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I smiled thinly, my expression no doubt as contemptuous as his. "Right now, both your family and Tyson's -
every son, daughter, brother, and sister - are being rounded up by Directorate personnel. Their fate very much depends on just how deeply they've been involved in your schemes. Personally, I wouldn't care if they wiped out every last trace of your DNA from this earth. "
That wiped the smiles off their faces. Blake clenched his fists and took a step forward. "You wouldn't dare. "
I stepped forward, meeting him glare for glare. "I warned you what would happen if you came after us again. And this is just the beginning. "
"What do you mean?" Tyson said, and just for a moment, there was doubt and uncertainty in his expression. But Tyson, for all his size, had never been half the powerhouse that his brother was.
"I mean," I said softly, my gaze not wavering from Blake's, "that I challenge you to ad vitam aeternam. " Which was an old Latin phrase that meant to eternal life.
In other words, a fight to the death.
His eyes widened ever so briefly, then he threw his head back and laughed.
Laughed.
The man was a bigger fool than I'd thought.
No one else seemed to find it funny. Not even his brother, whose expression now wavered between uncertainty and fear. Tyson obviously had some sense of the trouble they were in. Blake didn't.
"Riley, Riley, Riley," Blake said, wiping at his eyes as if there were tears of mirth there. "I couldn't have asked for a better solution to our problem. "
I raised an eyebrow. "How so?"
"Because I've been going out of my way not to kill you, and here you hand me the perfect opportunity with no chance of repercussion from the Directorate. " He shook his head, as if he couldn't quite believe his luck. "I shall en
joy ripping your throat out, in much the same way as I enjoyed ripping out your grandfather's. "
"If you last that long, you're welcome to try," I said softly, and stepped back.
Rhoan took my place. "Tyson Jenson, I challenge you to ad vitam aeternam. "
Blake frowned. "You can't. He now no longer lives on these lands - "
"No, he runs his own pack in Queensland," Rhoan said smoothly. "But he is here, and therefore falls under the rules and regulations of this pack. We checked. "
Blake's expression darkened. "I know the rules - "
"Where is your son Lodden?" Rhoan cut in.
Blake's fists clenched. "He played no part in my vengeance. He has no role in the arena. "
"The jury is out as to whether he was involved in what happened to Riley, but we have evidence of him being fully immersed in your other schemes. " Rhoan paused, but Blake didn't waste breath denying it. "So he has the choice. He can take his chances in the arena with me, or he can be arrested and risk pleading his case to the Directorate. "
And if the Directorate - in the guise of Jack - thought his crimes were bad enough, then Lodden would die regardless. No ifs, buts, or maybes.
"Where is he, Blake?"
There was a flicker in his eyes, but it was too fast to identify. It could have been fear, it could have been cunning. Maybe even both.
"He isn't here. He's checking the boundaries. "
Rhoan glanced at me, one eyebrow raised. He didn't believe Blake any more than I did. But it didn't matter. Lodden could hide for now. We'd find him easily enough later.
"What is your answer, Tyson?" Rhoan said.
He had no choice, we both knew that. Once a challenge was issued, there was no walking away from it.
