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At the head of the table, Victor re with hatred as a haze of criuel," Duncan said, re it onto a nearby chair "Get these huuel murmured

Louis reached under the table and yanked the fallen hu hiuel dragged another of the guests--a large, florid h the doors, then came back and hefted the last hu Louis

Duncan pulled the pocket doors shut, selected a chair that wasn’t covered in broken dishes or food, and sat, crossing his legs at the knee He scanned the roorowing outrage It was a small room, too narrow and, like all the others, croith too ar smoke and spilled food

"So, Victor," Duncan said, finally turning his attention to the other vaton?"

"Fuck you, Duncan," Victor growled "You can’t co my people"

"Apparently, I can," Duncan pointed out

Victor snorted a dish "You? You’d never have dared this without Raphael" He spat to one side "Where is the greatthe air "He’s not nearby; I’d sense him if he’d crossed into rown co I don’t waste my time on mutts"

Duncan merely smiled "It’s like this, Victor We can do it the easy way or the hard way The choice is yours"

A vicious grin split Victor’s broad face as he stood and kicked his chair against the wall He leaned forward, fangs bared and hands resting on the table as his power began to build, his eyes now glea coals of fury

"Give it your best shot, puppy"

Duncan dipped his head in agreement "The hard way it is then" He stood, and for the first time since he’d left California, the first time in the presence of anyone but Raphael and the California lord’s most trusted vampires, Duncan loosed the full measure of his power He let it build until it was a firestor and exhilarating Lights flickered as energy danced around the room

Duncan blinked lazily and met Victor’s surprised stare with a quiet question "You were saying?"

With a roar of defiance, Victor launched a preey that must have drawn heavily on his power It was a bid to weaken Duncan before he was ready, before he could muster his oer into a shield around himself But Duncan had trained with the best the vampire world had to offer His shields snapped closed with a concussion of sound Victor’s attack slammed into them with tremendous force They flexed, but held, and Duncan flicked both hands forward, as if brushing away Victor’s assault, a rowled, his teeth grinding together as he s the bloith his power and shattering the whole thing into kindling He looked up and grinned at Duncan, then raised both hands flat in the air, pal the bits of splintered table as if it were still whole With another power-filled gesture, he flung all of the shards at Duncan, a flying wave of deadly sharp wooden stakes<ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>