Gregor was already there, standing next to his blond servant, Lucius. I was surprised Lucius was alive since I’d assumed he’d been one of the vampires Bones, Spade, or Rodney had killed inside the house. Lucius’s absence yesterday was odd, since every other time I’d seen Gregor, Lucius had been with him. Still, I had bigger concerns aside from wondering why Lucius hadn’t been at Gregor’s side during the previous ambush.
Gregor and Lucius weren’t the only new arrivals at the house. Having a formal duel was apparently an event. There were several Master vampires I didn’t recognize. Gregor’s allies, Mencheres told me, plus several more members of Bones’s line, along with four vampires who were introduced as Law Guardians.
Out of those four, the tall blond female crackled with enough power to make me uneasy. While she looked only eighteen, she felt about five thousand years old, and the three other male Law Guardians with her were mega-Masters as well. Bones, Spade, and I had all broken the law in taking my mother from Gregor. So had Rodney, of course, but he was past any undead judgment. Maybe the rest of us still had penalties coming.
Speaking of my mother, she was present as well. I’d thought she would avoid getting anywhere near Gregor, but she stood on the far edge of the lawn, watching Gregor with her eyes lit up like streetlights. Anyone within a thirty-foot range of her could smell the rage and hatred pouring off her. I didn’t even want to imagine what else might have happened to my mother during the time Gregor had her. It filled me with enough fury for me to worry about my hands sparking again.
Bones had avoided me since leaving the room twenty minutes ago. I understood why; he was clearing his mind of everything but the imminent fight. Somehow, he’d even barricaded himself from the connection I’d felt between us ever since I woke up as a vampire. I couldn’t sense anything from him now. It was as if a wall had replaced the rub of him inside my subconscious. I felt bereft, like I’d lost a limb. Many times, I’d heard Bones speak of the connection vampires felt to their sires. Only now that it was gone did I truly understand how deep it ran.
Bones was on the perimeter of the battlefield, talking to Spade. I couldn’t hear them, either from the background noise of everyone else or because he was keeping his voice too low.
Moonlight glinted off Bones’s pale, beautiful skin, and his dark hair appeared highlighted under those alabaster rays. I couldn’t stop staring at him, my anxiety mounting as the time ticked ever closer. Bones couldn’t die tonight. He just couldn’t. Fate couldn’t be so cruel as to let Gregor win after every awful thing he’d done, right?
I hoped not.
Across the cold red earth, I saw a familiar dark head part through the waiting onlookers. Vlad.
He glanced at me, but then kept walking in the opposite direction. My brows rose when Bones waved him over, the two Law Guardians around Bones stepping back to let Vlad through. Vlad’s hair obscured his face as he leaned in, listening to whatever Bones said. I couldn’t tell anything from Spade’s closed expression, and I couldn’t hear a word. Frustrated, I could only watch as Vlad replied, also inaudible, and Bones nodded once. Then Vlad walked away, headed this time in my direction.
“What did he say?” were my first words when he reached me.
Vlad shrugged. “What you might expect him to say.”
Ice crept along my spine. Knowing Bones, he would have asked Vlad to look after me if Gregor killed him. Even though he disliked Vlad, that’s exactly the sort of thing Bones would do. Was he just being cautious, or did he know there was no way he could beat Gregor? God, had Bones gone into this knowing he’d die but refusing to back down regardless?
I was about to run over to Bones and beg that we call the whole thing off when the tall blond Law Guardian strode into the center of the clearing. “The duel will now begin. As agreed beforehand, it will not end until one of the combatants is dead. Anyone who interferes forfeits their life.”
Mencheres gripped my hand. “It’s too late to stop it,” he said softly, as if he’d guessed what I’d been about to do. “If you interfere now, you die.”
I swallowed out of habit, but my mouth was utterly dry. Vlad put a hand on my shoulder as Bones strode out into the clearing, Spade following him. Gregor did as well, Lucius at his side. I didn’t understand until Spade and Lucius handed over a knife to their friends, then backed away to the edge of the irregular circle. Weapon-bearers, I realized. Both Spade and Lucius each had carried only three knives, and now they’d given up one of them. When those weapons ran out, there would be no more.