"She is not," Xenides attempted denial. "I will take you down, old man." Xenides pointed a lengthy claw at Wlodek's chest.

"I'll get this," Merrill stalked forward, claws forming on his fingers.

"No, I will." I'd been running through ways to kill Xenides in my mind, ever since Charles nearly killed him the second time. I didn't want any conventional death for this piece of crap. Xenides' remaining vampires were held by the Council at my back, and I wanted them to see this. In fact, I wanted everyone to see this. I wanted them to know just what this Queen was capable of doing. Yeah, I was royally pissed, and a good mood was far off in the future for me. And my arm still hurt and bled a little from Xenides' attack on top of all that.

"Lissa," Wlodek breathed beside me, "Show this animal that you are a Queen." He jerked his head toward Xenides.

"With pleasure," I growled.

Yes, I can turn to mist in a blink. And once I'm mist, I can mist through or inside anything. And once I mist inside something, I can blow my mist outward, making things explode. Xenides' brain was a tight space, but I got inside it anyway. It's a good thing vampires turn to ash when they die. If they didn't, Wlodek and Merrill would have worn Xenides' blood the rest of the night. As it is, they wore the ash from his head when it exploded, and I wasn't about to pay any cleaning bills.

I'm not even going to ask about your mindspeech, I sent a private message to Merrill as I stalked away from him and Wlodek. I was angry, my arm hurt and I needed blood.

Your father's blood, came the terse reply. Well, I shouldn't have been surprised. Not even a little.

Vampires parted around me as I waded through them. More than half the Aristocracy was dead, if I were reading things right. The ones that remained, however, were going to their knees as I passed. Gavin, Charles, Russell, Will and Trevor fell in behind me, warning vampires away if they came too close. The Council, Wlodek included, followed in my wake.

* * *

The grounds and gardens surrounding the chateau were destroyed, while abandoned vehicles and bits and pieces of human and Elemaiyan bodies littered the lawns. The scent of spilled blood was everywhere. Only one of the chateau's walls still stood; the rest was rubble and strewn everywhere. Survivors had found candles and torches, and those were spaced here and there—mostly to provide a bit of comfort and to reassure human companions who'd been led back to the chateau by Moretti after the battle. Some of the companions were reunited with their vampires. Many were not. Xenides and his minions had destroyed more than three hundred of the five hundred members of the Aristocracy. Charles was working nearby on his laptop, entering names of deceased vampires. I'd hugged him when we got a moment alone—Xenides might have done a lot more damage if Charles hadn't shown up when he did. If I had anything to say about it, Charles would be invited to join the Aristocracy. I didn't give a damn that he was barely three hundred years old as a vampire. He deserved that honor.

Someone found blood for me in an abandoned limousine, and I was drinking it as I settled wearily on a stone bench against a broken outside wall. Wlodek, Merrill and Flavio were sorting things out and assigning burial details to hide human and Elemaiyan bodies. If a spade couldn't be found, vampire claws were utilized to dig up earth and bodies were dumped in deep holes.

"You wanted this one?" Russell grinned as he and Will hauled Devlin to me.

"Yes. I want that one," I agreed, setting my bag of blood aside and staring at Devlin. "Did you intend to kill René?" I snapped at him. He was the one who'd sold all of us out. He'd given information on the Annual Meeting to Xenides. I had a feeling I knew what his price had been in exchange for that information.

"No," he whimpered, struggling in Russell and Will's grip. "I wanted Hancock to die."

"Yeah, I figured that out," I muttered.

"Please don't kill me like you did Xenides."

"How do you want to die?" I asked indifferently. I had no patience for this one.

"I wish his death," Gavin stepped up beside me. "René was my kin and I claim Blood Vendetta."

"In a minute," I said, waving Gavin off. He stepped back. "Devlin, nobody else knows," I said. "Except you and me, that is. You made Aubrey. He wasn't René's. René only took him to keep you from dying. He gave you a gift, Devlin—René kept your head attached to your shoulders by claiming your child. Didn't he? You made Aubrey before you were old enough as a vampire. And how did you repay your sire?"

Devlin shuddered. "I didn't want him to die," he snapped, refusing to look at me.

"But he did. You betrayed your sire and cost him his life. Over what?" I let my claws slide out.

"He was giving too much attention to Hancock," Devlin whined. It was an old song—sung by many. Killing over petty jealousy. It made me ill. "He's yours," I nodded to Gavin.

"No!" Devlin shouted, but Will and Russell had already stepped back and Gavin's claws were swift. That one word turned out to be Devlin's last. His body dropped before me and I watched in satisfaction as it flaked away.

"We have a Queen." Oluwa came, with Montrose and Susila behind him. And embarrassingly enough, they went to their knees before me. It was bad enough when the others did it; now the Council was doing it. I slapped a hand over my face.

"Yeah. A foul-mouthed, evil-tempered, bitch of a Queen," I grumped, hoping they'd get up soon.

"Xenides counted on your getting him away from here, my daughter," Wlodek said softly, sitting down beside me. "The army was merely a distraction. Once he had you, he didn't need them." When had Wlodek arrived? The last I'd seen of him, he'd been yards away. "And we will have a discussion later about profanity."

"I'll look forward to it," I snapped. "By the way, Ilaisaane's dead." She was, I'd found the red silk dress she'd been wearing, amid a pile of ash. I'd walked right past it without a twinge of regret.

"Just as well, she was scheduled for termination anyway," Wlodek sighed. And that's when everything slowed. It was as if I was still moving at normal speed, but everyone and everything else began to move at a snail's pace. Words were so painfully drawn out they were unintelligible. Griffin appeared before me.

"Xenides is gone, your mission here is complete," he said. I already knew that, but I was thankful his speech wasn't so slow I couldn't understand it. "Now," Griffin went on, "I need your help. Desperately. If you do not come into the future with me, Lissa, many will die." Griffin had an odd, frightened expression on his normally handsome face.

"What do you mean, many will die?" I gave him a puzzled look. I had no idea what he meant.

"Dragon and the others—the Saa Thalarr. I can't give you any information other than that, baby, because it would be interfering. Please, come with me now. Please."

"But what about Gavin?" I turned to reach out toward Gavin, who wore a frightened expression on his face and the hand he held out had stopped in its momentum to reach me. I felt a chasm between us right then and wanted to stretch out my arm to bridge the gap between us. Wlodek, too, had reached out a hand, as if he could force Griffin away from me. That hand had also stopped, leaving unformed words of denial on Wlodek's lips.

"No, Lissa, you must come now." Griffin pulled my attention away from Gavin and Wlodek. He waved a hand and I was no longer dressed in the aqua gown that had cost so much and was now torn and spattered with blood. I had jeans and one of my T-shirts on, with athletic shoes.

"Lissa, come now. There is no time." Griffin begged. I stared around me. Everything was still and silent. Merrill, standing behind Russell and Will, seemed terrified. Griffin was his friend, why should he be scared? "Lissa, please," Griffin said, and his voice trembled slightly "they're outnumbered and they'll die." He truly was afraid.

"Fine," I muttered and stood up. Griffin and I disappeared.

The End