Page 49 of Vampire Visions

The problem with Novak, though? He had a mile long, slow burning fuse attached to his anger. When he reached those last few inches, it burned at a furious rate, making the vampire go from zero to one hundred in a split second. That was what we were all witnessing.

Novak very rarely ever lost his grip, but tonight his mask of control would drop.

It was already crumbling.

We all sensed it.

“I want to issue another formal challenge, Dominic.” Novak’s voice was abnormally calm. The grin on his face was dangerously cruel.

“I accept,” Gideon stated with a cockiness that surprised me. “And I’ll fight him as a mage.”

Dominic chuckled. “I’m afraid that’s not how this works, Gideon. You may be a mage-vampire hybrid, but Novak is not. You both fight as vampires.”

“Let him use both, Dom.” Novak shrugged his shoulders. “I’m agreeing to it. I give no fucks about which power he uses before he dies.”

“Okay,” Dominic hesitantly agreed. “We’ll move the impending violence to the basement. The arena is open. Sloane shall fight Kadence first, then Novak and Gideon will close out this ridiculous party.”

“The arena?” Kadence shrieked.

Sloane smiled at her. “Does that mess up your plans, Kade?”

“If you’re staying to spectate, please move downstairs. If not, then you may leave,” Charles addressed the crowd as he reached for the wall controls that connected to a large roll up door. Pressing a small black button on the panel, the door began to ease up. It was similar to a garage door, but this one was made of frosted glass panels. The decorative curtains had been pulled halfway open to expose the first quarter moon.

When the door was no more than a foot off the ground, Charles, Sloane’s shifter dad, went rigid where he stood. He turned his head to look at Sloane, and she released a deep breath before turning to Kadence.

“You brought your own army?” Disbelief hung thick around us as Sloane’s words sunk in. “What were you planning, Kade?” My Kitten raised her silver brows. “No. Don’t tell me. Let me guess. You were going to ask the Heads of Vampyre to follow you, and when they told you no, you were going to force them. Not let them leave until they caved.”

“I’d say there’s about two hundred vamps out there, Pretty Lady. What do you want to do?” Charles backed up, never taking his eyes off the not so distant army. They were moving forward, but not fast.

Before Sloane could reply, a male in the back of the crowd of attendees spoke up. “We stand with the heir and the Apprentice.”

A chorus of muttered agreement assaulted my ears, the whole party apparently standing behind my Kitten. She stepped into the middle of the room, lifting her hand to halt their commotion. “Novak and I appreciate each and every one of you. Please know that you don’t have to fight. We won’t think badly of you if you’d like to seek shelter. Anyone who isn’t prepared for a fight, please make your way to the door that Dom is holding open. He can lock it from the inside, and you’ll be safe.”

A few ancient vampires, and two that were pregnant, went with Dominic. Another moment went by while Sloane waited for everyone to make their final decisions, but the rest stayed put. After we heard the interior bolts lock, Sloane called for Jack and the rest of the guys to step out of the void.

“Oh, look,” Kadence snidely remarked. “You brought Death and his trick pony.”

I tuned the useless banter and shit talking out, intent on watching everything and listening to nothing.

Kadence shifted restlessly on her feet, her fingers moving too much to be considered a nervous twitch. Her eyes lost focus as she ignored the strategic talk around her. I saw her figure flicker a millisecond before I realized that she was casting a spell.

Kadence multiplied.

Her body mimicked the way water ripples. One wave after another, Kadence clones landed in the crowd, snatching up vampires. The situation at hand transformed from an impending battle to an all out war with hostages.

Outside, her army’s pace quickened.

Everyone began looking right and left, assessing our new predicament, but Sloane’s eyes were fixated. Her jaw clenched as she rolled her head around, loosening her muscles, and then she smirked. York nudged my shoulder, pointing his finger straight ahead of us. When I followed his line of sight, I felt my stomach drop.

Of all the people Kadence had grabbed, the Supreme Alpha and the Devil could have been the best or worst choices. There was no in between. The clones held identical daggers, each one placed against the heart or neck of their hostages.

“Find me, Little King,” they all said in unison. The eerie sound was a nightmare come to life, but it only made Sloane’s smirk transform into a full and brilliant smile.

Then Sloane faded.

One second she was there, the next she was angry black smoke rolling through the air.

And then gone.