Chapter 14: The Queen and the Fallen King

The air in the grand council chamber was thick enough to choke on. It smelled of old blood, cold ambition, and the sharp, metallic tang of fear. Lilian stood on the raised dais where Caius had once held court, draped in robes of crimson that looked like a fresh wound against the pale stone. Around her, the chamber was packed with vampires—her supporters, armed and grim-faced, and the wavering neutrals who had come to see which way the wind would blow. Caius and I entered side-by-side. A ripple...