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Ethan didn’t seem impressed by the argument. “So you say, but I didn’t send a man to attack you. To shoot at your vampires.”
There was silence for a moment, and when Nicole did speak, she was unapologetic. “As I’ve said, it wasn’t an attempt to kill you—otherwise, it would have been a very sloppy attempt.” She slid her gaze to me. “I thought, perhaps, that those closest to you would persuade you to step back.”
“Those closest to me understand me and my drive. And they understand that Cadogan vampires do not stand back merely because we are afraid.”
That angered her, undoubtedly. Her expression didn’t show it, but magic lit through the room with such force I instinctively reached for my katana. Sarah did the same, and the surprise in her eyes matched mine. I shifted my weight, prepared to move in case Nicole or Sarah did, watched Sarah do the same. We both were poised on tenterhooks, in case the physical testing began early.
By her blackmail, Nicole had raised their mutual past as a weapon to be wielded. But Ethan wasn’t afraid to battle back, with fear, anger, irritation, pent up and festering for several days. This was what he’d been holding on to. Anger at her betrayals: the threats, the blackmail, the challenge. From what I could gather, they’d both been the victims, the prey, of a monster. Maybe that was the root of his real anger and irritation—not just that she’d threatened to expose his past, but that she was the one making the threats.
They’d been cohorts, companions, vampires who’d survived trauma. He’d believed they were on the same side. Not friends, perhaps, but certainly not enemies. And then, in order to support her claim to the GP, she’d tried by violent means to dissuade him from taking up the gauntlet. She’d betrayed him doubly.
But if that was all there was to it, why not tell me? Why not explain his feelings to me? There was nothing about that I could possibly object to.
“A woman comes to understand things across the centuries of her existence,” Nicole said. “She gains perspective. Balthasar, yes, was a monster. But he gave me immortality for a purpose. I intend to make the most of it.”
“By threatening me? By challenging me?”
“By taking what is mine, and what you have no right to claim.” Her eyes narrowed to slits, and she leaned forward, the bubble of magic moving with her like needle pricks on skin.
“I have bided my time, Ethan. Worked to build my own kingdom. I have dealt with monsters—vampire and human alike—and humans who treated me as if I were a dog because I had the unfortunate luck to be born with skin a shade darker than theirs. I stood Second, waited for my turn. I followed the rules.”
Ethan’s brows lifted. “And I haven’t?”
“You quit the GP. Your House has killed two members of the GP. Darius was fine until his fateful trip to Chicago, where you let a mass murderer run him to ground. And then you have the temerity to challenge him? To demand that he give up his position for you?”
She’d missed several details—the fact that those GP members were killed in self-defense, that they’d put the House in receivership, that Darius had come to Chicago to close us down and strip us bare of assets, and that we’d left the GP because of their bad acts. She left out the facts that we saved Darius from Michael Donovan, that we’d just uncovered a plot to control him and steal money from the GP.
But when you lined up the bare facts against us—as the vampires who didn’t know, or didn’t want to know, the context were likely to do—it was hard to argue her point.
“As you’re well aware, your story is incomplete,” Ethan pointed out. “It also reeks of your own cowardice. Where were you when Darius was being manipulated? What attention were you paying?”
“I was minding the business of me and my House.”
“Precisely,” Ethan said. “And that’s the kind of myopic attitude that has put us in the very situation we’re in now.” He tilted his head at her, donned his analytical expression, considered her. “All that aside, I’m curious, Nicole. What, precisely, would you have me do?”
Her eyes glowed with purpose. “Resign your candidacy. If we run against each other, we’ll split the American vote. That weakens our chances of an American regent. Yes, there are three Houses in Chicago. But there are more Houses outside it—Houses that do not appreciate the chaos of this city, of your politics.”
He was quiet for a long moment. “And if I don’t resign?”
They kept their eyes on each other, one predator scoping out the other.
“I am a practical woman,” Nicole finally said. “And I know very well how to adapt to shifting currents. I’m not interested in letting your, shall we say, past dalliances reflect negatively on me. But I am a player, Ethan. I am a contender. I will play this game as Darius wishes us to play it. And I will win.”
Ethan had been right; she wouldn’t go through with the blackmail, at least not now. But she felt free to torture him with the vaguely referenced “dalliances.” And since she’d so carefully hinted at it, I wondered if she meant to torture me, as well.
Regardless, Ethan’s response was clear and unequivocal, as was the grin that crossed his face. “There’s not a chance in hell that I will step down from my challenge.”
“Because your ego demands it?”
“Because my honor demands it. The GP, in large part, consists of monsters and bullies, and it is time for a change. You play the game, Nicole, and you always have. You play it skillfully. But it is time to dismantle the game, to rewrite the rules.”
“Careful, Ethan. You sound like a rebel.”
“We’ve already rejected the GP,” he pointed out. “We are rebels.”
Nicole rolled her eyes, rose from the couch. “You’re naive. The system is in place for a reason, Ethan, and has been for centuries. You don’t just pretend it doesn’t exist.”
He didn’t comment, perhaps because it was as obvious to him as it was to me that talking wasn’t going to change her mind. Whatever their relationship in the past—and regardless their history—Nicole Heart intended to challenge Ethan and win the throne from him if she could.
“Then I wish you the best of luck,” Ethan said, rising as well. “And should you claim the victory, I hope you rule the GP with wisdom and honor.”
But Nicole smiled, and it wasn’t the smile of a good-natured contender.
