to go, not without me. But it’s okay. I’m promised my freedom and we can go wherever you want.”
The boy’s lips curled down in apparent disgust. “Why would I do that? I’ve only ever wanted one Master.” He looked over at Dracul. “He was worthy of my love. You are nothing.”
Petru’s expression flashed with fury before he settled down again. “You don’t mean that. You’re upset. I understand. I’ll take you someplace quiet and warm. You like the sun. It might take time, but you’ll learn to appreciate me again.”
For a few tense seconds, the two of them stared at each other. Then Andri made another move to leave and this time, when Petru stood in his way, there was a flash of something in the boy’s hand.
“Watch out!” Alex’s warning was too late.
The knife went into Petru’s throat above his body armor. Blood spurted, hitting the boy in the face, although it didn’t stop him. Petru did, though. As the boy pushed past, Petru grabbed his slender neck with one hand and brought him down to the floor as he himself collapsed. The sound of Petru crushing the changeling’s windpipe rang clear across the room. The boy jerked and writhed, but with his dying strength, Petru hung on. Although Harry raced to help, he couldn’t wrestle Petru’s fingers from the boy. Then blood starting seeping out of the artery from Petru’s nails penetrating Andri’s skin. It was over seconds later, the changeling lying still. It was then that Petru let out a burst of what might have been laughter before turning into dust.
“Jesus,” Will muttered.
“I almost feel sorry for the fucker,” Malcolm added.
Alex understood what he meant. As horrible as Petru had been all these centuries doing Dracul’s bidding, in the end he’d been truthful with them, purely to retrieve this one human who’d tossed his surprising devotion aside in favor of the dubious enslavement by Dracul. Now they were both dead.
He turned his attention back to Dracul, who was staring at the carnage with something akin to a smile on his face. “You destroy everything you touch. Your older sons are dead, most of your followers, even that demented boy. And you don’t care about any of them, do you?”
Dracul merely shrugged. “Why do you sound so surprised?”
Good point. Alex was wasting time asking questions that he already knew the answer to. And yet he gave one more try to bring Dracul back from the brink. “We have a Queen. She will bring peace and harmony to all of us, if you will let her.”
Dracul stood frozen for a moment, but just as Alex thought something had finally penetrated the madness, the man laughed. “You think I care about that?” He laughed again, as if Alex had delivered the funniest line of comedy ever.
There was nothing left to do now except that which he should have done from the moment his first officer had questioned his decisions. All those chances he’d given him, including this last one, had been wishful thinking. Honor had been satisfied—and then some. It was time for action. He flew at Dracul with enough force to take them both across the room. They hit the wall together. Plaster cracked and littered them and the floor as they grappled for supremacy.
Being naked, Dracul was more vulnerable, but he was also slippery. Alex had to dig his fingers into the guy’s flesh to gain purchase. He used his booted feet to sweep Dracul off his. They fell to the floor and rolled across the carpet. With each pass, they snapped and snarled, each trying to take a bite out of the other. Because Dracul didn’t fight fair, neither did Alex. Fuck his sense of chivalry. He had to be victorious—not because he worried that Dracul would escape. None of his men would permit that. No, it was getting back to Quinn that drove his desire to stay alive.
When Dracul kneed him in the balls, Alex took the opportunity to bite his ear off as he collapsed forward. He spat the ash that coated his mouth the moment he severed the thing from its blood supply. Although he tried to maintain momentum and sink his fangs into Dracul’s jugular, the monster managed to toss him off and roll away. Alex tumbled in the opposite direction and leaped to his feet. They stood facing each other, circling and baring their fangs. With dual roars, they both lunged, connecting in mid-flight.
They crashed to the floor once more—arms entwined, legs