“You promised,” I heard Jennifer whine as Carter pinned her to the ground, trapping her on her stomach. “You said you wouldn’t hurt her.”
“She’s a danger to us all,” Carter snapped. “She can’t be allowed to exist.”
“Then I won’t tell you anything else.” Jennifer growled and lifted her head to stare at me across the distance. “Kill me if you want. I don’t care. I won’t be the pawn of one monster in the place of another.”
“Don’t cross me, little girl.” He increased the pressure at her nape, causing her to whimper, but she didn’t cave or say another word. Roaring in fury, he lifted his head and looked at me. “What is it that you want, you traitorous bitch?”
Pointing at Victoria, I informed him, “I killed her. She is no longer a danger to you or yours. You need to bring your numbers together and prepare for the next half-demon in line to inherit her place. This isn’t the doing of vampires—it’s the doing of those who made them. There can be a peace between vampire and Lycae.”
“Lies!” He bellowed, eyes shifting color.
“The truth,” I responded firmly. “You have the opportunity—right here, right now—to make things right. You can make that difference. Paine controls the city now. I’ve made that possible. He won’t betray you.
“Please, listen to me.” I moved closer to Carter, movements slow and unthreatening. “It’s time for a change. Things can’t continue like this. Call your men off.”
“I’ll call mine off if you call yours off.” He grinned, boasting as he was unaware that I now had that very power.
I looked around the room, made sure Paine was clear of harm, and called out, “Stop!”
It took several moments, and the deaths of many of Victoria’s men, for Carter to realize I’d done as he’d asked. As he became fully cognizant of that, he followed suit.
“Stand down!”
It was eerie, watching as the vampires and werewolves stood in front of each other, fangs and incisors bared, but did nothing more.
Carter narrowed his eyes, fangs prominent. “You have one minute to plead your case. I suggest you start now.”
“The Queen is dead. The power in the vampire infrastructure has shifted. Form an alliance with the vampires who don’t approve of what’s transpired. Make a change for the better before another is sent to take her place. Together you can take anyone who enters the state. There are enough of you to make that happen.”
“How can I trust your word? We’ve entered such agreements before, and it’s the very reason so many of us were captured.”
I walked to Paine, releasing him from the thrall of the amulet. “Come with me.”
Paine was furious with me, and it showed. “You have a lot of explaining to do.”
“Later,” I whispered and smoothed back his hair, taking him by the hand.
Carter’s fury at greeting the vampire who had stopped him when they last met was written all over his features. “You expect me to trust him?”
“I do.” I almost sighed in relief when he released Jennifer and stood.
“How can I do that, knowing what he is?”
“Because none of this was my doing, or the doing of any of those who existed here prior to Victoria’s appearance,” Paine answered smoothly, once again the intimidating vampire I recognized. “It was her power that crippled the vampiric houses, bending them to her will.”
“Like you couldn’t take her down.” Carter began to shift into his human form, unashamed of his nudity. “If she”—Carter motioned at me—“a mere mortal, could do it, you can’t possibly think I’d believe you were incapable of doing the same.”
“Victoria was a half-demon,” I responded before Paine could. “The only thing that could kill her was a weapon she didn’t expect and the element of surprise.”