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“I would never have hurt you,” Antonio said. “I would have worshipped you.”
The manor creaked, sunlight finding the lonely places.
“You broke my heart,” he whispered with trembling lips, shaky hands gripping her arm. She glanced down to his hand and he released her. Slowly she raised her head, avoiding his gaze, then spun and ascended the stairs.
Antonio watched until she disappeared, swallowed by the old house and then he bolted down the stairs to the kitchen. “Torin, he snapped, “get Garret on the phone, now!”
Torin dialed his cell. “Garret, Antonio wants to talk to you.” He handed Antonio the phone.
“Garret, you’re a murdering, no good bastard.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means Rubio’s dead, but not before he spilled his guts. I want the girl released.”
“No, the Red Queen belongs to my son.”
“She’s no good to you and as for your plan to use Frankie’s or Lisa’s blood to get rid of Torin’s antigens—forget it, you lose. They have both crossed over and bear my antigens.”
“You’ll pay for this,” Garret growled.
“Doubtful.”
“You come here or bring your forces, and this little bitch dies.”
“No, she won’t, you need her to save your son.”
“Not anymore,” Garret said. “We both know that without a transfusion she’s useless to me, other than feeding…and of course, carnal desire. See what you did Antonio? She’s no longer a queen, she’s a worthless peasant. You signed her death warrant.”
“I have an alternative.”
“None I’m interested in.”
“Oh, you might be surprised,” Antonio said. “How about the real Red Queen, one who has never been marked? She’s of the Durent Clan and willing to give of herself to save the girl.”
The phone crackled. “Interested?”
“I’m listening,” Garret answered.
“Good, because we’re coming. We trade the females, kill the Seventh Miigis, then it’s just you and me.”
Garret chuckled. “There’s no way to kill him.”
“If he has taken a human form, he can die!”
“He’s a spirit that dwells within Zaroc. He comes out from time to time as his old symbiont, Scarface, but he can’t survive more than a few hours. He has possession of my son. You can’t kill one without killing the other two.”
Antonio stood in silence. Finally, he said, “So, they were both there when Marie died, Scarface and Zaroc.”
Garret didn’t answer, but Antonio could hear him breathing. “Watch over your son, Garret. An eye for an eye.”
“You even look at my son and—”
“Just have the girl ready,” Antonio said.
“No problem little man, a pregnant bitch is of no use to me anyway.”
“What?”