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“Hello, Shayna. I see you’ve been enjoying my son. He’s magnificent, isn’t he? Marius was my best creation, he just doesn’t know it yet.”
Shayna wasn’t sure where her boldness came from, but she said, “Are you sure this was your doing? I mean, I just don’t see the resemblance at all.” She glanced at Marius and back to Daniel. “I never saw his mother, of course, but I’m thinking he must take after her. I understand she was an exceptional woman.”
Daniel’s eyes narrowed. Shayna expected steam to start coming out his ears. Instead he shifted his gaze back to Marius. “You should discipline your woman, teach her not to poke the bear.”
Marius didn’t hesitate. “Shayna has a mind of her own and can say whatever she likes. It’s not my place to censure her on any level. Besides, I think what she’s said is true. I do take after my mother.”
“More’s the pity, son. She tried to make a weakling out of you, always coddling you and hugging you. But I made you a man.”
Shayna felt Marius stiffen, his muscles flexing and unflexing. Hey, relax. That ego maniac is so full of shit.
Marius glanced at her quickly, then laughed. You’re right.
“Isn’t this charming, but I should remind you that telepathy in company is very rude.”
Again, Shayna spoke boldly, meeting Daniel’s gaze again. “You think this is rude? Want to know what I think falls into the category of a social faux pas? How about killing off your female vampire slaves to test your extinction weapon? Yeah, I think that’s rude.”
Daniel stared at her. “So how did you know about that? Ah, of course, you had one of your visions. But I’m losing patience.”
“And you’re pissing me off.”
Daniel physically moved to place himself in a direct line with Marius, purposefully ignoring Shayna. He was now only ten feet away. “How about we have a little contest and the winner takes the weapon?”
“What do you have in mind?” Marius’s voice sounded dark to Shayna, full of intention.
“You split and each of your forms, primary and secondary, takes on ten of my men. You win, I let you cart off the weapon. You lose, well, you lose everything: You’ll join me in my new government, I’ll get the weapon, and Shayna, of course, will be sent to work in one of my clubs here. She’d do very well. And one more thing. While you’re battling, Shayna stands beside me.” He smiled, that horrible oily smile of his. “I’ll keep her safe if weapons start to fly.”
Shayna wasn’t sure how she expected Marius to respond, especially since his muscles were twitching and he ground his jaw. She also had no idea what Daniel meant about primary and secondary forms. She hadn’t come across that concept before. A dozen questions rose in her mind like a sudden burst of air bubbles rising to the surface, but she suppressed them.
“What do you say, son?”
“Agreed,” Marius said. “But I want Quill and Lev to remain at the far cavern wall.”
Daniel nodded, and his obedient sons immediately flew and hovered against the far stone wall.
Marius! What are you doing?
We need Daniel’s troops out of altered flight, and this appears to be as good a way to get the job done as any. I want you near the switch and ready for my order.
There really wasn’t time for him to explain further, she got that. So she responded, I’m
all in.
Good.
He released her and Daniel flew straight for her, grabbing her by the arm and dragging her off to the side. He pinched her beneath her arm so that she cried out.
“What the fuck?” Marius shouted. “What did you just do to her?”
Daniel apologized. “I must have caught her delicate human skin between my fingers when I took her arm. Just an accident.” He addressed Shayna. “Are you all right, my dear?”
She met his gaze, grimacing. “Don’t you ‘my dear’ me, you sick fuck.”
His nostrils flared. “You know I could destroy you with a thought.”
“Well, that’s what you’re good at: destruction. I’d like to see you actually build anything of merit.”
This time she watched Daniel grind his teeth. She knew he wanted to hit her or maybe even throw her off the land bridge, but he worked to control himself. After flaring his nostrils again, he nodded to Marius. “Now let’s see what you can do.”
