The clairvoyant was starting to display the image of the press conference on a wall of the conference room when I felt a massive blow hit the shield. It had a pinpoint focus and two of the mages responsible for the protections nearest the doors fell in their tracks, eyes rolling back in their heads. A third staggered, only keeping himself upright by force of will—and because he had a table to lean on.
No one knew what was happening. Medics rushed to aid the fallen. Creede looked grim and rushed toward the door with me at his heels.
A second blow, followed by a sensation like maggots crawling across my skin. I smelled sulfur, tasted bile. I started swallowing convulsively to keep the contents of my stomach in my stomach.
Someone out there meant business. With the shields crumbling I could hear the sound of fighting in the hall. Gunshots, boomers, and screams of pain were all clear to me.
“What is it?” Okalani stared at me wide-eyed.
“Get to the other side of the room, now!” I ordered as I pulled the 9mm I’d been given to replace my trusty Colt.
“It’s going to fall,” Creede announced. “I can feel it.”
“Carson, you hear that?”
“Civilians to the far side.” He barked out other orders and his people moved into place with crisp efficiency.
Okalani ran to the far side of the room to join Princess Adriana, King Dahlmar, and most of the others.
Carson sidled up beside me, weapon at the ready. “You do realize that you’re technically a civilian,” he said coldly.
“Bite me.” I flashed fangs. I felt the shield wavering. It wasn’t going to last much longer.
Creede’s grin flashed bright for just an instant, fading as he started counting backward. “In three, two, one—”
The shield fell and the door and a fair part of the wall were blasted into pieces—not by the demon I’d been expecting but by good old-fashioned explosives.
The ground shook and I dropped to one knee. The blast deafened me and the combination of billowing brick dust and smoke was thick enough to make me choke. Chaos reigned. I could barely see through my streaming eyes. Adrenaline kicked in and with it vampire powers. My vision shifted into hyperfocus and time seemed to slow so that it felt as though I had an eternity to take it all in.
Carson was on one knee beside me. He raised a fist in a signal to hold positions. We froze, guns ready.
Through the smoke I saw Queen Stefania, with more than a dozen of her personal guard surrounding her. They had taken out the half dozen of Queen Lopaka’s Elite Guard who’d been hiding behind magic in the hall. But more than a few black-clad bodies were down as well. Stefania had to know she was almost out of time, that reinforcements were coming. But she refused to give up. Eyes blazing, she turned and pointed directly at me.
Me? Why me? What the hell?
I used every bit of vampire speed I had to hit my belly and crawl as fast as I could, moving toward the limited shelter offered by the nearest pile of debris as guns fired, aimed at where I’d been an instant before. Whether I’d moved too quickly or just benefited from the smoke and confusion, her men lost track of me for a second. I used that second to fire directly at Stefania. The shots should have taken out most of her chest, but they didn’t even hit. She had some sort of shield, a force field protecting her. My bullets just bounced off as she laughed.
Well, wasn’t that just dandy?
I ducked down again and scurried to another pile of debris as her people turned their sights on my position.
Our troops had moved forward, cutting off Stefania’s soldiers, forming a wall of resistance between them and me. I was grateful for the cover and for the time. I needed to think. We needed to take down Stefania.
But a force field? That was freaking impossible. No way in hell should she be able to do that. And then it occurred to me—it was exactly that: the power of hell, the magic of a demon, protecting her.
The nine clicked empty. I slid it back into its holster. I drew a different pair of weapons and began moving carefully, keeping under cover as best I could, using the chaos to my advantage. I couldn’t get too close. But with the right angle, I didn’t have to be close. I adjusted my weapons, gauged the angles, and emptied both One Shots of holy water against her shield.
The invisible barrier flared like magnesium, then fell. When it did, I pounced.
The thing is, when you rely on a demon’s magic for too long, you get overconfident. She’d lost her ability to fight. Taken by surprise, she went down hard. It was amazingly satisfying to punch her right in the face with every bit of my strength. Her cheek collapsed under the weight of the blow and blood rushed to the surface of her skin, instantly forming a blackish-purple bruise.
But she got her wits about her quicker than I’d anticipated. She got her legs under me and kicked me off, hard enough to send me flying at least ten feet. She stood and started to stalk forward.
Bullets began to rain on her from a dozen different directions. Blood and flesh exploded from each impact as her body did a gruesome, jerking dance before toppling face-first onto the ground.
A male voice filled my head. I recognized it as the voice of the greater demon, no longer syrupy sweet but so angry his very voice was a bludgeon. This isn’t over, Celia. I will have you.
I retched from the force of the intrusion. If Creede hadn’t caught me, I’d have fallen. He helped me to sit, shoved my head between my knees, and surrounded us both with a shield that pushed the demon away.
Those few of Stefania’s troops who were still alive laid down their arms as Queen Lopaka arrived with the reinforcements. They kept her guarded behind a wall of troops until every last enemy was bound. Only then did she step out from behind her guards to walk over to where Stefania lay.
I rose, a little unsteadily, and went to join her, as did Adriana and Hiwahiwa.
“She’s not dead.” I was shocked. There was no way Stefania could possibly have survived her wounds; from the look of things, most of the blood had drained from her body. Yet that same body still drew ragged breaths. I felt my stomach heave again. You’d think the vampire in me would be attracted to all the blood, but it wasn’t. She was just raw, bloody meat and I wanted none of it. I asked, of anyone who could answer, “Why isn’t she dead?”
Queen Lopaka spoke softly. “We are immortal, for the most part. Jealousy can kill us. That, and certain special magical weapons.” She knelt on the bloody ground, her trousers instantly becoming soaked with gore. Reaching beneath her jacket sleeve, she drew a knife—the knife I had given her. Thrusting her left hand into Stefania’s hair, she pulled the wounded woman’s head up sharply, exposing a length of pale neck. Their eyes met and Lopaka’s went frighteningly cold.
“You are relieved of your throne, sister.” She slashed the knife across that pale expanse of skin, but there wasn’t enough blood left in Stefania’s body for it to spray.
The vanquished siren gave one long, violent shudder and was still.
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