“What of Tobias and Lena, my lord?” asked the vampire Gabe had called Anastasia.
Tobias had regained consciousness, yet was still bound in his chains. He watched Antoine with caution.
Antoine approached him, still holding Cally to his side. “You entombed me,” he said quietly.
“I did.” Tobias met his gaze, standing tall, and made no attempt at excuses.
“Roberto entombed you,” Cally murmured. “Tobias was merely the tool. And you smashed half his face off, right?” Sheshrugged as Antoine cast her a wry look. “I think he has suffered for long enough already.”
Antoine inclined his head. “What would you suggest, my lady?”
She regarded Tobias. “Did you once tell me you took a pickup truck and drove out of the state?”
“I did, my lady,” he said guardedly.
“Given the chance, would you do so again?”
Tobias flicked his eyes toward Roberto, who still lay face down on the stone floor, shunned by the others. “How far away will you put him?”
She raised an eyebrow at Gabe.
“A hundred miles or so,” Gabe said, stepping forward.
She turned back to Tobias expectantly.
“Should be far enough,” he muttered, half to himself. He nodded. “I will leave this state.”
“I wish you safe travels,” Cally said.
“By Curia right, I strip you of your territory and brand you Outcast,” Antoine said formally. “You are banished from the state of Massachusetts, never to return.” He paused. “You may take your assets with you.”
Tobias inclined his head, his eyes glistening. “My lord is generous.”
“Remove his chains,” Antoine said to the vampire holding him. He turned away, squeezing Cally against him, and strode to where Anastasia waited near Lena, who had recovered enough to sit up.
Another vampire posed beside her, wearing a revealing dress, eyeing Antoine like he was a slab of meat on a butcher’s block. Cally let her eyes harden, but the vampire merely winked at her.
“I believe I owe you a favor,” Antoine said.
“Indeed you do, my lord,” Anastasia replied impassively, “but it is of my choosing.”
Behind them came the snap of metal links as Tobias’s chains were broken one by one.
“You do not intend to use it for clemency on behalf of Lena?” Antoine asked with a note of surprise. “She did attack Cally.”
“She acted under Roberto’s compulsion, did she not?” Anastasia remained unmoved. “I assume, in your wisdom, that you will not see a need to punish her for that.”
Antoine smiled. “After all that has occurred tonight, I am feeling magnanimous. You may take her.”
Anastasia gave the briefest of curtsies. “Thank you, my lord.”
Cally stayed pressed to Antoine’s side as the other vampires filed out, some of them coming to assure him of their loyalty, while others ignored him completely. It was a little like being a queen, and she was grateful when at last they were alone. Gabe and Belle had left a while ago, taking Roberto with them, and Antoine led her back upstairs, into the main house. Outside it was still dark, the driveway now mostly empty of cars.
“I’m exhausted,” Cally sighed. “Can we go home?”
“We are home,ma chérie.” Antoine’s lips twitched. “This house is the seat of the Boston Curia. That’s you and me, now.”
“Really?” She looked around with fresh eyes. “It needs a complete makeover.”
