Page 84 of Filthy Rich Vampires: For Eternity

“You’re asking that now?” Aurelia said.

I held my hands up in surrender. “Not the time. Got it.”

“Camila,” Selah repeated her first name and continued without acknowledging her wishes, “you have demanded the rite of primus sanguis. Before the Council recognizes your request, you must give cause to why your mother is no longer fit for her role.”

Whatever glimpses of affection I thought I’d witnessed between Camila and her mother fell away. A look of pure hatred twisted on Camila’s face. This was why she had returned. It had nothing to do with regaining her freedom or reconnecting with her family. It wasn’t just about finding her children.

It was about Sabine.

“She’s really going to kill her,” I said under my breath.

Next to me, Jacqueline nodded, her face white.

I had to do something fast.

“Where should I begin?” Camila addressed the Council. “I could start with the fact that I was kept locked away during my youth, forced to marry as a virgin.”

“There was no law against that then,” Sabine reminded the room.

“It’s my turn to speak, mother,” Camila snapped. “Not that you’ve ever cared. She knew I was tethered to Willem Drake before our marriage—”

“I did not!”

“Silence,” Selah demanded. “The challenger speaks. You will have your chance, Sabine.”

Camila continued her litany of grievances against Sabine, her voice low and dangerous. She told them of her marriage and her mother’s failure to step in to help her. And then she told them of how she’d been abandoned by her family, how they’d lied about her death and stolen her children. The room was silent as she spoke, all eyes trained on Camila as if they were transfixed by her words.

I knew a very different story. The one my mate had told me. I believed Julian’s version, but as I listened to Camila speak, I wondered if there wasn’t as much truth to hers. At least from her perspective. Maybe neither of them had it right.

But even if there was truth to Camila’s accusation, I’d seen a different side to Sabine. Sabine had been genuinely grateful when I’d saved her son’s life. Camila’s tale was compelling to those who knew the Sabine I’d first met, but what of the female I’d glimpsed in the insanity following my resurrection? The mother who had thanked me. What about what she claimed then? That she had been acting one way to protect her children?

I couldn’t decide which version of Sabine was the real one.

When she finished, Sabine’s lips were pursed into a thin line, but she remained silent.

“Do you have any evidence to support your claims?” Selah asked Camila.

Camila opened her mouth to answer, but before she could speak, Jacqueline stepped forward. “I can provide witness testimony,” she said quietly but firmly.

“What are you doing?” I hissed, grabbing her hand. “We should be stopping this, not participating!”

Jacqueline squeezed it and shot me a tight smile. “What I have to do for her.”

Selah nodded in approval and gestured for Jacqueline to take the floor.

Jacqueline stepped in front of the Council members and began to relate what she had seen during countless visits to the Rousseaux estate over the years; Sabine’s sharp words; how she’d isolated her daughter from society; how Camila had changed after being presented to society and meeting Willem; and how thrilled Sabine had been about all of it. None of it was damning, though. It was merely a balanced picture of what Camila’s life had been like. It would be up to the Council to draw their own conclusions.

Jacqueline spoke for nearly an hour before finally finishing her testimony and returning to my side.

I wished I had a cell phone. Some way to contact Julian. He would know what to do in this scenario.

“Sabine, you may now share your side of the story,” Selah told her, a glimmer in her eyes.

“Is there a point?” Sabine asked, glancing at each of her fellow Council members in turn. “You’ve known me for millennia. If you believe her after a few minutes, I’m not going to convince you otherwise.”

Selah inclined her head, but the rest of the Council whispered amongst themselves.

“We will confer.”

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