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“I have nothing to answer for, ma fille.” He lunges at Anna.

I’m faster, ramming into his side, and we go sliding across the damp concrete floor. The stone wall stops him for about a second, and he’s up before I am.

Dominic jumps on his back, wrapping his massive arms around Constantin to lock him down. The old vampire shrugs him off like a winter coat. Teeth bared, Anna goes for his throat, murder in her eyes. She bites down, and dark blood soaks Constantin’s tailored white shirt. He lets out a hiss, and his hands clamp down on either side of her head. I see it before it happens, and I’m too far away to stop it. He wrenches hard, and she drops, crumpling to the floor, out of the fight. Dominic rushes to her, cradling her in his lap. She’ll heal, but not fast enough to matter.

I grab the nearest sharp object from the wall of vicious weapons and circle Constantin. The axe is heavy in my hands. Heavier than it looks, and the handle too long to get close. “It doesn’t have to go this way.”

“The Valzera bloodline should’ve faded into oblivion when Mikel…expired, and your arrogant brother abandoned his duties. Instead, I ended up with you as a constant thorn in my side.” He lets out a weary sigh, the way he does in council meetings when somebody raises the parking on Main Street. “Time to fix that miscalculation.”

He’s behind me. I dodge left, not fast enough, and his fangs sink deep into my right shoulder to the bone. Pain whites out my vision. The axe head clangs off the concrete as my grip falters. My arm hangs there, useless. I switch hands.

“You need to stop,” Dominic commands. He has Anna’s sidearm out of her holster and leveled at Constantin. He knows it won’t kill him, but he pulls the trigger anyway.

The shot echoes around the room, and Constantin laughs, looking down and pressing his fingers to the bullet hole in the center of his chest.

It’s all the distraction I need. I swing wide with everything I’ve got. Then I’m standing over him with the axe still in my hand and the handle slick. He doesn’t get back up.

Thirty minutes later, Anna begins to stir as the bones in her neck knit back together. I lean against the rough stone wall, exhausted. My shoulder is shredded but healing gradually. It’ll take a few hours with Constantin’s saliva in the wound.

“You took care of it,” she rasps, rubbing her throat like this was the only logical outcome.

“I did.”

“Thank you.” She works herself upright, taking her time.

I made her promise there’d be no vampire justice, that there would be a trial, but Constantin had to be stopped. And I wanted him gone.

I don’t know how to explain any of this to the council. I’m not sure I want to.

“He wasn’t always like this.” She unclips the sheriff’s badge pinned to her belt and examines the blood caked on the metal shield. “Maybe eternity is too long?”

“Maybe.” I always thought it was.

She turns the badge over and rubs her thumb across it.

“He used to read me Dumas when I was a kid. Like a regular dad. It’s hard to make those parts of him fit with…this.” She clips it back onto her belt. “It’s those memories I’d like to write over, if anyone’s offering.”

Down the corridor, one of Constantin’s creations starts kicking a door.

“We’ll need a new Guardian. You up for the job?”

“Hah. Maybe. What are the perks?” She tips her head against the wall.

“None to speak of,” I say dryly.

She laughs, hiccups.

Either way, she’s got nine days to decide. A new Guardian has to be standing in that grove before the tenth dawn. That’s how Hazel puts it.

While I waited for Anna to wake up, Dominic took Jessica to the med center. Thankfully, she hadn’t ingested any of Constantin’s blood yet and hadn’t been turned, so she should make a full recovery. The others that fill these cells are a bigger problem.

“What are we going to do with these newly minted vampires?” I ask.

“I’ve got a friend down south, Cole, who helps made vampires integrate into society. Hopefully, I can twist his arm to come up here for a few months. If they can be saved, they’ll have a home here.”

I nod and don’t ask what happens if they can’t.

With a lot of grunting and effort, I get to my feet and help Anna up. We leave the turned vampires and Constantin’s body where they are for now.