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Leon smiled.
“Unlike you, Ms. Baylor, I have the leverage to free Alessandro from his grandfather while preserving his other family ties. I will give him what he truly requires—a family with status and powerful children. My line is compatible with antistasi magic. My grandmother was one. I am also one. Feel free to test my mind.”
Heh.
“Our children will be powerful, and their future will be assured, because my House will commit all of its resources to their training. They will be worthy of the Almeida name. Your children with him would struggle even if by some genetic miracle, they were born with some talent. Let him go. Let him live the life he pretended to have all these years. If you love him, help me make this as painless for him as possible. We both know he doesn’t belong here.”
I glanced at Leon. “Did you catch the ‘my House will commit all of its resources’ bit?”
“Mhm,” he said. “They’re planning to play ball until the old buzzard dies and then they’ll try to absorb Sagredo into their House.”
“I will win in the end, one way or another,” Christina said. “I’ve viewed the recordings of your power. You require an arcane circle to be effective and your command of the blade is rudimentary. You are no match for me physically, magically, or in terms of family resources. In the interest of resolving this matter quickly, I’m willing to negotiate. Name your price and we can conclude this unpleasant business. Don’t look at it as a bribe. Instead look at it as an extension of assistance from someone who understands the emotional toll of sacrifice.”
She was a child.
“Okay,” I told Leon. “I’ve learned everything I needed to know.”
“I’m being extremely generous,” Christina told me.
“Of course you are. I’ll return the favor. You’ve landed in the middle of a vicious House war. You are being used by our enemies as a distraction. Alessandro isn’t leaving with you. He refused three marriages before you, and he isn’t the type of person to allow anyone to force his hand. He isn’t going to meekly depart with you because that’s not the way adult relationships work.”
An angry flush bloomed on her cheeks.
“Get back in your car, get on a plane, and go home. You’re in over your head, and I cannot guarantee your safety if you stay. All of our resources are focused on protecting our House. I can’t spare anyone to guard you.”
“I don’t need your protection,” Christina ground out. “I’m a Prime!”
“So is everyone else involved. I don’t have time for this.” I looked at the white-haired man. “Take her home. She is not safe here, and this is not her war.”
“In that case we will settle this here and now.” Christina rose.
“There is nothing to settle. Alessandro Sagredo would know the moment I touched his mind,” I said. “I’ve been rummaging in yours since you arrived.”
Three things happened almost at once. A golden rapier materialized in Christina’s hand. The white-haired man leaped into the air, his hands shifting into huge claws. Leon fired a single round.
The man crashed onto the table, clutching his side. Blood wet his fingers.
Christina took a step back.
“He’ll live,” Leon said. “If you get him to the hospital in the next hour or so.”
Christina’s eyes went wide. She finally realized that the man had been facing us when he attacked. He should’ve been shot from the front. Instead, he was shot from the back. I had no idea what Leon bounced the bullet off of, but it was damn impressive.
“Let me make this clear,” I said, and this time, it wasn’t my Tremaine voice. It was me, Prime Baylor, the Acting Warden. “This is my territory. If you leave here alive it is because I allow it. Look behind you.”
Christina turned slowly.
Everything had stopped. The construction, the noises of human voices, all of it was silent. The two dozen construction workers and the woman inside the taco truck stared at us. They were all wearing my face.
Christina opened her mouth. Nothing came out.
“Go home,” I told her. “I won’t ask again.”
Two workers, still wearing my face, walked over, picked the white-haired man up, and carried him to the Audi. A third burly construction worker came to stand by me. We watched the two guys pack the injured man into the car. Christina looked at them, looked at me, looked back at them. One of the workers opened the driver’s side door and invited her to it with a sweep of his hand.
“Please,” the worker said in my voice.
Christina’s sword vanished. She gave me a look of pure hatred, ran to the car, and jumped behind the wheel. The Audi took off at a breakneck speed, looped around the picnic area, and shot out of the subdivision like a silver bullet.
