"Celina is our future," he spit out again, then turned from me as the inertia forced us through the spins and away from each other. I pushed the sword beneath my right arm, but he rolled away from the thrust. I dropped my left hand away from the sword and spun around, raising the katana and bringing it around as I turned to face him again. I didn't land the strike, but Peter stumbled backward into Ethan, who caught him on the top of the head with the butt of his katana's handle.
"Celina is old news," Ethan said, voice flat, as Peter crumpled to the ground. As I lowered my sword, chest heaving from the exertion of the fight, Ethan crouched down and reached out his hand again.
"You are hereby excommunicated," he said, then ripped the medal from Peter's neck.
Ethan stood again, pressed the medal to his lips, then tossed it into the Lake. Without comment, he pulled the cell phone from his pocket, punched in numbers, and raised it to his ear.
"Tell the Brecks," he said. "The threat has been contained."
Chapter Twenty-two
GIVE PEACE A CHANCE
They debriefed via headset on the ride back to Cadogan House, but I stayed quiet, the pressure in my head forcing my silence. I rested my forehead against the cool glass of the passenger-side window and listened as they discussed the fight, the e-mail, events in Peter's history that might have triggered his defection to Celina's side. The loss of a loved one. A fight with a shifter. Celina's innate power.
The downpour of rain started just as Ethan pulled the Mercedes into the basement.
Malik met us at the basement door.
"They're here," he said. "In the office. Breckenridges and Masters."
Ethan nodded, and we took the stairs to the first floor.
"You did good," he quietly said, as we rounded the corner toward his office.
I nodded my thanks. Luc met us in the hallway, having driven back to the House with Lindsey, just as Ethan pushed forward into his office.
The room was full of vampires and shifters.
Nick, in gray trousers and a slinky black polo, stood with his father just inside the door.
He ignored me, but cast a dubious glance around the office. "I didn't know bloodsucking paid so well."
"Said the man who resorted to extortion to deal with his family problems," Ethan pointed out.
Headache or not, I bit back a grin. Who knew he had it in him?
"Have a seat, gentlemen," Ethan said, extending his hand toward the conference table.
Scott, Noah, and Morgan were already there. After the Brecks made their way to the end of the room and took seats opposite the vampires, Ethan took his chair at the head of the table. Luc, Malik, and I followed, and stayed standing.
"Thank you all for agreeing to gather together," Ethan said. "As Malik has no doubt explained to you, we have identified and nullified the supposed threat against Jamie Breckenridge." He glanced at Papa Breck, whose features were pulled into a confused frown. "A vampire in our House fell under the influence of a supernatural with a less than stellar reputation. In so doing, he was convinced to issue a false threat against Jamie, while at the same time warning us of a threat by the Breckenridges against us."
Ethan paused, then clasped his hands together on the table, interlacing his fingers. "His intent, we understand, was to foster animosity between vampires and shifters."
I had to give it to the Brecks. They didn't even blink an eyelash at the fact that they'd been outed.
"Thanks to the efforts of our guards corps and our Sentinel, we were able to detain the vampire," Ethan continued. "He has been excommunicated and is currently on his way to the U.K. for sentencing, as is our way. I want to stress that there is no indication that anyone, vampire or otherwise, Cadogan House or otherwise, intended to follow through with the threat against Jamie. Nevertheless, whether real or not, this threat has been neutralized."
"Who?" Nick asked. "Who made the threat, and who gave the order?"
Ethan arched an imperious eyebrow at Nick, who managed, impressively, to give back an equally stubborn look. "Sullivan, you can't think that I'm going to simply take your word on this and walk away. Not after what my family's been through."
"Then perhaps," Ethan said, "we could reach a compromise."
Silence, then, "I'm listening."
"The information regarding both the perpetrator and the individual we believe issued the orders is very precious to us." He linked his fingers together