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In addition to our seconds, all the syndicate enforcers were present—two women and six men. Those who hadn’t already been on the island had flown in earlier tonight. They’d formed a ring in the middle of the floor, everyone in dark suits except for the women, who’d both worn red.
Cain and Talon and Prosper’s seconds, Matthew and Donald, stood in the center of the ring, facing each other. Prosper and I joined them.
Per Twilight’s plan, Cain and Talon had let themselves be overheard earlier worried about my supposed “poisoning.” The rumor had flashed like wildfire through the castle. Matthew had even texted Cain to ask if the challenge was still on. If Prosper had been involved in the plot to poison me, he was in for a nasty surprise.
Now, I sent a look around me at the enforcers. I let my gaze linger on Clarisse, elegant in a chic red pants suit cut low over a lacy black bra, her dark hair swept into an updo that displayed the dark-blue shark tat on the side of her neck.
Her eyelashes flickered, a small tell that she was worried. She clearly hadn’t expected me to show up at the challenge looking healthy and fit.
Clarisse didn’t know it yet, but she was going down. She must’ve been the woman who’d given the poison to Twilight. She was the right height, and the tattoo matched. And as Talon had pointed out, she was ambitious. When she’d realized I wasn’t interested in mating with her, she’d apparently decided to throw in her lot with whoever was trying to overthrow me.
Twilight slipped into the circle near Talon and Cain, and every head in the room swung in her direction.
Clarisse licked her lips in another small, nervous movement. Seeing Twilight with me—clearly unharmed instead of dead or in the dungeon for poisoning me—must be quite a shock.
Matthew took a threatening step in Twilight’s direction. My muscles locked, but he stopped well away from her, snarling, “No thralls allowed. This is syndicate business.”
Several people, including Clarisse, nodded.
“That’s my father’s rule,” I countered, “not mine. And I say the woman stays. This concerns her as much as me.”
Matthew curled his lip. “Thralls have no rights at a challenge.” He raised his voice slightly. “Eugene. Remove the human.”
One of the ballroom doors was flung open. A dhampir soldier raced inside, heading for Twilight. She spun to face him, feinting left, then going right. He was too fast for her, though. He grabbed her and dragged one of her arms up behind.
“Out, woman.” He gave her a hard shove in the direction of the door.
She sent him a lethal look over her shoulder that should’ve made his balls shrivel. “Go to hell.”
I was already moving toward them. “Let her go, Eugene.”
Instead of releasing her, he glanced at Prosper for confirmation. Several of the other vampires turned to Prosper, too, like it was up to him.
My back teeth set. As acting primus, my wishes should be enough for Eugene, Matthew and everyone else in the syndicate. That they were waiting for Prosper’s approval demonstrated why this challenge was necessary.
“Lieutenant?” the guard prompted. It was the last word he ever spoke.
I practically flew the last few yards between us. Jerking him off Twilight, I wrapped an arm around his head and snarled, “I said,Let. Her. Go.”
His garbled apology turned to a scream that died in his throat as I ripped his head off. Blood spurted everywhere. His headless body stumbled forward, then dropped to its knees before crumpling to the floor. I tossed his head on top of the still-bleeding remains. It bounced off his chest and rolled onto the black-and-white marble tiles, rocking back and forth before coming to a halt on one cheek, eyes open, mouth gaping.
The ring of enforcers had gone statue-still. Twilight had managed to avoid being splashed with the fool’s blood, but I hadn’t been so fortunate. Pulling off my blood-spattered T-shirt, I wiped my face and dropped the shirt on top of Eugene’s smoking, rapidly blackening body.
“Any other objections?”
I glanced around at Prosper and the enforcers, letting my gaze linger an extra beat on Matthew. Twin spots of color burned in his cheeks, but he dropped his gaze to the floor and kept his mouth firmly shut.
I smiled coldly. “Good.” Taking Twilight by the arm, I inserted her back in the circle and returned to the center. “Now, can we get on with this fucking challenge?” I asked the room at large.
The assembled vampires muttered agreement.
Prosper and I faced off. Like me, he wore tactical pants. His dark brown hair had been freshly cut. He appeared determined yet saddened; even the pouches under his eyes seemed deeper. I knew he genuinely mourned my father—the two had shared a special bond.
“Prince Brien.” He gave me a curt nod.
“Lieutenant,” I returned.
Neither of us offered to shake hands. That sort of hypocritical civility was for humans. A challenge for primus was a brutal, no-holds-barred fight. Cheating wasn’t only allowed, it was encouraged. If you could get away with it, then your opponent didn’t deserve to win.
