The great hall of the Mayor's stronghold, just at the edge of town, usually reserved for council meetings and diplomatic gatherings, thrummed with a different kind of energy tonight. Here, gathered beneath the cold, watchful eyes of their leaders, stood the combined forces of Summerset's defenders: stoic vampires, restless werewolves, a handful of stern-faced witches, and other powerful beings united by a common threat.
The air was thick with the scent of adrenaline and determination, the quiet clink of a few sharpened weapons the only counterpoint to the nervous murmurs. The battle had not yet begun, but the stillness before the storm was almost more potent than the storm itself.
The intelligence of the attack's timing had come through a network as ancient and intricate as the supernat
