I come to slowly.

It is difficult to knock a vampire unconscious. That is not a usual state of being for us. We don't sleep often either.

I run through my usual checks, and take a moment to berate myself for being in this situation often enough to have usual checks. I'm laying flat on a surface, most likely a table. It is hard and cold. Most likely stone or metal, hard to know which without knocking on it, which would let my captors know I'm awake. My wrists and ankles are chained, with extra cabling running around my torso.

Whoever chained me fully understands the strength of vampires. I will not be able to brute force my way off this table.

My beard is gone too, which likely means my disguise is gone as well. There are noise canceling headphones over my ears, and a blindfold across my eyes.

Voices talk off to the side. Far enough away that it is difficult to understand them through the music blaring in my very sensitive ears, but not so far that I can't smell them. Three humans and Cory.

Three humans and Cory?

I expected to be turned into the council. But I've been given to humans?

I assumed Elder Vulcan would double cross me, but I never expected him to betray the council. This is madness! Humans can't be trusted.

I strain to listen to their conversation, but can only pick up a word here or there.

"Honor…. deal?" Cory says.

"….dragons….spared…. useful" One of the humans.

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So, the dragons were found out by the humans and decided to make a deal of some kind. Perhaps handing over the other races for study so they could be spared?

I'll bet anything some dragon's hoard was threatened and that's how they were found out. Instead of informing the council or going underground, they made a deal. With humans.

Vulcan probably planned to use me and the child to lure other elders into the trap. I'm not just a gift as part of the deal, I'm bate.

I extend my senses looking for a way to escape. If I do, will I contact the elders and tell them of the betrayal? They won't believe me. Maybe one or two will insist on an investigation, and then they will fall right into the trap.

I have to expose Vulcan and the dragons somehow. Create a situation of irrefutable proof.

The humans stop talking and walk over to where I'm bound to the table. One takes position near my head, the other near my feet, and a third climbs under the table and starts unhooking extra chains. When he is done they start wheeling me somewhere.

The table is metal, and on wheels, I can probably escape from this, but not yet. I need to stay and figure out their plans. If they have a plan that reveals us to the rest of the human population before we can orchestrate first contact, then we have already lost.

But, if they intend to keep it a secret, we can still leverage the public to push politicians toward peace. Knowing which way this goes, is crucial for our survival.

The other thing I need to know is if I am the only one they have. If they already have a number of us captured, and are studying us, then we could be in really big trouble. If the humans find medicinal use for us, we are unlikely to find a path to peace. If they haven't found a use for us, then they may start experimenting on paths to extermination. Biological weapons may be illegal, but that won't stop them from developing something to destroy our populations—especially if what they create has no effect on humans.

I'm rolled into a helicopter, and the table is secured in the center. No one is talking, but by the way the air moves, I can tell they are gesturing to each other.

They were speaking English earlier, but that means very little in this part of the world. They could be taking me anywhere in the EU. Italy, Germany, and England are all equally likely. Oh, maybe they are taking me to Rome? It has been a while since I've seen the Vatican. I hear it hasn't changed much.

The helicopter takes off and I start mentally counting out the minutes. If I can count out the exact flight time, I will know our likely destination.

I'm sorry Lou, Alyssa. All our hopes rest on you now.