“I don’t believe you.” I sit back in my chair and cross my arms over my chest. “I think this information is exactly what you need for leverage.”
She cocks her head to the side in a questioning manner.
“The last time we met, you said you wanted to know which way the wind was blowing. You want to be on the winning side. The vampire who has control of the armies, who can save the humans from the virus, who can stop the senseless killings of both humans and vampires—I think you know that’s Valen. If you do the math, especially now that you know I can create the vaccine, there’s no other option.”
“And?” she asks.
“And you want to get on his good side. At present, I’d say he’d probably kill you without a second thought, especially given how close you are with Gregor. You’re an enemy without any way to get in his good graces.”
“I can think of a few ways.” She runs her fingers down her chest, between the swells of her breasts and lower.
Rancor flares in my gut, the thought of her touching Valen like a dose of bitter medicine.
“Valen isn’t—” I scream as something slams into Fatima.
A blur of motion and the most horrible hissing sound I’ve ever heard—dark curls and slashing claws fill my vision.
“Juno!” I yell and push back from the table, my chair catching on the stone floor and sending me tumbling to the ground.
They screech, both of them ripping and tearing at each other. I scramble up and run until I’m behind one of the stacks. Cutting a path of destruction, they fight and scream in a tempest of rage.
“David!” I yell, but he’s already here, swooping down from the darkness overhead and landing on the table I’d been working at.
“Stop!” He joins the fray and throws one of them against a far wall. Fatima, her face bloodied, is already on her feet and stomping back to where David holds a spitting Juno by the throat. She swipes at his arm, drawing blood, and he shakes her like a ragdoll.
“Not another fucking step!” he yells at Fatima.
She pauses, her eyes slitted as she stares murder at Juno.
“Traitor cunt!” Juno screams at her.
I slap my hands over my ears, her voice like knives.
“That’s rich coming from you.” Fatima drops her hands to her sides and splays her clawed fingers. “It’s a shame you’re one of us. I celebrated quite extensively when I found out you’d died. I suppose I’ll have to have another celebration once I kill you myself.”
“Ladies!” David stays between them, his hands outstretched. “This is not the time.”
“I always make time for Juno.” Fatima hisses, the sound raising goosebumps on my arms. “Isn’t that right,boss? Your little lapdog always waiting for orders.”
“After everything I did for you, everything I gave you.” Juno bares her fangs.
“You gave me nothing. Itookwhat I wanted.”
I edge around the stack in front of me. “David’s right. This isn’t the time or the place for you two to have it out.” I gesture toward the table. “You’ve already screwed up my research. You’ll have to kill each other somewhere else.” The wounds on both their faces are already healed, but Juno’s shirt is in tatters, and there’s a clump of shiny black hair on the floor.
“Happily.” Fatima spits the word at Juno.
“Why are you two at each other’s throats?” I move closer, the two of them still eyeing each other but making no moves. “You’re both Blood Dragonis.”
“She betrayed me.” Juno steps forward, prompting David to make a “unh uh” sound.
“Ibetrayedyou?” Fatima cackles, the sound discordant and so unlike her human laugh.
“Is that funny?” Juno bristles.
Fatima stops laughing abruptly. “You honestly think I don’t know what you did? The blood camps. The people you let die. The promises you made to Gregor. Every last bit of it, I knew. And I knew I was next. You were going to let them kill me. Just like you let them kill poor Candice.”
Juno gasps. “How dare you bring her up? How dare?—”
