Bastien blurred into motion, Jae rushing from one side.
Nicodemus removed his signet ring and closed his eyes. The flames alighted on his exposed skin. Émilie watched him grimace in agony, though he made no sound. A pang unfurled around her heart. Once she’d loved him. Seen him as her protector.
Nicodemus Saint Germain. The oldest, most powerful vampire in the American South.
Her brother shouted like a demon possessed. Screams of outrage rang through the throng of vampires present. Still Émilie did not turn away from her uncle’s demise. She watched him fall to his knees, the signet ring striking the deck with a metallic ping.
Soon he was nothing more than a pile of ash.
Émilie looked at the young man who had once been her brother. Saw the hate ripple across his face, his fingers intertwined with those of his half-fey love. Snarls ripped from Boone Ravenel’s chest.
A grin tugged at the edges of Émilie’s mouth. She gazed at Celine. “Leave now, or face your—”
The shot that rang out next surprised her. Almost as much as the bullet that tore into her shoulder, nearly knocking her off her feet. The resulting burn caused her to gasp in pain. Typical bullets did not do that.
Which meant this bullet had been tipped in silver by someone who knew what they were.
MICHAEL
He’d taken the shot despite the consequences, out of worry for Celine. Though he knew it meant he was firing upon one of his own. But Michael Grimaldi had watched for long enough. He thought it would give him satisfaction to see the end of Nicodemus Saint Germain.
The reality was the complete opposite.
The next instant, Michael dispatched his fellow officers of the Metropolitan Police. They mounted the railing of the riverboat, their whistles blowing in the dawn light. For an instant, everyone on the deck—the werewolves Michael had known from childhood, his own cousin, the vampires in the Court of the Lions—did not move. Then pandemonium erupted.
Michael had thought the presence of the police would deter the violence from escalating.
He was wrong.
The most powerful of the wolves, those able to transform in daylight, quickly changed shape, their clothes ripping to shreds, their growls tearing through the crowd. Several vampires blurred along the edges of the deck. It was impossible to know who struck first, but a wolf yelped, its jaw torn from its mooring. Its body fell to the deck, lifeless. The next instant, cries of rage littered the dawn sky.
For a moment, Michael’s fellow officers froze in shock, unsure of what to do.
Who was their enemy in this fight?
A shrill whistle blared from the opposite end of the deck as an officer fired at a wolf charging toward him. The next instant, the rest of the police force took aim, two of them moving to protect Celine and the other women close by.
Though Michael carried a revolver loaded with solid silver bullets, he tore the dagger from his side, refusing to fire again on one of his own. But he did not hesitate to fire a warning shot at Jae’s head when the vampire moved toward Luca, who fought back to back with his new wife. Neither had shifted into their animal forms, though Michael knew Luca was powerful enough to do so at any time of day.
Those who could not shift fled to the other side of the riverboat. The rest of the wolves attacked at random, their lack of organization obvious. Luca yelled over the din, trying his best to rally those who remained to his side.
Bastien and Odette stood before Celine, knocking any wolf that charged out of the way. Michael did not miss how Bastien avoided using lethal force. When Celine shouted, Bastien turned in place in the same moment two wolves descended on Odette, knocking her from her feet. One wolf buried its fangs in Odette’s throat.
Bastien hurled himself against the wolf’s side, knocking the second attacking wolf away from Odette with a swipe of his arm. Michael watched as the wolf slid backward, then moved to attack Celine, who held a pistol and a knife in each of her hands. She fired, and the wolf dodged the shot just as Boone came to her aid.
From nowhere, the werewolf Michael shot—the girl Luca had recently married—stepped into the light, her expression one of triumph.
“Celine!” Bastien shouted as Celine brandished her silver dagger and heaved it with all her might at Luca’s wife, the blade sinking into the werewolf’s shoulder. The girl sent Celine a savage smile before grabbing