Page 93 of Filthy Rich Vampires: For Eternity

“This one.” She handed me a short sword, the blade honed and razor-sharp. Lightweight but lethal, its handle fit into my palm so perfectly that it could have been made for me. Sabine was a warrior. She knew her weapons. My stomach plummeted. This wasn’t a sword chosen for losing a duel.

It was one meant for winning one.

“No mercy, then?” My voice trembled a little, but I recovered quickly. I would not allow her to see my doubt.

Her answering smile sent shivers slithering down my spine. “Do you have to ask? I am head of this household.”

I swallowed and forced myself to smile. “Good.”

Sabine paused, her calculating eyes scanning me. “You will fight to the death, then?”

I knew the real question she was asking.

“You overestimate my feelings for your daughter,” I told her, allowing my smile to crack open wider. She stared for a moment.

I took the sword and moved to the side. She followed without another word. At least I didn’t have to sit through her instructions on how to fight. I could handle myself.

“No surrender,” she reminded me, and I realized the game she was playing.

“You think she’ll surrender rather than kill me, don’t you?” I asked, shaking my head. Maybe I wasn’t the only one playing a dangerous game, but I had something worth fighting for. Sabine? She didn’t know how to lose, especially when it came to her status. How far would she go to cling to that power? We were about to find out. I couldn’t help but laugh.

Her eyes widened, and I knew I’d managed to get under her skin. She thought she could play us both. Save her daughter and her power.

“Why are you laughing?” she demanded through gritted teeth.

“Because I know something you don’t.” I chuckled again, even though I was half sick over what was about to happen. “You’re overestimating your daughter’s feelings for me. She stopped caring what happened to me a long time ago.”

And this duel would prove it.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

CAMILA

Jacqueline wouldn’t look at me. It wasn’t the first time I’d pissed her off, but it might be the last. She moved away from the table, sword in hand, and continued to whisper with my mother. Panic seized me, and for a moment, I couldn’t move, couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe.

“Your turn,” Selah said in that bossy tone that made her so easy to hate. I’d always hated her, even when I was a little girl, and she would stop by for afternoon tea. It was something in her eyes—something predatory—that I had never quite trusted. She had joined the Council not long after my mother, and, like my mother, she would do anything to keep her position.

“Thanks for the update,” I said dryly, knocking my shoulder into hers as I passed.

Sarcasm was my only friend. It didn’t surprise me that Thea hadn’t bothered to intercede in my challenge. My brother’s mate hated me. Not that I could blame her. I wasn’t overly fond of anyone who had tried to kill me, either. Her indifference hadn’t stung, but Jacqueline’s had. Not that I was about to show that to her.

I’d been stupid to think we could forgive and forget. Even the testimony she’d promised to give the Council was cold and disinterested.

I stopped in front of the weapons and leaned down, placing my palms on the stone table, its chill seeped into my skin and made me shiver. I stood quickly and hoped no one saw that small tremble. It was a sign of frailty I couldn’t afford, especially after Jacqueline had proclaimed I was too weak to fight her. The worst part was that she was partially right. I wasn’t weak, but I was scared. Not of facing an opponent, but facing her.

I looked over the weapons, not really taking in any of the details, but instead, focused on the task before me. This was it. My challenge had been accepted. If I won, Sabine would have no choice but to reveal what she’d done with Hadrian and Laurel.

And all I had to do to finally reach my children was kill the love of my life.

No big deal.

At least, it shouldn’t be. Not when Jacqueline seemed eager to be done with me. Not if it was the price I had to pay to see my children again. So, why did it all feel wrong?

I’d returned to my family for one reason: to destroy them and take back what was mine. It had been easy to keep hating them. None of them were sorry. None of them cared about what they’d done to me. But I had not counted on Jacqueline… I had not expected to find I still loved her after…everything.

I looked over at where she stood with my mother. Jacqueline’s face was stony, an expression I’d grown familiar with over the years. Her fingers flexed around the hilt of her sword like she was ready to fight.

My gaze dropped to a long, polished blade. It had no jewel-encrusted hilt or fancy engraving like most of the others. It was simple, like death itself, and there was something beautiful about that. What was death but a transaction—an exchange of souls between this world and the underworld?

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