Midnight's Kiss

Eighteen

Using the Power of the blood oaths he had taken as Nightkind King was Julian’s modern-day version of throwing sand in the face.

The Power command only bought him a few moments, and he doubted it would work again. He had felt the Power shoot out of him like a verbal bullet. It would take a while before he could pull that much together again.

Also, once Vampyres heard a Power command from someone who was not their sire, they instinctively fought to throw it off and were more resistant to hearing it a second time. The older and stronger a Vampyre was, the less effective Power commands were, until they worked only minimally or not at all, which was why Dominic had been able to resist kneeling, yet he had not been able to contain his reaction.

Julian didn’t pause to savor his victory over Dominic or wait for the Vampyres around him to recover. Instead, he spun to behead as many opponents as he could while they were still reeling and vulnerable.

He killed six before the command wore off. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that the Light Fae guards who had joined his team were doing the same.

It turned the tide of the fight. As the other Vampyres recovered, they scattered.

Quickly he scanned the scene. If any of his direct progeny had heard the command, they would remain on their knees until he released them.

Julian didn’t personally turn many Vampyres. He didn’t like to carry the responsibility for them. Aside from Xavier and Yolanthe, he had only four other surviving progeny. They were all in the Nightkind guard, but none of them had been close enough to hear him.

He beckoned to his team, and they gathered around him, facing outward, weapons ready. As they did so, he noticed how Xavier’s humans and the Light Fae soldiers coughed. A few had tied cloths around their lower faces.

Rubbing his face with the back of one hand, he looked around. The air in the garage was hazy with black smoke from the burning vehicles. The quality of air, or lack of it, didn’t matter to him or to any of the other Vampyres, but it did to the rest of his team.

He told them, “I’m grateful for what you’ve done, but you’ll be no good to anyone if you pass out from smoke inhalation. Fall back. Go help Melly and her team.”

They were good people, good fighters. Their reluctance to leave was obvious, but they followed orders.

As they pulled back, he did a quick head count. He had lost four of his own, and now after sending the humans and Light Fae away, his team was down to eleven. They needed to join up with Yolanthe and her troops.

To find Yolanthe, all he had to do was follow the noise.

The hallway that led to the munitions area was across the garage on his right, while the IT area lay to his left. The bulk of the fighting had been on the left, but now it had shifted.

Toward the munitions area.

Followed by his team, he strode to the conflict.

As they closed in, he saw that enemy forces had breached the first security door and gained entrance to the hallway inside. He raced from cover to cover, first hiding behind a concrete pillar, then behind a BMW riddled with bullet holes, while his team did the same.

Scanning the scene, he finally saw Yolanthe crouched behind an SUV. Lunging into a sprint, he joined her.

Her dark, short hair and hawkish features were smeared with soot.

When she saw him, she said, “Yo. Glad you’re alive.”

“Back at you.” He slipped his sword into its shoulder sheath and braced one hand on a fender. “Dominic’s dead.”

“Witness my happy dance. Fucking fucker.” Rolling up and around, she fired at the open doorway to the munitions hall. “We were pinned just outside IT until you got here. Dominic kept hammering at us, while Justine worked over here. I guess if she had already broken through the inner door, she would have fired a rocket launcher or two in here by now. So there’s that.”

He had to flush Justine and her fighters out of that hallway before they managed to break through the inner door. Justine couldn’t gain the capacity to send a fireball through the garage.

A lot of times fighting took finesse, patience and strategy.

Sometimes it took a high body count and a bludgeoning force.

He said, “We need enough fire in that hallway to drive them out. I have two grenades. Do you have any?”

Her dark eyes flashed as she glanced at him. “No. Wait here. I’ll see if any of the others do.”

While he waited, he rubbed his dry eyes. He had so many things he wanted to tell Melly, but mostly he just wanted to know if she was all right.

Where was she? How had the evacuation gone? Had they run into any resistance?

He wanted to tell her, you’re the light of my life. I had no idea how bright and open things could become with you.

Yolanthe reappeared, running so hard, her body slammed full tilt into the side of the SUV. When he looked at her, she opened her hands and showed him a grenade belt with three more grenades.

“Okay,” he said. He gathered the belt out of her grasp and added his two to the belt. “Here’s what we’re going to do. I’ll get these into the hallway. I need to get close enough and at the right angle to throw this in, so I need you to cover me.”

“I love suicidal missions,” Yolanthe said. She readied her automatic rifle and gave him a bright grin. “Let’s go.”

He gave a ghost of a chuckle and pulled the pins on the grenades. They pushed away from the SUV and raced toward the hallway. While Yolanthe laid down a hail of covering fire, he sprinted hard, spun like a discus thrower, and heaved the grenade belt. He put all the force he could into it, sending the belt shooting deep into the hallway.

He felt an invisible force punch his right shoulder and left thigh and knew he’d been hit, but his body armor blocked most of the damage. When he and Yolanthe had run past the hallway several yards, they spun around.

Fighters poured out, fleeing the impending blast.

One of them was Justine, her auburn hair flying out from her head like a flag.

She sprinted toward the staircase. She was one of the oldest, most Powerful Vampyres present, and she moved faster than almost anybody else in the garage.

Except for Yolanthe and Julian.

Everything in Julian narrowed down to the need to kill. He leaped forward, but his leg buckled underneath him. The hit he had taken in the thigh had done more damage than he had realized.

Yolanthe wasn’t impaired. She shot forward, moving toward Justine like a linebacker. Leaping, she grabbed Justine by the hair with both hands, bodily lifted the other Vampyre, swung around and flung her through the air.

Justine’s body slammed into a concrete pillar several feet off the ground. She dropped like a stone.

Yolanthe said in Julian’s head, Bitch wants to throw down with her lovely locks all loose and shiny? Okay then.

Down the hallway, the grenades blew. The concussion blasted out through the garage. It knocked Julian to his knees.

He shoved up, drew his sword and launched toward Justine, ignoring the nearby fire and the fighting that had broken out all around.

Bitch hadn’t turned to dust either. She wasn’t dead yet.

As he neared, Justine rolled onto her stomach and came up on her hands and knees. Her teeth were bared in a rictus grin. She reached toward her waist and drew a gun.

And turned to level it at him.

Someone ran toward them from his right, aiming an automatic rifle at Justine and firing a constant spray of bullets.

The shooter was a tall woman with blond hair pulled into a tight bun at her neck. She had a cloth wrapped around her nose and mouth, and she was shadowed by a tall, powerfully built Light Fae male who threw combat spells like sparks of deadly fire.

Melly.

Justine’s arm jerked back and her shots went wide.

Julian regarded the other Vampyre with some degree of incredulity. Bitch still wasn’t dead. But her arm was sure shot to hell.

He limped forward the rest of the way to her, swung his sword, and Justine’s head spun away from her body.

It flew straight toward Melly, as it happened, who flinched back and pulled a massive ew face that was obvious even through the masking cloth. Using the butt of her gun, she whacked at the head like it was a baseball, batting it away from her just as it crumbled to dust.

Meanwhile, bullets flew everywhere, and people still pounded the hell out of each other. Julian grabbed Melly by the waist and hauled her around the concrete pillar for cover.

He shouted at her, “What are you doing down here?”

Her eyes went very wide and she flung out her free hand. She looked more than a little crazed as she shouted in reply, “I couldn’t keep watching this on TV!”

Naturally, her Light Fae troops had returned to the garage with her. Their arrival turned the tide again. While pockets of fighting still raged in a few areas, he saw the battle was essentially over.

He turned back to Melly. “All those fantastic kill shots you made when you dusted the ferals, and you damn near shoot Justine’s arm off?”

“All I could see was the gun she had pointed toward your head. I needed to stop it.”

A fine tremor ran through her body. Her eyes were huge and dark. He snatched her close, hugging her with one arm hooked around her neck. With trembling fingers, she touched his face, his neck.

The scene around them was like something out of hell. It seemed fitting that hell might be found in Evenfall’s basement garage. The last of the fighting came to an end.

Overhead, a fire sprinkler system tried to spurt water, but the system was a modernization that had been tacked onto the old, original stone ceiling. The grid of thin, exposed pipes had been too damaged from various explosions.

As a thin trickle of water dripped on his head, Julian looked up. “That’s not going to be enough.”

Yolanthe shouted, “Get fire extinguishers down here, people!”

Melly coughed. “Do you need to be down here anymore?”

“No. Let’s go.” He kept an arm around her shoulders and stayed watchful, just in case. He had seen too many tragedies occur when people let down their guard at the end of a battle. “It’s over.”

At that, she barked out a hoarse, rasping laugh and coughed harder.

“No,” she told him. “It’s not. Annis and Leopold are busily gathering the Nightkind council together. I predict they’ll all be here inside of two hours.”

He thought about that as they made for the staircase. “Well,” he offered after a few minutes. “At least Dominic and Justine are dead.”

She put an arm around his waist. “At least there’s that.”

They made their way back to Julian’s suite, where Xavier hugged them both and Tess gave Melly a wide, relieved smile.

Meanwhile, chaos reigned. Light Fae troops crowded in. People continued to pop into the stairway tunnel, until someone realized Julian and Melly had returned. Then instead of evacuating, they started pouring back through the tunnel entrance. A loud, excited babble of conversation filled the air.

“I’m never going to get my bedroom back again,” Julian muttered, as he watched the influx of jubilant, relieved people.

Xavier told them, “Evenfall still isn’t secure. We need to do a sweep.”

“We also have to take care of Dominic’s troops stationed outside.” Taking Melly by the hand, he hauled her into his office, which was marginally quieter.

Xavier, Tess and Shane joined them. Melly watched as Julian picked up the receiver from the phone set on his desk. He slammed it back down immediately. “The phone’s dead. Goddammit. They did cut the telecommunications cables.”

Xavier said, “With your permission, I’ll command the sweep. If there’s any more fighting, it’ll be minimal and the guards can take care of it. I’ll also coordinate with Yolanthe to make sure the Nightkind troops are purged of traitors.” Frowning, he paused to regard Tess.

Tess’s expression turned determined. “You don’t need me here anymore. I’m coming with you.”

Purged of traitors. Melly swallowed hard.

“Good, go take care of it,” Julian told the pair. He hadn’t let go of Melly’s hand, his fingers laced through hers.

Melly said to Shane, “It’s still daylight. We can handle that much better than the Nightkind. Send fifteen troops to help with clearing Dominic’s forces from the area around the castle. And we have to clear out some of the chaos in here. Would you make sure people are directed to go out of the suite, so they don’t linger to chat? And close the tunnel entrance as soon as you can.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Following Xavier and Tess, Shane stepped out.

As soon as they had left, Melly released Julian’s hand, stepped forward and slammed the door, shutting out the rest of the world. Julian followed her.

As she turned around, he pinned her back against the door panel with his body weight. Leaning both his arms on the door, he bowed his head next to hers.

Torn between holding on to him and running her hands over the surface of his scarred body armor, she tried to do both at once.

“You were hit,” she whispered. “You were limping.”

He shook his head, his cheek pressed against hers. “I’m all right,” he muttered in her ear. “What about you? Did you take any hits?”

“Not a single one. I’m uninjured.”

He touched her cheek, her hair, then gripped the back of her neck and kissed her with so much hunger, as if he hadn’t seen her for years. It reflected exactly how Melly felt. She was starving for his mouth, his touch, and kissed him back wildly.

Someone gave a polite tap on the door. He lifted his head and bellowed, “No.”

Dismayed muttering sounded on the other side of the panel.

Dropping her forehead onto his shoulder, she started to laugh. Oh, this day.

She told him, “I don’t remember when I last slept. Wait, it was in the bath, wasn’t it? I feel like I’ve been on a runaway train for a week now.”

“I know,” he said. “We’re going to put on the brakes. The council might be arriving, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to see them right away. I’ll convene a meeting tonight. As soon as the suite is cleared, I’ll order some food for you. We can clean up and take a nap.”

She didn’t know if she could sleep. She felt strung out but clearheaded, and she was still running on adrenaline. Still, food and a shower sounded like incredible luxuries.

His body weight lifted as he finally eased back. He said, “I haven’t had a chance to tell you. Back at the house, when you went to talk to your troops, I called Carling.”

“What?!” Reaching for his face, she framed his cheeks with her hands. “Are you all right? She didn’t try anything, did she?”

He shook his head and gave her a wry smile. “No, she didn’t. We… talked. We just talked. It went better than I expected. I don’t think it wiped away what happened last year, but it did clear the air. I asked her to release me from her old orders, and she said she would.”

“And you believe her,” she said.

“Yes, I do. She even said the words over the phone, although she warned she would need to say them in person to be sure it took.” He smiled, took her hands and kissed them. “But I felt better immediately. That’s all because of you.”

She curled her fingers around his. “What do you think you’ll want to do?”

The expression in his piercing gaze turned inward and reflective. “I honestly don’t know. What I really want is to be able to make the choice.”

“Let’s take that vacation we discussed,” she suggested gently. “I know Mom will help me clear my schedule if I ask her. You could have somebody in San Francisco deliver the Harley here… I ought to get more than one ride out of that bike. It cost me enough. We can go to Tahoe. Or it doesn’t have to be Tahoe. We could go someplace completely new. Hell, let’s take a year off. What’s a year, anyway?”

“What is a year, anyway?” He echoed her words softly, almost to himself, and started to smile. “As long as it’s a year with you, it will be everything I need.”

She closed her eyes for a moment. She loved him so much, so much.

Stepping away, he unbuckled the chest plate of his body armor and set it aside. Underneath, he wore a black, long-sleeved shirt that hugged his torso and arms. He dug into a pocket and pulled out his cell phone.

One corner of his lips lifted. “If you call your mom, I’ll call mine.”

She burst out laughing. “It’s a deal.”

With his help, she stripped out of her armor too. By the time Melly had finished talking to Tatiana, and Julian had called Carling to arrange for her and Rune to arrive that evening, the suite had finally been cleared and the tunnel entrance sealed.

When she and Julian emerged from the office, Shane, along with another Light Fae guard, joined the two Nightkind guards on duty outside the suite doors.

Only moments later, Xavier and Tess arrived. Xavier carried a tray of food. As soon as Melly smelled a hot, savory aroma coming from the tray, all thoughts of taking a shower and crawling into bed flew out of her head.

“Evenfall is secure,” Xavier told them. “We even inspected the kitchens personally.”

“And with great interest,” Tess said. She smiled at Melly. “I wondered if you might be as hungry as I am.”

“I’m starving,” she confessed.

Xavier set the tray on the coffee table in the living room. “They have a lot of people to feed unexpectedly, so they went with pasta.”

Melly uncovered her dish to discover a plate of steaming fettuccine Alfredo with slices of grilled chicken breast. Fresh shaved Romano cheese had melted on top, and the dish was even garnished with a sprig of parsley.

She moaned, “Oh my God, this is heaven.”

A bottle of white wine had been included with the tray, but both Tess and Melly ignored the alcohol and concentrated on the food. Julian poured glasses of bloodwine for himself and Xavier, who briefed him on details as the women ate.

To Melly, everything sounded like blah blah, fine, blah blah, I’ll take care of it, blah blah, sounds good.

She let it all wash over her as she concentrated on the excellent meal on her plate. Despite the high concentration of Nightkind occupants who never touched food, or perhaps because of it, the chefs in the Evenfall kitchens prided themselves on putting out some of the finest-quality meals in California.

Tess ate with as much enthusiasm as Melly, until Julian said to Xavier, “I need to ask if you would be willing to act as regent for a year.”

Tess froze in midchew. Swallowing a bite of food, Melly shifted her gaze to Xavier, who raised his eyebrows. “Are you going somewhere?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact, I am.” Julian sprawled back in his armchair. He had taken a few minutes to change into jeans and a dark blue sweater. For the first time in a very long time, he looked relaxed. “Melly and I are going to take a year off.” He paused. “I can’t promise I’ll be back.”

Xavier looked at Tess, who hadn’t moved. Silence fell in the room and extended. They were talking telepathically. Sipping his bloodwine, Julian waited with every appearance of patience, while Melly concentrated on finishing her meal.

Once Julian had brought up the subject, she could see all the many reasons why it was the best possible idea. Already highly placed, Xavier knew the workings of the Nightkind government intimately, and he was utterly reliable.

But spending a whole year as regent was a huge commitment, especially with Xavier and Tess’s relationship so new.

Melly said to Julian, I love so much that you asked him, and you didn’t make it an order.

He gave her a faint smile that softened the edges of his hard mouth. I couldn’t do anything else.

Judging by the increasing tension in both Xavier and Tess, it appeared their telepathic conversation might not be going very well.

Suddenly Tess burst out, “Okay Julian, I have to say this out loud. If Xavier agrees to do this, I want you to turn me. Would you do that, please?”

“Querida, no,” Xavier said forcefully.

Tess turned to him. “I’ve already made up my mind. I want to be turned, and I don’t want you to be the one to do it. Having you as my sire and my partner is far too much of a power imbalance.”

Julian’s sharp gaze dissected her expression. “Not that long ago, at the Vampyre’s Ball, you had some serious problems with Vampyres.”

“Yes, I did,” Tess replied. Her attitude was unflinching. “But I have done a lot of growing since then.” She said to Xavier, “Are you going to tell them, or shall I?”

Xavier’s frustration eased somewhat. When he next spoke, his voice had softened. “I have asked Tess to marry me, and she has said yes.” He told her, “But that doesn’t mean you need to transform into a Vampyre overnight.” He added gently, “It doesn’t mean you need to transform into a Vampyre at all. I love you as you are, querida, and I don’t want you to change because of me.”

“First, thank you,” Tess said. “But I’m not going to grow old while you don’t. That’s another imbalance that isn’t going to happen. And if you become regent, the last thing you need is a frail human partner.”

“I will thank you to remember that I know best what I need,” Xavier told her. He said it with such old-world courtesy it took some of the sting out of the words. “What I need most is to know that you are fulfilled and happy. Again, I don’t believe becoming a Vampyre has anything to do with that.”

“I know I’m young, and I’m well aware it’s is a huge decision,” Tess said. “If you can trust me enough to plan on marrying me, you can trust me enough to know my own mind about this too.”

Julian said in Melly’s head, She has a point there.

Despite the obvious tension between the other two, he sounded amused. Melly rubbed her mouth to hide her smile. Don’t make my face do something inappropriate. This is serious stuff, Julian.

Look at him, Julian said. Look underneath all his surface emotions. He’s so stinking happy.

Julian was right, Xavier was. His love for the young human woman came through in every word and gesture. The same could also be said of Tess. Even as Xavier and Tess exchanged a deeply exasperated glance, they both softened toward the other.

“Your argument has become irrelevant,” said Julian. Quickly Xavier and Tess spun toward him. They both opened their mouths. Julian raised his hand. “Stop. As soon as Tess asked me to turn her, it became a conversation between her and me.”

“I am part of that conversation,” Xavier said furiously.

Julian speared him with a glance. “Yes, but you are not in control of it. She has to make decisions for herself. I make decisions for myself.”

“Thank you,” Tess said, sitting up straight.

“And,” Julian added, “Xavier will make his own decisions too. Tess, there are so many reasons why Vampyres use a year as a probation period. As obvious as this might sound, becoming a Vampyre is irrevocable. If you still want this a year from now, I’ll turn you myself whether you’re still with Xavier or not. In the meantime, eat chocolate and steak. Get a suntan. Take the time to relish all the human things you’ll leave behind.” He said to Xavier, “If that affects whether or not you’ll agree to be regent, so be it. Now, I’m finished with this discussion. Melly and I are dog tired, and I have to meet with the council this evening. All I need is your answer.”

Xavier and Tess exchanged another quick glance.

Then Xavier told him firmly, “Yes. If you can talk the council into accepting a regency, I’ll do it.”

Oh, yay.

Melly was pretty sure relief lay on the other side of a great divide. She couldn’t connect to the emotion — or to any emotion, for that matter. Her belly felt lovely and full, all the danger was gone, and suddenly her body demanded she go horizontal as soon as possible.

“I’m cooked,” she said. “I’m out.”

Vaguely she was aware that the other three came to their feet, but it all happened on the other side of that divide. She walked into Julian’s bedroom, kicked off her boots and crawled fully clothed underneath the covers. The world began to spin away on formless clouds.

Suddenly Julian was there.

“Oh, baby.” His voice was very gentle. “Not in your clothes. You deserve so much better than that.”

With an immense effort, she managed to respond. “S’okay. I don’t care.”

“I care.” He pulled back the covers and eased her clothes off.

She let him. “How much time do we have?”

He hesitated. “I’ve set the alarm for four hours. That will allow enough time to shower first and meet with Carling.”

A four-hour nap sounded like heaven.

“You know, I have to say this,” he said as he slid into the bed beside her. He had stripped out of his clothes too. “You don’t have to come with me. You could sleep longer. God only knows you need the rest.”

“Fuck you,” she mumbled into her pillow. “Fuck that.” We’ve already discussed this. “I’m good to go, soldier. Just lemme.” Take the nap first.

“You’re so tired, you’re switching back and forth from telepathy.” He pulled her into his arms, and she curled around his body.

She had been trying to figure out which method of speech took the least effort, but she couldn’t decide. Meanwhile, the long, physical bulk of his presence was so soothing, and her head fit onto his shoulder so perfectly.

Yes, exactly there. That was home.

She plummeted to sleep.

Four and a half hours later, she and Julian walked hand-in-hand into the empty council assembly hall, accompanied by Xavier, Tess and Shane. Three more Light Fae guards stopped outside the doors.

The smaller assembly hall had been designed with classic simplicity, much like the great hall. Although Melly knew that chairs and tables were sometimes added for long meetings, currently it was devoid of furniture.

Melly had slept like the dead until Julian’s alarm had gone off. Coming awake had been painful, but a hot shower had helped, along with gulping a cup of piping-hot coffee and eating a croissant.

Someone had left clothes for her in the living room, along with the food and coffee. They were simple, black trousers and a black sweater, but they fit well enough. After braiding her hair, she wound it into a knot at the nape of her neck again.

Julian had already risen and dressed by the time she got up, and he was meeting with various people. When she walked into the living room, his office door was closed. She had eaten while listening to the muffled sounds of his and Yolanthe’s voices. There had been no more time to talk privately with him.

Now, nerves jumped underneath her skin again. She felt like she was about to go into another battle. Except what came next wasn’t her battle. It was Julian’s.

With a clang, the doors shut behind them. The next time they opened, it would be to let in the council.

She said in his head, I’m okay with whatever you decide. When it comes down to it, if you feel like you need to stay, I’ll support you no matter what. You get to have a real choice, Julian.

He came to a stop. The expression in his eyes was so vulnerable, it made her want to throw her arms around him and never let go.

He said, I don’t deserve you.

Well, that’s true, she told him gently, smiling. The important thing is that you recognize it.

His hand tightened on hers. I had the Harley delivered. It’s waiting for us in the public parking lot, just inside the gate.

It took a moment for his words to sink in. Then she remembered their conversation from earlier in his office, and a burst of pure joy filled her chest.

He pulled out his phone and made a call. He said, “We’re here.”

Almost immediately the whirling Power of a Djinn filled the empty space. Three figures solidified. Melly recognized all of them.

One was a tall, imperious-looking male with long black hair and diamond-like eyes. He was Soren’s son, Khalil.

The other two were a man and a woman. The man was Wyr, handsome and also tall, with tawny hair. He had once been Dragos’s First sentinel, and now he was Carling’s mate, Rune.

The woman was Carling. She was beautiful, with almond-shaped eyes, warm brown skin and short dark hair. The last time Melly had seen her, Carling’s hair had been long and flowed down her back.

“Ah, Evenfall,” said Carling. “It holds such memories.” She murmured to Rune, “I could take it all back, you know.”

“You love your new life too much,” Rune said. He gave his mate a sleepy-looking smile.

Carling turned to Julian and Melly. “There, you see? I can’t even tease him. Hello, Melly. Julian.” She gave the others a nod.

While Carling appeared to be relaxed and Rune remained smiling, Melly noticed neither one stepped forward. Khalil didn’t even pretend to smile. Instead the Djinn folded his arms and watched everyone with a raised eyebrow.

Melly didn’t realize she was gripping Julian’s hand so hard until he said telepathically to her, It’s all right. Broken trust can’t be rebuilt in a day. Aloud, he said, “Thank you for coming.”

“You’re welcome,” said Carling. “Truth be told, while I’d love to stay and watch what happens next, I would be too tempted to get involved. As my Rune so wisely pointed out, I love my new life too much. So, Julian Regillus, I will say it again. You’re free of any obligation to the Nightkind demesne save those you choose for yourself. Your future is no longer what I order.”

“Unless you try to hurt my mate again,” said Rune, still with that sleepy smile. In contrast to his lazy, handsome expression, his gaze was sharp as a drawn blade. “Then your future ass becomes mine.” As Carling raised her eyebrows at him, he shrugged. “What? I had to say it.”

At Carling’s words, Melly had felt a tremor run through Julian’s big body. She whispered, “Are you all right?”

Squeezing her fingers reassuringly, he nodded. He said to Carling, “I won’t forget that you were willing to come here and do this.” He looked at Rune. “Either of you.”

“I hope you find the path that makes you happy, Julian.” Carling paused. Then she nodded at Khalil, who put his hands on her and Rune’s shoulders, and the Djinn’s Power swept them away.

Did Carling’s pause go on a heartbeat too long?

Melly spun around to face Julian. What did she do? What did she say? She didn’t take it back and order you to do something else, did she?

He took hold of her arms reassuringly. No. It’s all right. She just advised me about something I already knew I needed to do.

What’s that? Melly searched his expression.

He said, I have to kill Darius.

Councilman Darius?

Yes. Dominic was a bad surprise, but we’ve known for a long time that Justine and Darius were co-conspirators. He said aloud to Xavier, “Open the doors.”

It was hard to step away from Julian, but she forced herself to do it. Beckoning to Tess and Shane, Melly led them to one side, while she murmured in Shane’s head, This meeting may get a little touchy.

It’s a good thing you warned me. Shane’s mental voice sounded comfortably dry. I was in danger of relaxing.

She rolled her eyes at him. If things go the way I think they will, you can take the troops home afterward.

He nodded in acknowledgement. This was a good outing. It’s been a good day.

As Xavier opened the doors, the surviving ten members of the Nightkind council poured in. Although she wasn’t acquainted with any of them very well, Melly knew all their names.

Marged, Connor and Nicholas. Dylan, Leopold and Annis.

Trey, Jaylinn and Gustave.

And of course Darius.

Danger entered the hall on quiet cat feet along with the council. These Vampyres were some of the most deadly of the Nightkind.

Julian strode to the center of the room. The other Vampyres grouped loosely around him. After the last one had entered, Xavier closed the doors again. With his customary erect posture and quiet dignity, he made his way around the edge of the room to Tess, Melly and Shane.

Melly noticed how Leopold and Annis positioned themselves in front of her, Shane and Tess. She didn’t know who had prompted that, whether it had been Julian or Xavier, or if Leopold and Annis had volunteered to do it on their own, but she knew it hadn’t happened by accident.

As Leopold glanced over his shoulder at Melly, he inclined his head. Thank you for what you did earlier.

She returned his nod with a smile. You’re welcome.

Other council members took in the trio’s presence with less equanimity.

Darius said, “Really, Julian, a human and two Light Fae? This is an emergency council meeting. Not even Xavier should be present.”

“Shut up,” Julian said. His icy voice cracked like a whip.

Reaction rippled through the council. Gustave and Jaylinn looked outraged, while Marged, of all people, appeared unsurprised.

Darius snapped, “You dare talk to us like that? After slamming martial law down on this demesne then disappearing into thin air — And now you’ve killed two members of this very council —”

Julian had stood in such a neutral posture that when he exploded, Melly startled violently.

Oh, shit.

He had said he needed to kill Darius. He didn’t say he needed to do it right now.

Julian body slammed Darius into the wall. Both Vampyres blurred into vicious movement. Snarling filled the air.

Shane shoved Melly back into a corner and covered her body with his, facing outward. Xavier did the same with Tess.

Julian and Darius tumbled along the length of the room, striking blows at each other. Like an avalanche or some other natural disaster, they seemed utterly unstoppable, until Julian slammed Darius’s head into the floor so hard, the crack resounded through the hall.

The blow would have killed any number of other creatures, including younger Vampyres. Darius struggled to get to his hands and knees.

Some of the council members had stepped forward, as if they might plunge into the fight as well, while others moved to block them. Tension held everyone at some kind of brink. They stared at Julian and Darius with shocked faces and reddened eyes.

Before Darius could fully rise up, Julian kicked him. The blow flipped him onto his back. Coming down hard with both knees on the other Vampyre’s stomach, Julian drove one fist into Darius’s chest wall, pulled out his beating heart and crushed it in his fist.

Darius’s body collapsed. Julian stood. He looked around the rest of the group. His face was so savage, several council members took a step back.

“I just executed Darius for crimes of treason,” he growled. “Just like I executed Dominic and Justine earlier today. For the record, Justine tried to kill Xavier. She slaughtered her household, kidnapped the Light Fae heir and tried to kill me more than once over the last few days. Dominic tried to take Evenfall and murdered several innocent people in the process, and Darius colluded with them both. Now, do I need to execute anybody else today?”

The resulting silence was so profound, Melly swore she could have heard a pin drop from across the hall. Several council members looked at her, their expressions appalled. She gave them a grim nod, silently confirming the story.

Julian took a step forward. Death covered him in an invisible mantle, present in his aggressive posture and his transformed features.

To a person, all the council members took a step back.

“Now, this is also for the record,” snapped the King. “You are not here tonight to debate by committee. I am not your servant. I do not ask for your permission when I take action, and I do not owe you explanations. I am done with your petty shit. I’m done with working to hold this demesne together while you all indulge in self-serving attitudes. Do you hear me? I am done.”

Annis made a placating gesture with both hands. “Tempers are running hot right now,” she said. “Why don’t we all take a day? We can talk tomorrow night, when we’ve had a chance to cool down.”

“I won’t be here tomorrow,” Julian said. “Melly and I are leaving.”

“What?” said Marged. “You’ve been gone for several days already.” Julian hissed at her. Marged took another step back and muttered, “I recognize that wasn’t your fault.”

“Here’s what’s going to happen,” said Julian. “I’m taking a vacation. I’ll be gone for a year. Frankly, I don’t know if I’m coming back. Xavier will act as regent, and you will either finally commit to this demesne and work toward something bigger than yourselves, or you won’t. If you do, I might return. If you don’t, I’ll wash my hands of you, and you can each go to hell in your own way.”

The council erupted.

“You can’t just leave!”

“— an entire year? You’ve got to be kidding —”

“— some of us have businesses to run —”

Blah blah protest, blah blah, dismay, blah blah what about me?

Melly let it all wash over her while she watched Julian. Only Julian.

He turned to her and said telepathically, That’s our cue to leave.

Halle-fucking-lujah.

She wiggled out from behind Shane and kissed him on the cheek. Then she hugged Tess and Xavier quickly. She told Xavier, “Keep in touch.”

Wry amusement showed in Xavier’s gaze. “Oh, you know I will.”

Then she left them to walk to toward Julian, who held out his hand. The murderous fury in his expression had faded, to be replaced with a look that made her pulse pound and her heart sing.

The assembly hall fell silent as she reached him and took his hand. It remained silent as they walked out the door.

Julian set a fast pace. Melly passed down hallways without registering details, her mind in a daze. Part of her couldn’t believe what was happening.

But part of her could too.

Midnight had passed. They were starting a new day.

Outside, the night was crisp and clear, with a luminous canopy of stars overhead. A ghoul waited by the Harley. It was Herman. Giving them a mournful smile, he handed them jackets and a helmet. “We packed tings in dose saddlebags, just like you ordered, Mr. King.”

“You don’t have a helmet?” Melly asked Julian as she shrugged into her jacket and helmet.

“I don’t need one.” He zipped his jacket. His gaze met hers. “You don’t either. Yours is just to keep your hair from getting so tangled. I won’t let you crash.”

He wouldn’t either. Smiling, she buckled her helmet into place.

He straddled the Harley and started it. She climbed on behind and snuggled close, wrapping her arms around his waist. The growl of the machine vibrated between her legs as he pulled away. As they left the lights of Evenfall, the night wrapped them in its embrace.

Julian took the winding roads at a leisurely pace. Laying her head on his shoulder, Melly watched the countryside pass.

Are you tired? he asked.

No, she told him. She felt glorious. She never wanted this ride to end.

His head turned sideways. She caught a glimpse of his hard, sexy profile. So, we can ride for a while.

Yes, please. She laid a hand over his heart.

They came to the winding entrance that would take them onto the interstate. She asked, Where are we going first?

I don’t know. Are you okay with that?

Oh, hell yeah.

Briefly he covered her hand with his.

Then he punched the gas.

The Harley shot forward, like a thoroughbred bursting out of a gate.