Ravenous

Ebola with bubonic plague. Why the hell would you do that?'

Chapter 27

While Holly and Alessandro slept, Geneva had dared the nonhumans to do battle with her on campus that night. She had done it the traditional way, with a written challenge and the gift of a silver knife. The bloodied silver blade meant it was a fight to the death.

It was cold, the skies clear and starry. The south campus—farthest from the coffee shops and movies—was all but deserted, as if the humans sensed coming danger and huddled indoors. It was only eleven o'clock, but the windows of the nearby residences were mostly dark. Vampires, werebeasts, and other creatures hid in the shadows, waiting.

Omara and the other leaders of pack and clan conceded that the demon's choice of location was logical. Fairview U was dead center of the successful portals. For whatever reason this was where Geneva's magic worked best. Nor was the challenge itself a surprise, though it had come sooner than expected. Fresh from the Castle, Geneva should still have been weak.

That raised questions.

They were nervous. Not sure what to expect. Worried about keeping the humans safe. Worried about humans seeing what they shouldn't.

How Geneva would wage her war was unknown, but nobody thought she'd do it alone.

Accordingly, Queen Omara summoned her champion to join her on the campus at once.

Alessandro found Omara striding across the dew-laden lawns. With cold, fixed purpose, he descended like an evil storm.

Grabbing her arm, he dragged her away from her two guardsmen. With a regal flick she waved them away as they hastened to intervene. Her expression was unconcerned. As Alessandro released her, she smoothed her hair into place and slipped her hands into the pockets of her long, fur-trimmed coat. Queens did not show fear.

Alessandro ached to change that. 'Malevolent bitch!' he snarled. 'You knew. You knew there were other ways to save Holly.'

Omara's response showed only in the sharp line of her mouth, the widening of her eyes. The queen was still, but her stance was a haiku of future violence.

Alessandro wasn't sure he cared anymore.

'I had to be sure that we were in control of your witch's magic,' she said with utter calm. 'The risk that she would Turn before we could help her was too great.'

'Not if you had wanted to save her. Then your reasoning would be quite different.'

'You malign me.'

'I know you.'

'You took what you craved.'

'I could have controlled myself.'

'I wonder. I wager you ache to savor her blood even now.'

There was no good reply to that. Alessandro glanced away from Omara. If I love Holly, I must face the hell of leaving her. Anything less will be her destruction. Sick anger seared him like poison. Omara would have been kinder to kill him.

He still reeled from the look on Holly's face when she relayed what her grandmother had said. She had gone specter-white with shock. Oh, Holly was strong. There were no tears, no wild exclamations, but her eyes had been full of hollow disbelief that their lives had been shattered for nothing, because vampires played cruel games.

That moment changed everything. Something inside his soul had slammed shut with a sepulchral clang. Now he turned back to Omara, decisions made, past loyalties sealed behind that door.

'You grow reckless with my goodwill, my champion.' Omara's upper lip curled, showing fang. 'Your affairs of the heart are not my concern.'

Alessandro nearly laughed. The irony of it all sickened him. 'Goodwill? You destroyed the one bit of peace that I had found. Whether it was for jealousy or convenience doesn't matter.'

A moment passed as the truth hung in the air, noxious and thick enough to choke. He was calmer now that he had said it. The real question was what he did next.

'I have always served the good of our people.'

'Public concern does not excuse private cruelty.'

She opened her mouth, then closed it again, a mix of affront and surprise on her face. Alessandro did not flinch.

'There are more important things.' Omara brushed away a strand of hair. She had been so still, the gesture seemed monumental. 'Geneva didn't neglect the niceties. She couriered each of the nonhuman leaders a knife.'

'Impressive. At least she has style.'

Omara waited while the wind stirred their hair, his bright, hers dark. 'Is that all you have to say?'

The moment had come, the fork in the road. He took it. 'What is there to say? I will fight this night, but only because the demon threatens us all. I will not fight for you. I've been your knight, but you betrayed all the loyalty I've given you. All my trust. You do not deserve my fealty.'

Omara's eyes flared a pale gold. 'You are my retainer.'

'And you repaid my services so well.'

'I'm sorry. That was my blunder.' Omara met his eyes, but her boldness had faded.

Alessandro read the expression. 'What happened?'

'Clan Albion did not answer my summons. The entire clan has disappeared from Fairview, down to the last fledgling.'

Pierce's clan. 'Treason.'

Omara gave a helpless gesture. 'You win. I should have listened to you. You guessed they had a hand in it.'

The queen had effectively steered him away from venting his anger. He knew it, but Alessandro still considered what she had just told him. Albion had the best fighters.

She put her hand on his, wordless. All she had to say was in her touch. Come back to me.

Alessandro's breath caught. 'No,' he said, ending her unspoken plea.

'You will fight for me this night?' she asked. The question was bald, querulous, perhaps the only words he had ever heard that came straight from her heart.

'Yes.'

After, if there was an after, he would walk away from Omara's service and any place in the society of his kind. There were things worse than loneliness. Chief among them was dishonorable servitude.

One bitch queen at a time.

Focus on Geneva and whoever brought the soul-sucking road show to Fairview. Once this is over, you can find some way of grinding Omara's bones to dust.

Besides, the vampire diva of evil was already occupied.

Holly could see Alessandro and Omara as distant shadows, their gestures backlit by the haze of the lampposts that dotted the paths across the campus lawn. She didn't need to hear their words to understand that their long relationship was tearing apart. Their hands sketched the pain in understated slashes as they spoke.

Holly turned away, feeling like a voyeur.

A whiff of leather and pine hung on the breeze, an odor of wild and ancient places. Werebeasts. The packs and prides had begun to arrive, roaming the pathways in groups of two and three. The appointed time for battle