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Why had Lucian called out for her? Was he in trouble? Did he need her?
She thought about putting the chain on, but she wouldn’t be able to remove it if she did, so she hesitated.
There was something else she could do, however.
She placed a call to Rumy’s office. After being handed over twice by his security team, she finally reached him. “Lucian called out to me. What’s going on? I’m assuming you’re watching.”
“I’ve got my binoculars, and right now he’s okay. No Daniel yet, though. He’s thrown a heavy disguise out there—nothing I can’t see through because let’s face it, Lucian doesn’t have your ability in that arena and I have my own awesome level of power. But the lake is quiet.
“Sure you don’t want to come back? I can have one of my detail bring you over here right now. None of them can fly as fast as an Ancestral, but they’re the next best thing and pretty damn fast.” Rumy suddenly paused. “Okay, hold on. Daniel-the-asshole just arrived.”
Claire pressed a hand hard against her chest. “What’s happening? Rumy, talk to me.” She should be there.
“Holy shit, Lucian just pulled out his long chain and he’s rising into the air.”
“He’s going to fight Daniel.”
“Yes, he is.”
“What’s Daniel doing?”
“Smiling. What else?”
“He’s going to kill him.”
“Listen, Claire, I don’t mean to put undue pressure on you, but I think you should be here. You’ve been our boy’s backup from the moment I took you to the Dark Cave system. Sure you don’t want to come?”
“Just hold on. Let me think.” She held the phone away from her, panic gripping her heart like a fist.
She paced fast now. She didn’t know what to do.
Dammit.
* * *
Lucian rose into the air, his gaze fixed on his father, who smiled.
Whirling his battle chain, Lucian said, “You don’t really think I brought you here to have a father–son, chat, do you?”
Daniel levitated twenty feet away from Lucian. His smile had dimmed a little. His gaze for a brief second fluttered down to the extinction weapon, widened, then returned to Lucian. “You want me to fight you for it?”
“Yes. I do.”
He took on his most patronizing air. “You’re making a mistake. I have over fifteen hundred years on you. Do you honestly believe, even for a second, that you can take me?”
Lucian had long ago lost any desire to play by the rules when it came to the master rule-breaker himself. Instead of engaging in conversation, he shot forward, chain spinning, and sent the wheel of silver in an arc that would have taken the head off most vampires.
But Daniel was an Ancestral. He shifted to altered flight and reappeared behind Lucian, using a blade to just graze his shoulder as Lucian darted out of the way.
Lucian’s blood was up and he had just enough blood-madness going on to give him a spurt of strength. He brought forward his new Ancestral powers, and his vision and reflexes improved.
He drew a dagger at lightning speed and let it fly. How surprised Daniel looked when it caught him in his right forearm. The momentum of the hit sent also sent Daniel spiraling backward as he removed the dagger.
Lucian flew after him, and saw the same dagger in Daniel’s hand flying toward him. He shifted his waist, rolled, and two seconds later he heard the small piece of metal buzz past him, then drop into the lake.
By then he had a shorter chain out. He let it fly above Daniel’s head, and wrapped quickly.
But Daniel was fast, and instead of trying to relieve the pressure, he flipped his feet up and slammed into Lucian’s stomach. Lucian somersaulted through the air. By the time he righted himself, Daniel had the short chain from around his neck and threw it toward the lake.
He levitated in the air, smirking at Lucian. Why are you doing this, Lucian? Can’t you see I’m toying with you?
Like hell you are.
Lucian attacked once more, ready to tear his father apart physically. But as he grabbed Daniel’s right arm, he felt the slice as Daniel stuck a blade deep across his ribs.
Lucian had battled for centuries, though, and a little blood and pain weren’t going to stop him. Daniel, believing he’d made a serious score, remained where he was in a fairly relaxed stance, still smiling. When he figured things out, Lucian was on him and had him in a headlock, spinning him again over the lake, holding him.
If he could just keep holding him like this, Daniel would lose consciousness. Then he’d break his neck.
* * *
Claire stared at the phone. She kept hearing Rumy call for her: “Claire. Claire. They’re battling midair right now. Claire!”
She set the phone on the bed next to the blood-chain, still uncertain about what course to take.
She stared at the chain.
She’d felt the vibrations when she’d touched it.
Maybe if she just held it, without putting it on, she’d have a sense of what was happening. Maybe then she’d know what to do.
She leaped and grabbed the chain, holding it with both hands, staring at it, willing it to give up the information she needed.
But what came to her had nothing to do with Lucian at all, or Rumy.
Instead, she could hear a new voice in her head, a woman’s voice. Claire. Oh, God, please hear me, Claire. You’ve got to get over to Lake Como. Daniel has us hidden behind a disguise that Lucian can’t see and once he reveals us, Lucian will die. Please, Claire. You’ve got to come. Please.
Claire’s lips parted. She couldn’t breathe.
For a moment she thought she was hearing Eve’s voice. But no, she would have known her friend’s voice anywhere: Zoey.
She blinked.
Zoey.
She shook her head. Impossible.
Zoey? she called telepathically.
Claire. Oh, thank God you’re there. You’ve got to get over here. Lucian doesn’t know what Daniel has planned. He’s lied to you both; I’m still alive, so is Marius. Lucian thinks he’s winning, but Daniel knows about the explosives in the boat. He’ll make Lucian choose and you know what Lucian will do. He’ll sacrifice himself thinking he’ll be saving us. Claire, you’ve got to come. If you don’t save him, he’ll die.
Claire didn’t pause for even a second to figure any of this out. She just accepted what Zoey had told her. Every instinct in her body screamed the truth at her: Lucian was in danger, Zoey was alive, and if she didn’t help the man she loved, he was going to die.
