Read Online Christian (Vampires in America: The Vampire Wars Book 10) by D.B. Reynolds - Free Book Online Page B

I’m challenging you. So defend yourself, traitor.”
    Christian’s eyebrows shot up. “Traitor?” he questioned, as he shrugged off his jacket, and tossed it over a bush with a sigh. He really liked this suit.
    “Do you think I don’t know who you are?” Noriega asked. “You and your kind have destroyed your own continent, and now you want to take over ours.”
    “That hardly makes me a traitor,” Christian commented, rolling up his sleeves. “As for what I want . . . if I have the strength to take the South, then by every law and tradition of vampire society, it is and should be mine. Now, are we going to fight, or are you going to bore me to death?”
    Noriega swelled with outrage. “Fuck you,” he swore.
    “Marc,” Christian said in warning, as the vampire behind Noriega drew a sword, the sound rasping through the warm night. At least it wasn’t a gun.
    “Got it,” Marc assured him. “You worry about Noriega.”
    Christian rolled his shoulders and shook out his arms.
    “What the fuck are you doing?” Noriega demanded.
    “You said you wanted to fight.”
    “I said I challenged you. This isn’t a fistfight. We’re vampires, dickhead.”
    “Oh,” Christian replied, feigning surprise. “You mean like this.” He released his power with a smug smile, taking far too much satisfaction in the look of shock on Noriega’s face. “Do you really think I walk around spilling power for everyone to gauge? Or that I’m stupid enough to challenge for a territory I have no hope of winning? You’re going to die, Noriega. I hope your death is worth it to Anthony.”
    Noriega struck without warning. Christian didn’t hold it against him; it was, frankly, his only chance. It didn’t work . But it was the smart move.
    Christian’s shields snapped into place faster than thought, almost as if they’d detected Noriega’s attack before the action was fully executed. His shields deflected the attack, buying time, as his mind went into analytical mode. His opponent had raw power, no doubt of that. But not as much as Christian, and he had no technique at all. Fortunately, Christian had both, and to spare.
    His first volley was a wash of power that knocked out most of Noriega’s followers. He heard Marc muttering at his side, and knew his lieutenant thought he was taking on too much, that he should be concentrating on Noriega. But this was only the first skirmish of the challenge, a bare taste of what would ultimately be a full-out war, and he didn’t want to lose Marc to a well-placed blade over something this foolish. Noriega was outclassed, his gang nothing but a distraction. But fate was a capricious bitch, and Christian wasn’t in the mood to take chances. So he knocked Noriega’s gang out of the fight—they were unconscious, not dead. Yet.
    Noriega struck while Christian was dealing the others, taking advantage of his brief distraction with a powerful blow that drove him back a half-step. His shields bowed inward with the force of it, and he heard the buzzing noise that meant his shields were stressed. Noriega grinned, thinking he had Christian at a disadvantage, and stalked closer, throwing volley after volley of concentrated power, hoping to shatter his shields before he could rally a defense.
    But this wasn’t Christian’s first fight, nor would it be his last. Aware of Marc at his back, he bolstered his shields to the front, and then he attacked. Like a soldier tossing grenades, he lobbed clusters of power against the other vampire. One after the other, the sticky balls of energy clung to Noriega’s shields before exploding inward, hammering away at his strength, forcing him to divert power to his shields or risk a collapse. And with every cluster he threw, Christian took a step forward in the physical realm, moving closer and closer to Noriega, as the other vampire reeled under the relentless assault.
    Noriega stumbled and fell to one knee, but jumped up almost immediately, roaring his defiance.