As the poisonous thorns embedded in his skin, ‘Snape’ cried out and burst into ashes. His protector swerved around in surprise…giving me the perfect opportunity. I aimed a bolt of lightning at his back, satisfied by the idea that he couldn’t shield anyone else.

Harvey was suddenly at my side. “We got a problem. Stuart managed to squeeze his way through the circles by staying in particle-form. He reassembled in front of Covington, and now he’s trying to take him out alone.”

“What?”

“Stuart’s got a lot of anger in him after what happened to him. Right now, he doesn’t care that Covington’s yours to kill.”

But my real problem wasn’t that. It was the knowledge that Covington was pretty powerful with his gift of enchanting objects – he could make anything deadly. The simplest object could become a weapon. “Shit.”

With renewed vigour, I attacked the vampires in front of me, determined to breach the protective circle and get to Stuart. It was clear that the rest of the squad had noticed what Stuart had done, because they became just as vigorous. Soon Salem, Ava, and Cristiano had tackled the chameleon, David and Butch had dealt with the ice-ball-thrower, Max and Chico and Jude took out beetle boy, and Harvey and Denny helped me destroy the Pagori who liked to create cracks in the ground.

Trusting the squad to tackle the others, I fought through the remaining vampires in front of me and charged directly into the circle…just in time to see Stuart stabbed in the heart with the same knife that had earlier nicked Antonio’s throat. Fuck. Torn between the urge to run to Stuart’s side and the urge to attack Covington, I hesitated. Covington took advantage of that moment of hesitation, slicing at my arm with his knife. It was so unnaturally sharp that not only did it tear through my sturdy leather jacket and t-shirt, but it took away layers of skin. And I knew then that this knife could probably cut through just about anything.

“Which will it be, Jared: your revenge, or your squad member’s life?” Covington’s eyes were glinting with malevolence and a hint of madness. “Look at him, Jared. The life is draining out of him. I’d say he has under a minute left to live.”

“Then it’s a good thing that I’m here,” said a new voice. Paige. She was with Stuart, placing her hand on his wound. At the same time, Evan appeared and slung a half-dead Langley at Covington, knocking him to the ground. Covington shoved Langley away and went to get up, but then he froze – most likely because a black panther was looming over him. Evan, Alora, and Imani watched with satisfaction as Paige walked over to the two vampires who were sprawled on the ground.

“No!” I yelled. “Covington’s mine!”

Paige smiled, but it wasn’t a nice sight. “Yes, but Langley’s mine.” Then she slapped her hand over his chest and he screamed as something seemed to ripple down her arm and onto his body – Stuart’s injury. When Langley was finally nothing but a clump of ashes, Paige stood upright and released a deep, cleansing sigh.

When she didn’t hit the ground crying out in sheer agony at the breaking of her blood-bond to him, I frowned. “I thought Langley was your Sire.”

“He was,” she replied.

“I cut their bond a long time ago,” said Imani as she helped Stuart stand. He nodded in thanks at Paige.

“That was why Langley hadn’t been able to track Paige,” I mused. Shrugging off the matter, I returned my attention to a snarling Covington. His gaze was darting in all directions, clearly noticing what I’d already sensed. Everyone was now circling us, watching intently. The battle was over. His vampires were dead. He was the only one left…and there was absolutely no way that he was getting out of this alive.

At my signal, Alora urged the panther away from Covington. Laughing humourlessly, he got to his feet. “I guess you’re very pleased with yourself, aren’t you, Jared?”

“Pleased that a lot of lives were lost tonight? No, far from it.”

He rolled his shoulders, preparing for a fight. “Ready for me, Jared? Think you can take me?”

Yeah, I did, but…“Whatever made you think we’d be duelling?”

His gaze narrowed and he stilled. “You want me dead.”

“Sure I do. And I will kill you. But I never said that I’d do you the honour of duelling with you.”

Covington gawked while the majority of people around us gasped.

“Ouch,” said Harvey. “Now that’s cold.” His voice was approving.

He was right; it was cold to deprive someone of a duel. It said that they weren’t worth the effort. “Why would I duel with someone who has no decency or integrity? You tried to take Antonio’s position, and you tried to take The Hollow. You like to get things the easy way, like to cheat. So tell me why the f**k should I do you the honour of a straightforward duel, knowing that you’ll cheat? What would be the point?”

My peripheral vision picked up the crowd parting, and that was when I sensed Sam coming towards me with Dexter curled around her waist. I’d known through our bond that she was fine, but seeing her alive and unharmed still eased my mind.

Covington’s eyes found her, and he grunted. “Still alive, little hybrid? What a shame. I’d really thought that Dana and Eloise would take care of you.”

She didn’t answer until she reached my side. “They tried – bless their little hearts. Dana’s not actually dead yet. But Dexter’s venom will take care of that within the next twenty minutes or so. I’m afraid Eloise has met a sticky end, though. You can thank Joy for that.”

I frowned, totally confused. “Joy?”

Sam smiled up at me. “She had a score to settle.”

And that score would undoubtedly make absolutely no sense to anyone other than Joy, but whatever. Did she attack you?

No, we came to a truce. I have a feeling it’s just temporary, though. Now, when are you going to kill this little twat?

The crowd parted again, this time allowing Antonio to come forward. But he didn’t enter the circle; I realised that he was handing the matter over to Sam and me, demonstrating his trust in us for everyone to witness. He looked down his nose at Covington. “Being surrounded is not the most pleasant experience, is it? I believe that you were in fact warned that you would not leave here alive.”

“They all were.” Sam shook her head in wonder. “And yet they didn’t just go home. I’ll never understand why people insist on ignoring our warnings.”

Covington’s eyes danced around all the vampires circling him. “You would really back these people? You’re really going to let the hybrid live?”

Sam sighed. “I have a name, you know.”

“She’ll Turn humans! She’ll create her own line!”

“That’s the thing, though, Covington,” said Sam. “I have no intention of ever Turning anyone. I mean, really, do you think Jared would ever tolerate another vampire drinking from me for any reason whatsoever?”

No, I f**king wouldn’t. She was mine – I didn’t want anyone else touching her, let alone drinking from her. And, if I was honest, I’d be jealous of any blood-link that she had with another person. I only wanted her to be linked to me. Yeah, that was unhealthily possessive but I’d never pretended to be anything else.

“I’ll have enough responsibilities with ruling alongside Jared. I don’t need or want the responsibilities that come with having my own line of vampires to care about.”

“That’s the very same reason that I don’t intend to begin my own line,” I told him. The truth was that I’d never even considered beginning one. I wasn’t the ‘paternal’ type.

“You’re an abomination,” Covington spat, breathing hard as he glared at Sam. “An abomination that will destroy us all!”

Sam snorted. “And why, exactly, would I do that? What, pray tell, would make me decide to rid the world of my own kind? How could that possibly benefit me in any way? You’re making absolutely no sense. But then, you already know that, don’t you? You’re just coming up with excuses to try to justify what you did tonight. You’re trying to make the High Masters here turn on me.”

“If anything, her being a hybrid is a good thing,” said Antonio. “Not only does it mean that she can protect our kind better than anyone else, but it means that her being so powerful will discourage vampires from beginning wars in the future.”

That was true: they wouldn’t want to chance what she would do to them, or what I would do to anyone who even dared to harm her. “By trying to kill her and failing miserably, all you did was demonstrate to everyone just how powerful she is. I’m not thankful for that, because too many people have died tonight. But what it means is that all this was totally f**king pointless.”

“Others will come for her,” growled Covington.

“Not if they want to live,” I replied with a menacing smile.

From his place beside Antonio, Luther spoke. “Antonio is right. Considering that vampires would avoid committing crimes purely for fear of her response, Sam is more likely to bring peace to our kind than war – if they can let go of any ignorance they may have, that is.”

“No,” objected Covington, though there wasn’t as much conviction in his voice this time. “They’ll want her dead, just like I do.”

Slowly spinning, Sam ran her gaze along everyone as she loudly called out, “Any one of you that has a problem with me, step forward and we’ll deal with it right here, right now.” Nothing. “Come on, if any of you have something to say, spit it the f**k out now or swallow it down forever.”

I curled an arm around her shoulders, smiling. “My little breath of fresh blunt air doesn’t hold back.” My voice held both pride and adoration.

When nobody responded to Sam’s dare, she shrugged at Covington. “I guess you were wrong.”

“You’re something that shouldn’t exist!” he insisted.

She inclined her head. “Maybe. But it won’t be me who dies tonight.”

“I beg to differ.” And then his knife was flying out of his hand and slicing through the air toward Sam. I expected her to pop her shield up. But she didn’t. She didn’t need to, because the knife froze mid-air.

“Thanks, Harv,” she called out.

“No problem.” His smug smile was obvious in his voice. Clearly his gift was back.

Whistling, Sam grabbed the knife by the handle and then passed it to Antonio. The next move was nothing but a blur: her whip was suddenly in her hand and it quickly snapped tightly around Covington’s body until he wheezed. He struggled to free himself, but it was useless.

“Just thought it would be a good idea to keep your arms pinned to your sides,” explained Sam. “We can’t have you throwing anything else, can we?”

“Harvey,” I called.

He stepped forward. “Yup?”

“Does this mean your gift is back and in full working order?”

His smirk was wide and excited. “Yup.”

“Good. Hold this bastard up for me. I want everyone to watch.” I wanted everyone to see what would happen if they considered betraying us ever again. I needed to make a point to all vampirekind that betrayal wouldn’t be tolerated – that an attempt on my mate’s life wouldn’t be tolerated. I couldn’t risk others coming for Sam. It had to be this way. There had to be a display that the people here would never forget; a story that would spread like wildfire.

Covington’s eyes widened as Harvey elevated him high in the air using his gift. He struggled once more against the grip of Sam’s whip, but still he couldn’t get free. Eyes bulging with both fear and fury, he glowered down at me. “You won’t duel with me because you know you’ll lose!”

“I won’t duel with you because you don’t deserve the honour of one.” I smiled grimly at him. “And this is the part where you’ll pay for what you did – for hurting my mate, for hurting Antonio, and for bringing death and destruction to The Hollow.”

Driven by a combination of fury, grief, and a need for vengeance, I held up my palm and sent a charge of electricity crashing into his brain…but not a charge high enough to kill him. No, that would be for later. What I intended to do was deliver a charge of electricity to every single vulnerable spot of his body, one by one. And I did. He screamed and repeatedly begged for me to stop, but I ignored those pleas. Then, finally, when I knew he was close to death, I delivered one last high voltage bolt to his chest. That was all it took – screaming, he exploded into ashes.

The looks on everybody’s faces told me that the message I’d sent had been received, loud and clear. It was a message that would spread. And only a f**king idiot would ignore it. Sam slipped her hand into mine, and everyone bowed slightly. I had to smile when Sam groaned – she hated bowing. If there hadn’t been so many deaths, the vampires here would have undoubtedly cheered at Covington’s demise, but most of them were still raw with anger and pain at how many lives had been lost.

Antonio came forward, sighing at Sam. “You should not have offered your life for ours,” he admonished.

No she damn well shouldn’t have.

Her voice was low as she asked, “Aren’t you at least a little pissed off that I would have risked so many lives to protect Jared?”

“No. I would not have expected any other response. And neither would the vampires around you have done.” Murmurs of agreement spread through the crowd. He placed his hand on her shoulder. “But I do appreciate the sacrifice that you were willing to make for us all. Still, do not do it again.”