Vengeance: The Niteclif Evolutions, Book 3 (26 page)

Micah sat rigid in the comfortable dining chair, as far from both of us as he could get. But no amount of distance could disguise his anger, and no amount of anger could mask his fear.

Much as it pained me, I had to put a stop to that particular train of thought. “No. No more talk of cutting him off.”
 

Several men shifted around uncomfortably, and Bahlin choked at the same time Hellion let loose a roar of laughter. The air grew thick with tension as the two men realized they were sharing a laugh, and my heart hurt with the looks they cast at me. A friendship damaged, possibly irreparably so, over a woman.

I cleared my throat, setting my juice aside. “I’ve been thinking about our options. I’d like to see about sitting down with the decision makers, even those in secondary roles, to talk about how we’re going to handle tonight.” I glanced between the men in the room, my gaze always coming back to Hellion. “We can’t take this back to London. There’s just no way.”

Finally, after staring at the Nephilim, he spoke. “He’s your project, Maddy. We’ll follow your general guidance.”

I blanched at the same time Micah’s chest swelled, probably to yell. I shoved away from the table and stood, pointing a finger at him. “Save it. He’s right. You’re here at my sufferance, you arrogant prick. You came to me for personal reasons, not necessarily justice. It’s best you start acting a little humble and lot more willing to throw yourself into the fray. I won’t have people dying to defend you, not even from my poor choices.”
 

I turned to Hellion. “Last night’s catastrophe was my idea.” I held up a hand to ward off his response. “No. It was. I won’t do this alone again. I’m willing to discuss and debate, but everyone needs a say in how we handle this. Agares and his Dominae are too strong for us alone. If it hadn’t been for the vampires…”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t here earlier.” Bahlin crossed his arms and rested his chin on his chest. “I truly thought I was doing the right thing by waiting for backup.”

Having somehow temporarily forgotten about Connell, my gaze traveled face to face but I didn’t see him. “Speaking of which, where is your little wand-wielding bitch anyway?”

Hellion chuckled until Bahlin grinned wickedly and said, “Right behind yours.”

Hellion’s face turned to stone. He shoved out of his chair and spun to face Connell. The blue weyr’s wizard had walked in on the tail end of the conversation and now leaned casually against the doorframe.

“I thought it was pretty clear last night that we didn’t want you around.” I stood and moved to Hellion’s side, slipping my hand through his arm, whether for support or restraint I wasn’t sure. My hand itched for the gun, a short sword or, hell, a grapefruit spoon—anything I could use as a weapon to keep that creepy bastard away from me.
 

“I wondered if you might have changed your mind after resting the night.” Connell’s eyes slid to the ring on my finger and his face drew tight. “I see I arrived a bit too late.”

“For what?” I asked stupidly.

The warlock took a deep breath and gestured toward my hand. “Theoretically, I’m too late to attempt to influence your choice. I’d have quite enjoyed getting to know you better.”

“Connell!” Bahlin’s bark was nowhere near as lethal as his bite, and the warlock came to heel nicely, moving across the room to stand behind the Council Leader and head of the weyr. Once he was out of Bahlin’s line of site, Connell winked at me and I flipped him off before I could stop myself. He only nodded and grinned.

I rolled my eyes but clenched Hellion’s arm tighter, this time for support.
 

Hellion’s arm tensed and I felt him swell all over, a fine wind emanating from somewhere inside him, literally flowing out. “Outside. Now.” He stalked to the door, never looking back.
 

“No.” I turned beseeching eyes to Bahlin, but his calculating look told me I’d gain no quarter there. I turned to Micah. “You
owe
me. Stop this or help me stop them.”

He shook his head and rose. “There’s no stopping the madness the pheromones create, Maddy. I’ve told you this in every way I know how, tried to explain that when you house with alphas in your condition it’s akin to bearding lions in their own den. Now? I believe you’ll do well to suffer a bit just as those of us around you suffer.”

“Where’s your angelic compassion?” I demanded.

“You were quick to point out that I fell a long time ago, Maddy.”

Furious, I pushed and shoved through the mass of bodies making their way outside to watch the two magi, one clearly warlock and one clearly tempted, face off. I needed to get my gun before this got out of hand. I slowed, thinking about Micah’s words to me, accusing that I reached for the gun before I reached for logic. He was right. I sprinted up the stairs. Dealing with that little nugget of self-revelation would have to wait.

I’d be damned if Hellion’s soul was going to be seduced on my account.
 

Hellion had stripped to his leather pants and boots and was tying his hair back when I made my way out with the few stragglers and staff. I went straight to his side. The dragons all convened with Bahlin behind Connell while the coven members moved to Hellion’s back. The lines were clearly drawn, the two groups looking distrustfully at each other while clearly backing their own magus.

“You’ll serve as Justice Dealer, Madeleine,” Connell called, grinning.

I turned to Hellion. His mouth was a harsh slash in his face, his eyes having bled to black with the challenge. “What does he mean?”

“You’ll declare the winner, but you’re bound by your oath as Niteclif. You have to let the challenge stand because he’s just invoked his right to officially challenge me for the authority to lead Western Europe’s covens. Bastard.” He cracked his knuckles and stretched his arms.
 

I choked on a near hysterical laugh. “Now? He wants to do this
now
?”

“Should he luck into a win, he’ll likely lay claim to my Council seat as well.” Hellion’s voice deepened and took on a rough quality. “I don’t intend to give up either.”

Mark moved up close. “Who will you have as your second, Coven Master?” The formal title cast the moment further into absurdity.
 

Hellion looked around. Only one of the five from the circle was present, and he stood wounded but straight. “I’ll forgo a second.”

“Then so will Connell.” I turned back to the other man, but Hellion stopped me.

“It’s his right.” His skin stretched tight over high cheekbones and a small crease formed between his eyes.
 

“No.” I shook my head. “No.”

“I won’t fail, Maddy, and I won’t fall, so there’s no real need for a second.” He smiled softly, but his eyes held the doubt that his words sought to allay.

“I’m the Justice Dealer. I won’t allow this because justice won’t be served by an unfair fight.” Hellion started to argue, but I turned back and walked to the midpoint between the two men. “No seconds.”

Connell nodded at the same time a small, dark-skinned man stepped close and began to argue quietly with him.

Bahlin moved to the arguing pair and laid a firm hand on the smaller man’s shoulder. “You’ll do as she says, Richard. Intervene and I’ll kill you myself as the Council’s leader.”

With a sharp nod, the smaller man moved away and left Bahlin and Connell facing each other. “You’d side with the Niteclif?”

“You’ll respect her ruling, Connell Darach. Failure to do so will set you outside the protection of the weyr before you’re brought up on charges in front of the Council for failing to adhere to the rules of the challenge. She’d have the final say as to your punishment, so it seems you’ve cut your nose off to spite your face.”

Connell turned away, shedding his own shirt to reveal a lithely muscled torso, much leaner than Hellion’s. It was like standing a racehorse next to a draft horse, so remarkable was the difference in their build. “Stand aside, Niteclif. Your magus cannot hide behind your skirts forever.”

Hellion chuckled, his voice resonating with the same power I’d heard last night. “You fight like a girl already, Darach. Madeleine Niteclif, stand aside and let the fight run its course. Call it when one of us is rendered immobile or…”

“Or?” I breathed. “Don’t you dare say dead, Hellion.”

He looked at me and a sad smile played across his face. He took a half-dozen large strides and drew me into his arms for a single, breath-stealing kiss. He pulled away, the pulse deep in his eyes clearer than ever before. “Then I shan’t. Call it like you see it, Maddy.”

I stepped back, never taking my eyes from him. Bahlin was suddenly there, his arm around my shoulders. Shrugging it off, I nodded. The two magi squared off and I felt my stomach fall as the first blow was struck.

Connell was clearly the weaker of the two magi, but he fought with a single-minded force that alarmed me. Every time he deflected a spell or curse hurled by Hellion, he’d counter with stunning brutality, looking for Hellion’s weaknesses. Hellion moved with grace and surety the smaller man lacked, but that wicked brutality…it leveled the playing field far more than I was comfortable with.

Connell’s voice was a hiss on the breeze, never giving up his strategy by word or position. Hellion fought with near silence, occasionally letting loose a rush of breath or a single word. The smell of singed ozone hung heavy between them. From a distance, an outsider would have seen two men pantomiming strange movements, but nothing would have indicated this was a fight for control of the largest, and strongest, covens on the planet or that the loser faced potential death at the hand of his opponent.

Sweat soaked each man as the sun moved through its zenith. The fight had gone on for more than two hours when Hellion took a stunning blow to the chest, splitting the skin open down to the muscle. Raking his hands in a harsh clawing motion, Connell dragged the wound open. Blood poured down Hellion’s chest and pain glazed his eyes. He stumbled.

I bit my cheek so hard it bled.

Connell moved one step closer to Hellion, who didn’t reciprocate.
 

“Shit.” Bahlin moved closer to my side as murmurings started behind Connell, the dragons growing agitated in their excitement.

I shook my head infinitesimally, not willing to watch the magus fall to his foe. I hadn’t thought beyond the threat to what it would mean for the coven, or for him, should he not win. Mark and Stearns stood one to each side of the line of fire, both men looking on with grim determination. Mark couldn’t stop his astonished cry when Hellion shouted and crumple to one knee, clearly wounded in some way we couldn’t see.
 

His skin was paling from either blood loss or pain—probably both. He threw out his hands and created a shield to ward off Connell’s blows. The warlock took another step toward the downed magus, and I wanted to call the match.
 

Bahlin must have seen me move to speak because he clamped a hand over my mouth and bent to whisper in my ear. “Don’t distract him, Maddy. Not now.”

I nodded, tears pooling even as the injustice of silence threatened to choke me.
 

Hellion’s neck was chorded with tension, his muscles quivering with strain. Connell took a larger step toward my lover, whipping his hand through the air. Hellion’s head snapped forward in an unnatural movement, his hair tie breaking and the generated wind blowing his hair into his eyes. He never saw the next blow coming. The righteous man never thinks to cover his back where cowards are most likely to attack.

Hellion’s back arched and he couldn’t stop the groan the blow wrung from him. It became clear he was seriously injured when his mirage-like shield wavered in the afternoon sun. Connell took another step forward until he was even with me. The dragons were beginning to cheer and clap each other on the back, and I knew that if I let him cross the line at the center of the field, it was over.

Connell grinned viciously and, in a moment that slowed time to a crawl, he raised his hand again. Hellion’s head snapped back and blood flowed from his ears. His eyes widened and he opened his mouth in a wordless scream. He was forced to both knees, and the coven seemed to shrink in on itself. He’d fallen to his adversary.

But Connell struck one last blow at the same time Hellion’s hands fell to his thighs in defeat and I opened my mouth to call the fight. Hellion was blown backward as if from the concussion of some silent explosion. His eyes widened before he hit the ground with a muted thud.

My gun was in my hand and pointed at the warlock. “Stop,” I yelled. “Stearns, is he alive?” My voice, eerily calm, rang out across the field.

Stearns was already racing to his fallen coven master’s side. He slid across the ground, stopping just shy of Hellion’s prone body, then did something with his hands. The healer looked up, enraged. “Tell him to release the magic.”

I grinned at Connell and shot him in the knee. The warlock turned and raised a hand toward me and suddenly Bahlin was there, in all his dragon’s glory, shielding me from the blow. He screamed and the dragons who had been cheering for the clear victor took the other man to the ground.
 

I pushed past Bahlin and moved to the restrained man, a force of fury the likes of which he’d never seen. “Release the magic now or I’ll kill you myself.”