Ghost Town Page 0,66

modern age, there is no hiding among the humans, not for long. And you know it." She hesitated, and then said softly, "You must trust me, as you once did."

He laughed, a rusty, raw sound, and turned to go. Amelie flashed around the table in a white blur and put her back to the door before he reached it. He paused just a step away from her. Seeing them that close together, Claire realized how tall he was, and how he towered over her. Amelie looked fragile, suddenly. Vulnerable.

"Don't make me do this," Amelie said. "I value you. Don't destroy the peace we have."

He reached out and fastened his hand on her arm. The guard moved toward them. Amelie shook her head, and the guard stopped, but stayed ready to jump. "Out of my way," Oliver said. "This is useless. I've bowed to you for too long, and if I continue to do it, we will all suffer. You can't change us, Amelie. You can't change me. For the love of God, stop trying."

"Sit. Down."

"No. I've been your trained dog long enough."

She broke free of his grip and slapped her hands on both sides of his face, freezing him in place. Her eyes . . . her eyes went white. Pure, cold, icy white. Claire looked away, because what howled through the room just then was a feeling of wild power nothing like she'd ever felt from Amelie before. Hannah and Richard had moved out of their chairs and were pressed against the far wall. Even the guard was backing up.

"Do not defy me," Amelie said fiercely. "I don't want to destroy you, but I will rather than allow you to hunt and kill as you wish. Do you understand me?"

It had to be impossible for Oliver to do anything but agree. Claire felt the pressure in the room increase, a kind of heavy psychic weight that made her gasp and want to curl into a ball--and it wasn't even aimed at her.

Amelie opened her mouth, and her fangs slid down, elegant and slow. She was no longer vulnerable. Not at all. She was . . . terrifying.

Oliver had to kneel to her. He had to. Claire could feel just the edges of what Amelie was doing, but the pressure on Oliver must have been like the weight of the ocean, driving him to submit.

He took a deep breath and brought his arms up sharply between hers, and knocked her hands away from his face. Amelie's eyes widened in surprise, and then he reached out and put his hands on her face.

Amelie's eyes faded back to gray, then turned very dark. "No," she said. "No."

"Yes," Oliver said. "I warned you before. I won't be ruled. Not even by you. I don't wish to do this, but you've left me no choice."

Amelie was shuddering now. Power was pouring out of Oliver, and unlike Amelie's cold control, his felt hot, blood-hot, pounding like a pulse. Overwhelming. Claire's head was splitting from the pressure, and she saw that Richard and Hannah were feeling the same pain.

"Submit," Oliver said. "Submit and I'll spare you the humiliation of kneeling."

"No," she whispered, but it was weak. Only a thread of sound. Her eyes had turned black. "You will never have me, Oliver. Never."

"I already have you," he said.

"No."

"This has been coming for so many years. You knew it. Let go. Amelie, I don't want to hurt you."

It seemed to take everything Amelie had, but she struck his hands away from her face, just as he'd done to her. Her eyes paled back to gray. She was breathing, visibly breathing, which for a vampire meant she'd just done something extremely hard. "I will never be your creature, Oliver," she said, voice trembling. "I will accept you as an equal. Never as a conqueror. You should know that by now." He stared down at her, and Claire felt the pressure in the room slowly bleed away. She should have felt relieved, but instead she just wanted to collapse and sleep. Hannah and Richard were holding hands, she noticed. That seemed odd. Maybe they were just as freaked-out as she was.

"Equals," Oliver said. "How could we ever be equals, do you imagine? We aren't made for such things. We both need to rule. It's in our natures."

"Then force me to submit. Or walk away."

Oliver shook his head, and Claire thought he started to turn, but then his right hand shot out and closed around Amelie's throat, slamming her back