Ka had taken the body and mind and gifts of Aurelia Flamma Scintilla, the Firestarter. Aurelia was—had been—asenza onore, a dark Onorio. Ka, a skinwalker, had eaten her while she was alive and taken her power, her memories, and her form. The need for others to fulfill the Rule of Three for Onorio now made sense. Ka/Aurelia raised her hand, and fire began to gather there.
Fury slammed through me. I pulled a nine-mil and a vamp-killer. The world slowed down. From the far end of the street, a vamp strode, walking in the near dawn, his chest naked. The first time in all these days that I had seen him in person.
Shaun MacLaughlinn.
He carried two swords.
All my enemies in one spot.
Not a coincidence.
“Jane Yellowrock,” Shaun shouted. “I have challenged you to a blood duel for the rights of this city. We will fight here. Now!”
Kojo and Koun blocked his way, each holding swords high and low. “You will not break parley,” Koun shouted.
Ka/Aurelia reared back to throw.
Thema darted in front of me.
My vision, my awareness fractured.
Above us, a dragon screamed. Storm, burning dragon form, dove at Ka. Slow, slow, slow.
The fireball flew from Ka/Aurelia’s hand.
Right at Thema. She was a flammable vampire standing in the near-dawn.
Storm’s magic reached for the fireball. Her claws slashed at Ka. I tackled Thema and rolled to the side. Avoiding the sidewalk where Aya had left mass. We landed hard.
Thema’s arm was on fire. I rolled us into the dirt to the side of the house where large-leafed plants grew and the garbage bins stayed. I crushed her skin into the dirt, smothering the fire. Two other fireballs were extinguished out front. Storm’s magic.
I heard a sound like a church bell cracking, a disharmonious, broken gong.
Beneath the broken bell, Ka bellowed in fury.
Gunshots and screams rang out. Fighting sounded from the back of the house too.
“Get inside before the sun takes you out, you stupid vamp,” I demanded of Thema. I leaped to my feet. I wasn’t wearing the Benelli. It was in the floor of the SUV. I was still holding the nine-mil and a vamp-killer. I sprinted at Ka. Half-form but bigger. Stronger.
I took it all in. A single glance.
Ka was Ka-shaped again. Storm was dragon-form, the coils of her snake body wrapped around Ka. Her dragon fangs buried in Ka’s neck.
Ka was holding a blade. In the brighter light, I could see it wasn’t steel but cold iron. I was halfway across the street when she stabbed Storm.
Iron was the only thing that could kill an arcenciel.
Storm screamed in agony and coiled away, her liquid-light blood gushing into the street. Ka raised the blade to strike her again. She collected Storm’s blood in a cup.
I screamed in rage. Half-form lion scream.
Ka stopped, whirled in Storm’s loosening coils. She saw me. I leaped. Midair, I saw Ka’s mouth open. Her body shifted into a red-head Caucasian with blue eyes, the shift allowing her to slide from Storm’s coils. Fangs clicked down. Vampire fangs. Three inches of vampire strength. Her eyes bled black. Her mouth was aimed at my neck.
I whipped my arms and twisted as if in flight. Leaning back. A move Eli had taught me.
Caught Ka with my silvered blade in her side.
Her iron blade passed above me in the air. Still whirling, I rammed the nine-mil into the side of her head. She fell. I landed as she hit the sidewalk. Found my feet. I kicked her head, making sure she was down and out. Her body rolled into the street, her head at an angle that let me know I had broken her neck. The stench of liver-eater was powerful: scorched flesh and rot.
