"You have an idea."

"Oberon came up with a brilliant insight that would allow us to proceed down the path of peace. The margins are tight, but with the right team, we can still enact it."

"Would you like me to set up another Entreat?"

"Yes. If possible, set it up for tomorrow morning. Tell Loki—or whatever he goes by these days—to be ready to present his analysis of the data they collected. We will need a full picture to proceed."

"Of course."

"And do try to pull Alyssa back from the edge. She is young and misguided, but we will need her for negotiations if we decide to walk the path of peace."

I nod and walk back to room seven where Alyssa's rage has reduced from an all consuming raging boil to a simmer. Peaking around the door jam, I can see the three djinn are asleep, one still in Alyssa's arms and the other two curled on the same twin bed. Honestly, all three of them could fit with room to spare given how close they are pressed together.

I was on that same ship. I don't blame them at all.

I slide down the wall to sit on the floor as close as I physically can, touching her from our shoulders to the sides of our feet. She adjusts and leans her head on my shoulder, so I slip my arm behind and pull her impossibly closer. Then I wait. In my many years of experience, my children have a tendency to open up and be vulnerable in their own time.

The djinn sleep on. Alyssa's emotions fluctuate, but underlying it all is rage. I understand that, her rage combines with mine, but I am not a child. I know how to push it aside and function despite it. She is too young for that skill.

"Did you sink the ship?" She whispers, not wanting to wake her sleeping family.

"No," I whisper back.

"Why?" She spits the word, screaming in a whisper. Unable to keep the anger from her voice but possessing enough control to not wake her the child in her arms.

"You cannot begin peace negotiations on the graves of five thousand people."

"Fuck peace! They don't respect us! They don't care about us, they don't even care about their own. We should just contact the others and have them eradicated from space!"

"And what about the human mates? The humans like your sister? Would they all die too? And their parents and siblings?"

"I…"

"What would they do if we saved them, and they had to watch billions of their brethren burn? If we don't save them, what will their creature mates do? What about their friends? Their children's friends?" When a child is lost, the best thing to do is offer a problem in the child's area of most expertise. We are on the cusp of a no-win situation, and she is one of the few minds we have capable of solving it. Her insight into humanity is why I turned her.

"They should still die," she mumbles, but there is no heat in it. The rage is still there, simmering, but it isn't quite as hot or all consuming.

We sit there together until the djinn wake hours later.

Nothing more needs to be said. I agree with her, those that actively hurt us should still die, but it is unlikely they will face consequences.