Page 27 of Ashvale: The Vampire's Kiss

He looked away, over to Adrian who was inspecting the gift Hayes had brought, holding it up by its hair and oblivious to the shock that was making me feel dizzy. The dream—it had been real?

“Sorry I’m late,” Hayes said, and when he turned to look out at the council and the vampires cautiously watching, his eyes glowed silver. “I had some errands to run—traitors to kill, you know how it is.”

The silence was deafening and I shoved down my emotions for later, needing to concentrate on the here and now. Because either Adrian was going to step aside for the last remaining member of the oldest vampire family, akin to royalty, or he was going to try and kill the man I was blood bonded to without hesitation.

“Nice of you to keep my seat warm for me,” Hayes continued, striding up the tiny staircase that led to the long table where the council looked out over the hall. He moved to the largest chair, slap bang in the middle of the table, and slid into it, reclining effortlessly.

Adrian’s face went pale and then red, his mouth opening and closing as Hayes looked at the gathered court and smiled. “It’s good to be home.”

Chapter Fourteen

Leonora

“What are you doing here alone?” Hayes hissed in my ear as soon as we were outside the chamber doors. Cal followed closely behind us, still in disguise, and Hayes seemed to know who it was from only a glance, accepting the jeans the mage passed him, and I scowled at the reminder of how well the two men knew each other.

Adrian had ushered the shocked council into a private antechamber to discuss the newest revelations. Hayes didn’t receive an invitation, but he’d ignored the slight, smiling benevolently from the head of the table like Adrian was simply a petulant child playing games. The rest of the council had looked disappointed to be hurried away so quickly from this latest drama, and the eyes of the audience in attendance had followed Hayes like he had his own spotlight when he walked.

“I’m not alone,” I snarled, roughly pulling my arm free from his grip. “I have Cal.” I narrowed my eyes on the mage in question before cocking a hip. “Or, I suppose now you’re here, his allegiances have changed.”

Hayes rolled his eyes, the depth of the blue making my irritation rise higher. “Allegiances. Listen to yourself. You’ve been at court for five seconds and already you’re categorising people as enemies or allies. This isn’t war, Leonora.”

The sting of my nails cutting into my palm allowed me to take a calming breath as I uncurled my fists. “Secrets, lies, murder… I don’t know. It sure feels a lot like war to me.”

“Elowen and Rowan?—”

“I’m not talking about them.” My voice was sharp, allowing no reproach, and Hayes’ mouth pulled into a frown that captured my attention for a second too long. Damn bond.

“Then who?—”

“If you’d been here, you would have known.”

He laughed, the sound dry even as his eyes turned outright icy. “You made yourself pretty clear about my company, love.”

I opened my mouth, ozone rising in the air as I took a step closer and the bond surged, making me stumble in my effort to hold back from touching him.

“Children, children, let’s not do this here, hm?” Cal swept in between us and placed a pinching grip on each of our shoulders as he pushed us out of the room that still held the remnants of Novalie’s parents on the floor. “I think you’ve given the leeches enough to gossip about for one day.”

I said nothing, pushing forward so Cal’s grip fell away. At the end of the day, none of what Hayes was planning concerned me. I needed to be there for Novalie and check in on Emerson. With any luck, they hadn’t gone on a killing spree in our absence.

Cal spoke quietly to Hayes as I strode ahead, using a little of my vampiric speed so they couldn’t catch up to me. I wasn’t so far away that I couldn’t make out Cal’s words though, murmuring to Hayes about Novalie’s death and my display of power.

More worrying though, was what I’d seen Emerson do. I’d been thinking about it during the council meeting while the vampires in attendance droned on and I was certain my mind hadn’t been playing tricks on me. Somehow, Emerson had known what Novalie’s parents were planning before they’d done it. But how? Telepathy?

Her bloodied eyes and pitch-black irises filled my mind, making me shiver, and Hayes made a sound of surprise from behind me.

Fuck. I’d forgotten about that.

“Butt out,” I said without turning around, before Hayes could say a word. It had been nice being at court without someone listening in on my thoughts all the time. But now Hayes was back, and I needed to focus on keeping him out of my head if I wanted to have any semblance of privacy.

Hayes ignored me. “Do you know how rare that is?”

“I said butt out.”

Cal sighed and I ground my teeth as I came to a stop outside of my room, opposite Novalie and Em’s. “Loop me in please, kids.”

“Emerson has a gift,” Hayes said, shaking his head as he watched me with something like awe. “Of course,” he said immediately and I bit back my growl, trying to clear my mind so he couldn’t read all of my thoughts. “It’s rare enough for a vampire as young as you to successfully turn a human via bite, but for that human to also be gifted magickally?”

“What kind of gift?” Cal said, intrigue lighting his eyes and I folded my arms across my chest, filling my thoughts with a buzzing static that made Hayes wince. The door opposite mine swung open and Novalie moved so fast even I couldn’t track her for a moment. My hand ended up in hers, she pulled me into the bedroom as the two men filed in behind us from the hallway at a much slower pace.

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