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Claire?
I’m coming.
She shut down the telepathy, then slid the chain over her neck and felt it lock in place. Lucian’s power began to flow, even thousands of miles away from him, just like that.
She contacted Rumy and had one of his men come to her. He saw the chains at her neck and said simply, “My orders are to obey your commands.”
“Good.”
She had him assemble Rumy’s security team, the one assigned to her, and the next moment she held on to the lead man. As a unit they shifted into altered flight, heading east.
They moved fast enough that they’d be in Italy in a matter of minutes. Still, she’d flown with Lucian. Never would she have thought altered flight could feel so damn slow.
* * *
Lucian had Daniel pinned, one arm behind his back. With his free arm, he surrounded Daniel’s neck in a tight grip, his Ancestral power at full bore, and felt him slowly losing consciousness.
Lucian had achieved the impossible. He’d gained control of the psychopath.
That was when he felt his chains begin to vibrate and an awareness of Claire fill his senses. She was in flight, and somehow she was attempting to speak to him telepathically. But how was this possible?
Despite the slight distraction, he kept Daniel pinned. He wouldn’t let go of him now, even though he didn’t understand how Claire could have made use of the destroyed chain. He’d watched the expert clip every link then break the chain.
But then he remembered Rumy’s gift, and he understood. He smiled and felt the strangest sense of relief: For a little while at least, he’d have Claire back with him.
With Daniel under control and now dangling in the air, his weight growing heavier by the second as the life drained out of him, Lucian opened his telepathy. Claire, is that really you?
Lucian, listen; Something’s wrong. I just heard from Zoey. She’s not dead and she’s there, somewhere near you. So is Marius. They must be hidden behind a disguise you can’t see. She said Daniel knows about the boat and the explosives and he’s going to use Zoey and Marius to guilt you into giving up the weapon. You’ve got to get out of there.
Just as he returned his complete attention to Daniel, who truly felt close to death, Daniel suddenly shifted, broke out of Lucian’s grasp, then whipped into the air. He floated nearby and waved a hand in a wide sweep.
Lucian turned to face him, levitating with arms wide to balance himself, and there they were.
Daniel’s other sons, Quill and Lev, the ones loyal to their father, each held a chained-up prisoner. One was an emaciated woman, and the other …
Lucian’s mind stalled out. He shook his head. Claire had already told him the truth, and now his eyes confirmed it, but he still couldn’t believe that Marius was alive.
Lucian. I’m thirty seconds out.
Claire again.
You were right, both Zoey and Marius are here.
Hold on. I can help.
Daniel moved to float in front of him, just a few feet away, barely out of physical reach. “I was sure you didn’t bring me here to catch up. So I’m going to make this simple for you. No more games, no more trying to battle me to the death. If you want your brother and this human to live, you’ll hand over the weapon now.”
Marius called out, “Don’t do it, Lucian.” Clearly, Daniel had feigned killing Marius while Lucian was caught in blood-madness, but Marius was as dull-eyed as the woman next to him. They’d both be dead soon without help.
I’m almost there.
But if Claire arrived, Daniel would have one more piece of leverage. He couldn’t let her get caught.
Claire, stay away. You can’t help right now. I’ve got this.
He met his father’s gaze. “Let Marius and Zoey go right now, and I’ll give you the weapon.”
“You’ll have to detach the bomb, or did you think I didn’t know about it?”
In that moment, Lucian realized that he’d lost the war. He could accomplish half his goal and save Marius and Zoey, but not his own life. At this point Daniel would never believe that Lucian could choose death over handing him the extinction weapon free and clear.
He slowly levitated away from the boat, pulling his phone from his pant pocket and pretending that it was the detonator. “You have five seconds to choose, Daniel, or I’ll blow the weapon up. Let Zoey and Marius go. Now.” He started the countdown. “Five, four, three, two…”
“Fine.” Daniel waved a hand.
Quill dropped Zoey, who started to fall a hundred feet toward the water, her cry more a whimper than anything else. At the exact same moment, Marius fell. But despite his chains, he had enough power to fly after Zoey and scoop her up before she hit the water, then carry her in the direction of The Erotic Passage.
Marius was free, and he’d saved Zoey.
The original plan—to have Daniel take the weapon and blow himself up—had failed. Lucian had only one recourse that made sense to him. He had to destroy the weapon if his world was to survive and right now he intended to do just that.
Lucian dropped into the boat knowing that at least he’d be keeping the weapon from Daniel’s hands. He’d lived four centuries. Long enough, and what better way to go than by protecting his world?
* * *
Claire reached the boat at the same moment as Lucian. But she had one advantage her vampire boyfriend didn’t. She quickly engulfed him in a disguise that even Daniel couldn’t see.
Lucian already had his hand on the heavy iron loop at the top of the weapon, so she said, “Don’t do it, gorgeous, or we’ll both eat it. Now look up?”
When he glanced up Lucian gave a shout that came straight from his gut. He saw the disguise there, and how furious Daniel was as he flew in quick streaks above them, unable to see the boat.
Daniel roared his fury. His other sons took off in quick bursts of altered flight.
Lucian caught her up in his arms and hugged her. “You came back.”
“We can talk later. Let’s get rid of this weapon for good.”
She felt Lucian’s uncertainly through the familiar vibration at her neck. “We can get out of this, Lucian. Trust me. The disguise will hold long enough, even through the blast, for us to get away.”
He turned to her, his eyes searching her own.
“Okay, this is how we’ve gotta do this thing. The second I lift the weapon and trip the wire, I’ll shoot straight up. You’ll have to hold the disguise tight or Daniel will be after us.”
“Got it.” Claire smiled then eased into a grin. She shrugged. “Easy-peasy. Ready to go with the disguise when you are.” She stepped onto his foot and he slid his arm around her waist, pulling her close. She felt, in this simple way, like she’d come home. All her questions were answered. She knew, in the deepest part of her soul, that this was where she belonged.
