He shoved up, drew his sword and launched toward Justine, ignoring the nearby fire and the fighting that had broken out all around.

Bitch hadn't turned to dust either. She wasn't dead yet.

As he neared, Justine rolled onto her stomach and came up on her hands and knees. Her teeth were bared in a rictus grin. She reached toward her waist and drew a gun.

And turned to level it at him.

Someone ran toward them from his right, aiming an automatic rifle at Justine and firing a constant spray of bullets.

The shooter was a tall woman with blond hair pulled into a tight bun at her neck. She had a cloth wrapped around her nose and mouth, and she was shadowed by a tall, powerfully built Light Fae male who threw combat spells like sparks of deadly fire.

Melly.

Justine's arm jerked back and her shots went wide.

Julian regarded the other Vampyre with some degree of incredulity. Bitch still wasn't dead. But her arm was sure shot to hell.

He limped forward the rest of the way to her, swung his sword, and Justine's head spun away from her body.

It flew straight toward Melly, as it happened, who flinched back and pulled a massive ew face that was obvious even through the masking cloth. Using the butt of her gun, she whacked at the head like it was a baseball, batting it away from her just as it crumbled to dust.

Meanwhile, bullets flew everywhere, and people still pounded the hell out of each other. Julian grabbed Melly by the waist and hauled her around the concrete pillar for cover.

He shouted at her, "What are you doing down here?"

Her eyes went very wide and she flung out her free hand. She looked more than a little crazed as she shouted in reply, "I couldn't keep watching this on TV!"

Naturally, her Light Fae troops had returned to the garage with her. Their arrival turned the tide again. While pockets of fighting still raged in a few areas, he saw the battle was essentially over.

He turned back to Melly. "All those fantastic kill shots you made when you dusted the ferals, and you damn near shoot Justine's arm off?"

"All I could see was the gun she had pointed toward your head. I needed to stop it."

A fine tremor ran through her body. Her eyes were huge and dark. He snatched her close, hugging her with one arm hooked around her neck. With trembling fingers, she touched his face, his neck.

The scene around them was like something out of hell. It seemed fitting that hell might be found in Evenfall's basement garage. The last of the fighting came to an end.

Overhead, a fire sprinkler system tried to spurt water, but the system was a modernization that had been tacked onto the old, original stone ceiling. The grid of thin, exposed pipes had been too damaged from various explosions.

As a thin trickle of water dripped on his head, Julian looked up. "That's not going to be enough."

Yolanthe shouted, "Get fire extinguishers down here, people!"

Melly coughed. "Do you need to be down here anymore?"

"No. Let's go." He kept an arm around her shoulders and stayed watchful, just in case. He had seen too many tragedies occur when people let down their guard at the end of a battle. "It's over."

At that, she barked out a hoarse, rasping laugh and coughed harder.

"No," she told him. "It's not. Annis and Leopold are busily gathering the Nightkind council together. I predict they'll all be here inside of two hours."

He thought about that as they made for the staircase. "Well," he offered after a few minutes. "At least Dominic and Justine are dead."

She put an arm around his waist. "At least there's that."

They made their way back to Julian's suite, where Xavier hugged them both and Tess gave Melly a wide, relieved smile.

Meanwhile, chaos reigned. Light Fae troops crowded in. People continued to pop into the stairway tunnel, until someone realized Julian and Melly had returned. Then instead of evacuating, they started pouring back through the tunnel entrance. A loud, excited babble of conversation filled the air.

"I'm never going to get my bedroom back again," Julian muttered, as he watched the influx of jubilant, relieved people.

Xavier told them, "Evenfall still isn't secure. We need to do a sweep."

"We also have to take care of Dominic's troops stationed outside." Taking Melly by the hand, he hauled her into his office, which was marginally quieter.

Xavier, Tess and Shane joined them. Melly watched as Julian picked up the receiver from the phone set on his desk. He slammed it back down immediately. "The phone's dead. Goddammit. They did cut the telecommunications cables."

Xavier said, "With your permission, I'll command the sweep. If there's any more fighting, it'll be minimal and the guards can take care of it. I'll also coordinate with Yolanthe to make sure the Nightkind troops are purged of traitors." Frowning, he paused to regard Tess.

Tess's expression turned determined. "You don't need me here anymore. I'm coming with you."

Purged of traitors. Melly swallowed hard.

"Good, go take care of it," Julian told the pair. He hadn't let go of Melly's hand, his fingers laced through hers.

Melly said to Shane, "It's still daylight. We can handle that much better than the Nightkind. Send fifteen troops to help with clearing Dominic's forces from the area around the castle. And we have to clear out some of the chaos in here. Would you make sure people are directed to go out of the suite, so they don't linger to chat? And close the tunnel entrance as soon as you can."

"Yes, ma'am." Following Xavier and Tess, Shane stepped out.

As soon as they had left, Melly released Julian's hand, stepped forward and slammed the door, shutting out the rest of the world. Julian followed her.

As she turned around, he pinned her back against the door panel with his body weight. Leaning both his arms on the door, he bowed his head next to hers.

Torn between holding on to him and running her hands over the surface of his scarred body armor, she tried to do both at once.

"You were hit," she whispered. "You were limping."

He shook his head, his cheek pressed against hers. "I'm all right," he muttered in her ear. "What about you? Did you take any hits?"

"Not a single one. I'm uninjured."

He touched her cheek, her hair, then gripped the back of her neck and kissed her with so much hunger, as if he hadn't seen her for years. It reflected exactly how Melly felt. She was starving for his mouth, his touch, and kissed him back wildly.

Someone gave a polite tap on the door. He lifted his head and bellowed, "No."

Dismayed muttering sounded on the other side of the panel.

Dropping her forehead onto his shoulder, she started to laugh. Oh, this day.

She told him, "I don't remember when I last slept. Wait, it was in the bath, wasn't it? I feel like I've been on a runaway train for a week now."

"I know," he said. "We're going to put on the brakes. The council might be arriving, but that doesn't mean I'm going to see them right away. I'll convene a meeting tonight. As soon as the suite is cleared, I'll order some food for you. We can clean up and take a nap."

She didn't know if she could sleep. She felt strung out but clearheaded, and she was still running on adrenaline. Still, food and a shower sounded like incredible luxuries.

His body weight lifted as he finally eased back. He said, "I haven't had a chance to tell you. Back at the house, when you went to talk to your troops, I called Carling."

"What?!" Reaching for his face, she framed his cheeks with her hands. "Are you all right? She didn't try anything, did she?"

He shook his head and gave her a wry smile. "No, she didn't. We... talked. We just talked. It went better than I expected. I don't think it wiped away what happened last year, but it did clear the air. I asked her to release me from her old orders, and she said she would."

"And you believe her," she said.

"Yes, I do. She even said the words over the phone, although she warned she would need to say them in person to be sure it took." He smiled, took her hands and kissed them. "But I felt better immediately. That's all because of you."

She curled her fingers around his. "What do you think you'll want to do?"

The expression in his piercing gaze turned inward and reflective. "I honestly don't know. What I really want is to be able to make the choice."

"Let's take that vacation we discussed," she suggested gently. "I know Mom will help me clear my schedule if I ask her. You could have somebody in San Francisco deliver the Harley here... I ought to get more than one ride out of that bike. It cost me enough. We can go to Tahoe. Or it doesn't have to be Tahoe. We could go someplace completely new. Hell, let's take a year off. What's a year, anyway?"

"What is a year, anyway?" He echoed her words softly, almost to himself, and started to smile. "As long as it's a year with you, it will be everything I need."

She closed her eyes for a moment. She loved him so much, so much.

Stepping away, he unbuckled the chest plate of his body armor and set it aside. Underneath, he wore a black, long-sleeved shirt that hugged his torso and arms. He dug into a pocket and pulled out his cell phone.

One corner of his lips lifted. "If you call your mom, I'll call mine."

She burst out laughing. "It's a deal."

With his help, she stripped out of her armor too. By the time Melly had finished talking to Tatiana, and Julian had called Carling to arrange for her and Rune to arrive that evening, the suite had finally been cleared and the tunnel entrance sealed.

When she and Julian emerged from the office, Shane, along with another Light Fae guard, joined the two Nightkind guards on duty outside the suite doors.

Only moments later, Xavier and Tess arrived. Xavier carried a tray of food. As soon as Melly smelled a hot, savory aroma coming from the tray, all thoughts of taking a shower and crawling into bed flew out of her head.

"Evenfall is secure," Xavier told them. "We even inspected the kitchens personally."

"And with great interest," Tess said. She smiled at Melly. "I wondered if you might be as hungry as I am."

"I'm starving," she confessed.

Xavier set the tray on the coffee table in the living room. "They have a lot of people to feed unexpectedly, so they went with pasta."

Melly uncovered her dish to discover a plate of steaming fettuccine Alfredo with slices of grilled chicken breast. Fresh shaved Romano cheese had melted on top, and the dish was even garnished with a sprig of parsley.

She moaned, "Oh my God, this is heaven."

A bottle of white wine had been included with the tray, but both Tess and Melly ignored the alcohol and concentrated on the food. Julian poured glasses of bloodwine for himself and Xavier, who briefed him on details as the women ate.

To Melly, everything sounded like blah blah, fine, blah blah, I'll take care of it, blah blah, sounds good.

She let it all wash over her as she concentrated on the excellent meal on her plate. Despite the high concentration of Nightkind occupants who never touched food, or perhaps because of it, the chefs in the Evenfall kitchens prided themselves on putting out some of the finest-quality meals in California.

Tess ate with as much enthusiasm as Melly, until Julian said to Xavier, "I need to ask if you would be willing to act as regent for a year."

Tess froze in midchew. Swallowing a bite of food, Melly shifted her gaze to Xavier, who raised his eyebrows. "Are you going somewhere?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I am." Julian sprawled back in his armchair. He had taken a few minutes to change into jeans and a dark blue sweater. For the first time in a very long time, he looked relaxed. "Melly and I are going to take a year off." He paused. "I can't promise I'll be back."

Xavier looked at Tess, who hadn't moved. Silence fell in the room and extended. They were talking telepathically. Sipping his bloodwine, Julian waited with every appearance of patience, while Melly concentrated on finishing her meal.

Once Julian had brought up the subject, she could see all the many reasons why it was the best possible idea. Already highly placed, Xavier knew the workings of the Nightkind government intimately, and he was utterly reliable.

But spending a whole year as regent was a huge commitment, especially with Xavier and Tess's relationship so new.

Melly said to Julian, I love so much that you asked him, and you didn't make it an order.

He gave her a faint smile that softened the edges of his hard mouth. I couldn't do anything else.

Judging by the increasing tension in both Xavier and Tess, it appeared their telepathic conversation might not be going very well.

Suddenly Tess burst out, "Okay Julian, I have to say this out loud. If Xavier agrees to do this, I want you to turn me. Would you do that, please?"

"Querida, no," Xavier said forcefully.

Tess turned to him. "I've already made up my mind. I want to be turned, and I don't want you to be the one to do it. Having you as my sire and my partner is far too much of a power imbalance."

Julian's sharp gaze dissected her expression. "Not that long ago, at the Vampyre's Ball, you had some serious problems with Vampyres."

"Yes, I did," Tess replied. Her attitude was unflinching. "But I have done a lot of growing since then." She said to Xavier, "Are you going to tell them, or shall I?"

Xavier's frustration eased somewhat. When he next spoke, his voice had softened. "I have asked Tess to marry me, and she has said yes." He told her, "But that doesn't mean you need to transform into a Vampyre overnight." He added gently, "It doesn't mean you need to transform into a Vampyre at all. I love you as you are, querida, and I don't want you to change because of me."

"First, thank you," Tess said. "But I'm not going to grow old while you don't. That's another imbalance that isn't going to happen. And if you become regent, the last thing you need is a frail human partner."

"I will thank you to remember that I know best what I need," Xavier told her. He said it with such old-world courtesy it took some of the sting out of the words. "What I need most is to know that you are fulfilled and happy. Again, I don't believe becoming a Vampyre has anything to do with that."

"I know I'm young, and I'm well aware it's is a huge decision," Tess said. "If you can trust me enough to plan on marrying me, you can trust me enough to know my own mind about this too."

Julian said in Melly's head, She has a point there.

Despite the obvious tension between the other two, he sounded amused. Melly rubbed her mouth to hide her smile. Don't make my face do something inappropriate. This is serious stuff, Julian.

Look at him, Julian said. Look underneath all his surface emotions. He's so stinking happy.

Julian was right, Xavier was. His love for the young human woman came through in every word and gesture. The same could also be said of Tess. Even as Xavier and Tess exchanged a deeply exasperated glance, they both softened toward the other.