Chapter 52 #2
Roberto bellowed in fury, hunched his shoulders behind his head, and charged at Antoine. Who only stood waiting, biding his time. Roberto crossed the space between them in a blur, arms reaching out to grapple and crush Antoine to him.
But Antoine wasn’t there anymore. He moved so fast Cally couldn’t track him, then his fist slammed into Roberto’s side, directly beneath his raised arm.
Ribs cracked, the sound echoing through the room, and Roberto was lifted half off the ground.
His breath exploded outward in a pained cry, and Antoine struck again.
Fat and muscle did nothing to cushion the blow, for this time it was to his lower back, beside his spine.
Roberto screamed and dropped to his knees.
He coughed painfully, his massive chest convulsing, and a spray of blood splattered on the ground.
“Let all bear witness,” Antoine said coldly, standing over Roberto as his gaze raked across the assembled vampires.
“My witch and I fight together, as one.” He struck a final blow, directly into the base of Roberto’s skull, and it landed with a crunch as bone shattered beneath his fist. Roberto crashed face-first into the stone floor, twitched once, and lay still.
“The challenge is over,” Belle said, her voice ringing out into the silence. “The Curia witnesses the defeat of Roberto, former Curia of Boston. He is to be entombed…” She paused, her lips curling at the edges. “…if he has survived.”
“I nominate Antoine as Curia of Boston,” the beautiful vampire beside her said mildly, her face as impassive as before.
“I support Anastasia’s nomination,” Gabe added quickly.
“And I!” The acclaim echoed through the room, as vampire after vampire added their voice, and if many of them spoke only out of fear, Cally didn’t care. It was enough that they had spoken.
Antoine strode across the room toward her, the vampires falling silent, but all Cally could see were his eyes, locked on hers, shifting from red to his usual cool blue as his skin regained its normal color.
He took her hand in his, lifted it to his lips, and kissed her knuckles.
Then he slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her against him.
“What do you think, ma chérie?” he asked quietly.
“Do you want this?” She didn’t think he did. Politics and Antoine? It didn’t match.
“I could bear it, if you were by my side.”
She searched his face, seeing the steady resolution in his eyes. Was he really letting her make this decision? But of course he was; he would leave if she said ‘leave,’ stay if she wanted to stay.
“We do this together?” she asked.
His lips curled at the corners with a hint of mischief, as though he wanted to make waves. “Absolutely.”
Cally held his gaze for a moment longer, then raised her voice. “We accept.”
“The Curia recognizes Antoine—and Cally—as the new Curia of Boston,” Belle said, her tone laced with amusement. “Congratulations, my lord, my lady.”
There was a total lack of spontaneous applause or heartfelt well-wishes, but Cally didn’t care.
She pressed her hand to his bare chest, half for support, and half because she needed to.
He was alive, and that was all that mattered.
She gazed up into his eyes, oblivious to the watching vampires.
He cupped her cheek with his palm, then brushed her lips with his.
“Not much longer, ma chérie,” he murmured. “A few small items left.”
He turned to address the room. “Who will entomb Roberto for me?”
Gabe stepped forward. “I will, my lord.”
“Somewhere deep, Gabe,” Cally added, with a meaningful look.
He grinned. “I know just the place.”
“I will attend too,” Belle added airily. “He was, after all, a Curia member… however briefly.”
“What of Tobias and Lena, my lord?” asked the vampire Gabe had called Anastasia.
Tobias had regained consciousness, yet was still bound in his chains. He watched Antoine with caution.
Antoine approached him, still holding Cally to his side. “You entombed me,” he said quietly.
“I did.” Tobias met his gaze, standing tall, and made no attempt at excuses.
“Roberto entombed you,” Cally murmured. “Tobias was merely the tool. And you smashed half his face off, right?” She shrugged as Antoine cast her a wry look. “I think he has suffered for long enough already.”
Antoine inclined his head. “What would you suggest, my lady?”
She regarded Tobias. “Did you once tell me you took a pickup truck and drove out of the state?”
“I did, my lady,” he said guardedly.
“Given the chance, would you do so again?”
Tobias flicked his eyes toward Roberto, who still lay face down on the stone floor, shunned by the others. “How far away will you put him?”
She raised an eyebrow at Gabe.
“A hundred miles or so,” Gabe said, stepping forward.
She turned back to Tobias expectantly.
“Should be far enough,” he muttered, half to himself. He nodded. “I will leave this state.”
“I wish you safe travels,” Cally said.
“By Curia right, I strip you of your territory and brand you Outcast,” Antoine said formally. “You are banished from the state of Massachusetts, never to return.” He paused. “You may take your assets with you.”
Tobias inclined his head, his eyes glistening. “My lord is generous.”
“Remove his chains,” Antoine said to the vampire holding him. He turned away, squeezing Cally against him, and strode to where Anastasia waited near Lena, who had recovered enough to sit up.
Another vampire posed beside her, wearing a revealing dress, eyeing Antoine like he was a slab of meat on a butcher’s block. Cally let her eyes harden, but the vampire merely winked at her.
“I believe I owe you a favor,” Antoine said.
“Indeed you do, my lord,” Anastasia replied impassively, “but it is of my choosing.”
Behind them came the snap of metal links as Tobias’s chains were broken one by one.
“You do not intend to use it for clemency on behalf of Lena?” Antoine asked with a note of surprise. “She did attack Cally.”
“She acted under Roberto’s compulsion, did she not?” Anastasia remained unmoved. “I assume, in your wisdom, that you will not see a need to punish her for that.”
Antoine smiled. “After all that has occurred tonight, I am feeling magnanimous. You may take her.”
Anastasia gave the briefest of curtsies. “Thank you, my lord.”
Cally stayed pressed to Antoine’s side as the other vampires filed out, some of them coming to assure him of their loyalty, while others ignored him completely.
It was a little like being a queen, and she was grateful when at last they were alone.
Gabe and Belle had left a while ago, taking Roberto with them, and Antoine led her back upstairs, into the main house.
Outside it was still dark, the driveway now mostly empty of cars.
“I’m exhausted,” Cally sighed. “Can we go home?”
“We are home, ma chérie.” Antoine’s lips twitched. “This house is the seat of the Boston Curia. That’s you and me, now.”
“Really?” She looked around with fresh eyes. “It needs a complete makeover.”
“What’s wrong with it?” Antoine asked, surprised.
Cally gestured to the main room. “It says ‘Roberto’ all over it.” She turned, pointing to where Belle had stayed when she was last here. “That wing… I’m not setting foot in there again.” She shuddered. “Do we have to stay here?”
“Not tonight, then,” he said, taking her hand. “We can return to Hopedale Street.”
“Or maybe my apartment?” Except she had no idea where her keys were. She paused. “Isn’t this place legally in Roberto’s name?”
“Probably,” he said with amusement. “Marcel’s very expensive lawyers will take care of that little detail.”
Cally nodded slowly. “You do need a new house.”
“We need a new house,” he corrected.
“How many bedrooms does this one have?”
“No idea. Ten or twelve.”
“Really?” She surveyed the space critically. “I think I could like it if it had a woman’s touch.”
“Good. Then, come morning, I’ll have Noah and Marcel strip this place and put it back together the way we want.”
“That’ll take ages.” Cally pressed against him, trailing her hand across his bare chest. “We could leave instructions, couldn’t we? I feel the need to get away from all of this. Holiday?”
“I haven’t had a holiday in…” He frowned. “I’ve never had a holiday.”
“Then I think you’re overdue. Would you like to show me France, my lord?”
Antoine smiled and slid his arms around her. “We can do whatever we want, my lady,” he said, and kissed her.