Death's Rival (33 page)

“We are now
gathered
,” Sabina said. Cold energy sparked through the air as her power shot out, and I heard
gasps from de Allyon’s people.
Yeah. Go, Sabina.
“De Allyon has issued accusation of murder against the Enforcer of Pellissier. Therefore
de Allyon has first salvo.”

And that was my cue, which had come way too early. Bruiser’s men had
better
be rescuing Katie. “Point of order,” I said from the back of the room.

Leo turned shocked eyes to me. Surprise must be a difficult thing for an old vamp
to experience. After a few centuries of life, there is nothing new. Right? Wrong.

“While acting as Pellissier’s Enforcer, I was attacked, without cause, without proper
challenge. I was forced to act in my own self-defense. That unwise action on de Allyon’s
part precipitated a blood-feud and this accusation of murder. Therefore, as per the
history of the Sedorov versus Nikitn blood-feud of the fourteenth century, and the
Sergius versus Giovanni murder trial of the tenth century, I challenge the new Enforcer
of the Master of the City of Atlanta to personal mortal combat, as a way to determine
my innocence or guilt.”

The place went dead silent, not a vamp breathing, everyone thinking, putting together
what I had just done. Sabina blinked once, an unusual motion on the face of the ancient
priestess. Then she turned her head to me and smiled. It was not a happy moment for
me. I was hoping she had figured out what I was trying to do and approved, but she
was just as likely to be happy that I was about to be killed.

“Does anyone wish to speak to this point of order?” Sabina asked.

Bruiser, his voice careful and measured, said, “I wish to speak to the point of order.
The challenge of mortal combat as a means to determine innocence or guilt is an outdated
legal concept.”

Sabina said, “Outdated, but well within her rights.” The place went silent again,
and I could feel the weight of Bruiser’s eyes on me. He was ticked, and I had no idea
if he would understand what I was doing or why.

Whether I lived or died, Leo would win, because my challenge, if accepted, would force
de Allyon back under the directives of the Vampira Carta. Of course, if de Allyon
didn’t accept, we were back where we started, with me going to trial, but I was betting
on hubris and ego to make him accept, and also betting that he didn’t know what was
in the VC codicil about personal mortal combat.

The Enforcer, Jude Talley, raised his eyes to me and grinned, exposing huge, white
fangs.

Crap
. De Allyon’s new Enforcer was a vamp, an old, powerful vamp. I had fought a master
vamp once, and I would have lost had Leo not been snared in the insanity of grief,
and run off. This guy was at least as old as Leo, and better trained. A warrior.

Beast pressed down on my mind.
Beast is not afraid,
she thought at me.
We will hunt him and eat his heart. His mass will make him slower than other vampires.
I/we are fast, have silver-edged claws and Beast strength.

Which made me feel better, but still . . . A vamp with three-inch fangs was no easy
prey. Jude was more than six feet six, and his muscles had muscles. The ones on his
chest started dancing beneath his thin-knit shirt. If he had been wearing pasties,
they would be twirling. Beast hacked with amusement at the image, and suddenly I grinned.
Eat his heart, eh?
I thought.

My good humor seemed to surprise the big guy. He blinked and vamped out fast, his
pupils going wide, sclera suffusing with blood. Jude didn’t have much control for
an old vamp. If he didn’t overpower me and kill me in the first rush, I could use
that against him. Maybe. If I was very, very lucky.

“This
woman
murdered our previous Enforcer,” de Allyon said. His expression didn’t change. It
hadn’t changed the entire time he’d been in the room. But his scent changed, and I
could tell he was not a happy fanghead.

“Point of information,” Bruiser said, his eyes on me. There was speculation in his
gaze, and something else. Something like trust. I gave him a slight nod. He said to
the gathered, “Personal defense is not murder. There were no witnesses, no challenge,
and no resolution. All human police reports were sent to the Outclan Council and we
await their ruling.” Which was news to me.

“Human police are of no interest to us,” de Allyon said.

“Maybe not in the past,” a voice said from behind me.

I whipped my head to the back of the room.
Rick
. The arm of the law. Beside him were the white wolf and the neon green grindy. To
his side was Soul, looking like an escapee from a realm of succubae, dressed in layers
of misty, shiny gauze that moved in the room’s air currents. I looked over at the
chairs, and knew who the fourth chair in the proceedings had been set for. The Psychometry
Law Enforcement Department of Homeland Security.

Why was PsyLED involving itself with a blood-feud?
My heart started beating fast, too fast, and I took a breath to calm its racing. But
the vamps were too focused on Rick to even notice me. Sabina’s face stretched into
an unfamiliar, satisfied smile. I thought back to her words,
“You drew the eyes of the legal apparatus of this nation with the debacle in Natchez.”
Sabina had hatched plans of her own to end this war? Sabina had called PsyLED to
the parley? If not her, who else? I looked around the room. No one else.
Dang. Go, priestess
.

Rick took his place in the vacant seat across from the priestess and said, “PsyLED
is interested in these proceedings, and wishes to know how the Vampira Carta handles
rogue, Naturaleza vampires.” De Allyon’s vamps bristled at the term “rogue”
being applied to them. It was an insult. Rick knew better, which meant he had used
the word deliberately. “We are also looking into numerous deaths and disappearances
in the Atlanta area among the homeless, as well as the use of possible weapons of
mass destruction in Sedona, Seattle, and Boston.”

Weapons of mass destruction?
I thought.
Oh yeah. Plague was considered a WMD. Now,
that
I did not consider.

De Allyon’s mouth curled down. “We are not humans, we are not cattle, to be brought
beneath the hand of the human law and the human world.”

Sabina said to the gathering, “The Outclan Council has approved the presence of this
nonhuman and his nonhuman creatures, and observation by the human law enforcement
agency, at this parley.

“The human police have determined that the evidence,” she continued, “in the attack
in the city of Asheville, is consistent with personal self-defense, not formal mortal
combat, nor murder. The Outclan Council will rule shortly on the conclusion reached
by the human law enforcement. For now, we must rule on this point of order.”

To de Allyon she said, “How say you? Do you accept the challenge of Pellissier’s Enforcer?
If so, such combat will take place immediately, before the discussion on the agenda
resumes.”

De Allyon’s lips drew down in the faintest of frowns. “We accept.”

My breath eased out between my lips. Oddly, though I now had to fight an old, powerful
vamp, I relaxed. By his fighting me, the entire blood-feud could be averted and de
Allyon would be back under the Vampira Carta and the rule of the Outclan Council.
Whether I lived or died, others would survive the bloodbaths recounted in the histories.

Sabina said, “Combat is approved by the council. As Pellissier made the challenge,
de Allyon has choice of weapons. Pellissier will have choice of location. De Allyon
will decide the number of rounds, not to exceed ten, and no fewer than three. Combat
will begin at my count. De Allyon? Weapons.”

“Bare hands,” the Enforcer said. “No defensive gear, no weapons except skill and muscle
and what the combatants find in the field of battle.”

Ice flushed though me. That was
not
what I wanted to hear. Not when I was wearing such cool weapons and when Jude was
such a hulk. Not when the field of battle was a bare floor and brick walls. If I shifted,
would it be considered cheating? If I shifted, my secret would be out in a very real
and dangerous and final way. Beast put a clawed paw on my brain and pressed down,
the claws bringing both pain and relief. Unlike my opponent, I wasn’t alone.

Beast sent me an image, and I wondered what would happen if I just pulled a gun and
shot the Big Guy. Though there was no guarantee that a bullet would actually pierce
the wads of muscle. It might take an RPG. My grin widened, and the bag of muscle’s
confidence slipped for a whole second. And then the perfect location for this little
fight popped into my mind and I hoped Big Guy remembered that lapse when I killed
him.

“Pellissier. Location?”

I was still smiling when I said, “Couturié Forest in the New Orleans City Park.” De
Allyon’s Enforcer blinked at that one. So did Leo. Heads turned to me. Yeah, I’d kept
something from them, a lot of somethings actually—like being a skinwalker—and if I
was going to be outed as a supernat tonight, or killed saving Katie, then I was going
to do it on my terms. Beast growled low in my mind, a warning, a challenge. Her strength
flooded through me.

Sabina was the only one in the room to show no surprise, and she set her dark eyes
on me in consideration. Her head tilted slightly, acknowledging much more than just
my choice of location. Acknowledging what I was. “Number of rounds?” she asked de
Allyon, while keeping her eyes on me.

“The full ten rounds. But if our people are in the park, how are we to know when a
round is complete?” the old vamp asked.

Sabina considered me, the faintest of smiles on her pale, pale face. “Each round shall
be one half hour long. If the combat is concluded with the death of one of the participants
before the end of the specified number of bouts, or if a participant should surrender
and concede the challenge prior to the termination, the bout will end.”

Concession sounded like a pretty great thing on the surface, but I’d learned that
if I conceded, the referee—Sabina—would offer me the coup de grâce and kill me. Conceding
was a way to ask for mercy when one opponent was totally beaten and the other guy
was just playing with him. Like the way Beast played with her food while it was still
alive. It was a mercy stroke, not a way to stay among the living.

“Point of clarification and . . . maybe point of privilege,” I said, trying to remember
the Rules of Order for asking for something personal before the bout started. “Clarification—no
weapons means we fight with the abilities and gifts nature gave us, right?” I didn’t
want to be beheaded after the fact for drawing on Beast or shifting.

“That is correct,” Sabina said, her black eyes glinting. Except for Rick, Sabina knew
more about what I was than any other supernat here. “And what is your point of privilege?”
she asked.

“I would like to keep my personal jewelry with me.” I almost laughed at Leo’s expression,
and I thought Bruiser was going to choke. It was such a girlie request. Even better,
the bag-a-muscle Enforcer smirked, as if I’d just proven how easy I was going to be
to dispatch. Might as well go with the helpless and dumb female act—it seemed to be
working. “My gold necklace, and this.” I held up the lion’s tooth. “It’s like, uh,
my lucky rabbit’s foot.”

Sabina smiled again, her face softening. It was such a rare thing that for a moment
I just stared. “Does de Allyon refuse or reject the personal point of privilege?”

“The
woman
may do as she wishes,” the vamp said, his tone both irritated and insulting.

“We will retire to the Peristyle, in the City Park, where stairs lead down to the
edge of Bayou Metairie. There, the bout will begin upon my order.” Sabina turned to
Leo. “Bring the carriages around.” Leo bowed again and Bruiser spoke into his mouthpiece.
De Allyon’s people backed toward the door. Pellissier’s vamps followed Leo, leaving
me alone in the center of the Nunnery.

Rick walked up to me, standing close. I knew it was him, without looking, and I could
feel his concern. “Can you take him?” he whispered. “Bare hands and teeth?”

“Bare claws and fangs,” I said. I turned and met his black eyes with my own black
ones, and felt him start, shock shooting through him.

And then he grinned. “I like the new look. So, what?” He glanced after de Allyon.
“He knows?”

“He killed my people. Drank their blood. It’s in a history book Leo has.”

“Beautiful woman, undercover, with guns and knives and things that explode. I’m in
love.”

I laughed, the sound filling the quiet warehouse. The remaining vamps turned to look,
hearing my laughter. “Great lotta good it’s doing me.”

“Being in love or the weapons?” Rick asked.

“Yeah. Both.”

Rick lifted a hand and stroked my jaw. I closed my eyes and leaned into his caress.
“Are you going with us to City Park?” I asked.

“I’ll be there. We’ll follow in our vehicle. Don’t get yourself killed, Jane.”

“I’ll do my best.” I opened my eyes and met his. “I may have to break some rules.”

“Like I said. My kinda girl. Just don’t kill any humans and eat their livers, not
even with fava beans and a good Chianti.”

“Not planning on either.”

Moments later, we were on the way.

* * *

I was silent on the drive, looking away from the others in the limo, staring into
the night. The new moon was in two days’ time, and the final challenge between the
masters, de Allyon and Leo, would take place then, assuming I died tonight or failed
in some other way.

I had planned as well as I could for this fight, but I had planned to fight a human,
not a vamp with three-inch fangs. I needed something to create an edge for myself
so I could survive the night. I needed something deadly. Some game-changer.
Something
to defeat a vamp warrior. But my mind was blank.