Chapter 6 Dinner with Wolves 2
Kael's hand found the small of my back. A warning. Or maybe a reminder of what he said. Stay close. Do not react.
"Lord Morweth." Kael's voice could freeze blood. "I trust you will remember your manners. My bond is a guest in your house tonight."
"Of course, Your Majesty. We are all civilized here." Cassian gestured to the table. "Please. Sit. We have much to discuss."
Kael led me to seats near the middle of the table. Not at the head where Cassian sat. Not at the end, where it would be easy to be forgotten. Right in the middle, where everyone could see me.
Where everyone could judge me.
The meal started, and it was exactly as brutal as Kael promised. Servants brought course after course of food I could not eat because Kael had not approved it. Wine I could not drink.
While everyone else ate, drank, and spoke around me as if I hadn't been there, I sat there with empty hands.
However, I was present. They were aware of it.
"Tell me, Sera." Lady Serina's voice was like a knife in the conversation. What does it feel like to be under the king's authority? As a humble servant, is it all you might have imagined?
Every vampire at the table went quiet. Waiting. Watching.
I smiled. Made it sweet. "I did not dream of it at all, my lady. But fate rarely asks what we want, does it?"
"Fate." Serina laughed, cold and sharp. "Is that what you call dark magic now? You cursed him. Everyone knows it. A half-blood using blood magic to trap our king."
"I used nothing." My voice stayed calm even though rage was building in my chest. "The bond formed on its own. I had no control over it."
"Convenient." This is from Lord Lucian Ashford, his green eyes calculating. "A servant girl with hidden vampire blood just happens to be the king's fated bond. What are the odds?"
"Astronomical." Cassian leaned forward, his smile widening. "Almost like someone planned it. Tell me, Sera. Who were your parents? Where did you come from? Because no one seems to know anything about you before you appeared in the palace kitchens twelve years ago."
My blood went cold.
He knew. Or suspected. Either way, he was fishing.
"My parents are dead." I kept my voice flat. Empty. "I do not know who they were. I was found as an infant and raised by servants."
"How sad." Cassian did not look sad at all. "No family. No history. Just a mysterious girl with powerful blood who conveniently bonded to our dying king."
"Careful, Morweth." Kael's voice dropped to a growl. "You are implying things you cannot prove."
"I imply nothing, Your Majesty. I simply find the coincidence fascinating." Cassian picked up his wine glass. "But perhaps we should toast instead. To the king's new bond. May she live a long and prosperous life."
He drank. Everyone else raised their glasses and drank too.
Except me. And Kael.
Because we both heard the real message underneath.
May she live. But probably not for long.
The dinner dragged on. More courses. More pointed questions wrapped in false courtesy. More vampires circling me with words instead of fangs. I answered when I had to. Stayed silent when I could. Felt Kael's presence beside me like a wall of ice and violence barely contained.
Finally, Cassian stood. "Ladies and gentlemen. I have arranged entertainment for this evening. Something special."
Servants brought out a girl. Human. Maybe seventeen. She was crying, fighting against the hands dragging her to the center of the room.
"What is this?" Kael's voice was deadly quiet.
"A demonstration, Your Majesty." Cassian smiled at me. "You see, there has been some debate about the half-blood's nature. Some say she is more vampire than human. Others say the opposite. I thought we might test it."
He grabbed the girl by the hair, yanked her head back, and exposed her throat.
"If your bond is truly vampire, Sera, she will crave blood. Especially human blood. Fresh. Terrified. Delicious." He held out a knife. "Prove to us what you are. Drink from her. Show us you belong in this world."
The girl sobbed. Begged. Her terror filled the room.
Every vampire watched me. Waiting.
This was the test. The real one. If I refused, I proved I was too human, too weak. If I drank, I proved I was a monster like them.
Either way, I lost.
"No." The word came out steady. Strong. "I will not."
"Coward," Serina hissed.
"Human," someone else muttered.
Cassian's smile widened. "Such compassion. How touching. But you see, that is the problem. You are not vampire enough to rule beside the king. You are not human enough to understand your place. You are nothing."
He slit the girl's throat.
She died choking on her own blood while every vampire in the room watched and smiled.
I moved without thinking. Surged up from my chair, and my hand cracked across Cassian's face hard enough to snap his head sideways.
The room exploded into chaos.
Vampires lunged toward me from every direction. Kael was there faster, his hand around my throat, yanking me back against his chest as his power flooded the room.
"MINE," he snarled. Black eyes. Fangs fully extended. His arm locked across my chest like an iron bar. "She is MINE, and the first one who touches her dies. Am I clear?"
The vampires froze. Even Cassian, blood on his mouth from where I hit him, stayed back.
"She struck me," Cassian said. "In my own house. That is—"
"She is my blood bond. My property. I will discipline her as I see fit." Kael's voice was pure ice. "This dinner is over. Thank you for your hospitality, Lord Morweth. We are leaving."
He dragged me toward the door. I let him. Because the alternative was dying in that room, and the girl's blood was still pooling on the floor, and I could not stop seeing her eyes.
We made it to the corridor. Then Kael slammed me against the wall hard enough to knock the breath out of me.
"What did I tell you?" His hand was still around my throat. Not choking. Just holding. Controlling. "What did I specifically tell you about reacting?"
"He killed her." My voice broke. "He killed her just to prove a point, and everyone just sat there—"
"Yes. He did. Because she was human and he owns her, and he can do whatever he wants with his property. That is the world you live in now." His grip tightened. "You want to save every human in Nocterra? Fine. But you cannot do that by getting yourself killed at a dinner party."
"I could not just—"
"You could. You should. Because now Cassian knows exactly how to manipulate you. He will kill humans in front of you until you break." His thumb pressed against my pulse. "You have to be smarter than this."
"I am not like you. I cannot just watch people die and feel nothing."
"Then learn." He leaned closer. "Or die. Those are your options."
We stood there breathing hard. His body pressed against mine. His hand on my throat. The bond singing between us felt too much like approval at the contact.
Then he released me and stepped back.
"We are going back to my chambers. You are going to feed me because today was exhausting, and I need blood. And then you are going to tell me how you really knew that girl was going to die."
My heart stopped. "What?"
"You moved before he cut her. I felt it through the bond. You knew what he was going to do before he did it." His eyes narrowed. "So either you are very good at reading people, or you have abilities you have not mentioned. Which is it?"
I could not breathe.
Because he was right. I had known. Had felt it somehow. A flash of knowledge that was not quite vision but close enough.
And I had no idea what that meant.
"I do not know," I whispered.
Kael studied me for a long moment. Then nodded once. "Then we will figure it out. Together."
He turned and started walking. The bond pulled me after him.
We made it to his chambers, and he locked the door behind us. Turned to face me with those red eyes burning.
"Your wrist."
I held it out. Hated how steady my hand was now when it had shaken so badly last time.
He took my wrist gently. Almost careful. Brought it to his mouth.
His fangs pierced skin, and the world tilted sideways.
This time, there was no crowd. No eyes watching. Just us.
Just the bond flaring to life as my blood flowed into him and his power flooded back into me.