Page 58 of Ashvale: The Vampire's Kiss

The thrall in my voice was thick and his eyes flew wide even as the shield held strong. Of course. Mages were immune to thrall.

I hammered my hands against the barrier between me and Hayes as Adrian chuckled, nudging Hayes’ body with his foot. He was so focused on me, he didn’t even see Hayes move.

The change came so fast that my mind had a hard time catching up. One moment he was dead, bleeding out on the floor, neck at an angle that was unnatural. The next, he was a blur, eyes and body glowing with silver light as he plunged his hand into Adrian’s chest and lifted him from the floor. The surviving council members and court onlookers gasped, many falling to their knees as Hayes’ glow washed over them.

Cal dropped the shield and I rushed forward, needing to feel for myself that Hayes was okay. His skin was still warm to the touch, but there was a presence to him now that made me tremble. It was power like I’d never felt before, exuding from him into the air effortlessly.

Hayes threw Adrian down onto the floor, the ground cracking beneath his body as Hayes revealed his fangs to the onlookers. Adrian struggled and Hayes pinned him effortlessly, the coldness on his face making him look carved from ice.

“You may be old, Curio, but I come from the oldest. You will bow to me. Tell us what you did with the gem,” he said, voice hard as his hand tightened on Adrian's throat. The undead vampire choked, body arching as he strained against the strength Hayes displayed.

“You'll never find it,” Adrian forced out, his smile flecked with spittle as he laughed.

Hayes slammed Adrian's head into the stone, knocking him unconscious before he stood and gave the vampire his back. “Adrian denied nothing and I find him guilty of treason for the underhanded death of my family. I claim my place as ruling monarch.”

Nobody protested and when he walked away, naked and smeared with blood that didn't belong to him, his court bowed.

Chapter Thirty

Leonora

A knock on the door came far too early in the morning. Or night. Honestly, I'd lost track since the chaos of yesterday.

I sighed. “It's open.”

Hayes groaned from beside me and I wasn't too surprised to see Novalie walk in, guiding Emerson with her.

“Another one?” Since Hayes had bested Adrian, Em's visions had become more frequent, at least one an hour. Cal had theorised that everything was too in-flux, but I thought it was more likely that we'd raised more than a little hell and there would be consequences for it.

Novalie nodded. “Third one tonight.”

I bit my lip as another thought occurred to me. Had this been triggered by the power Hayes had wielded before? The last time Emerson had been like this, I'd inadvertently shocked her system with magick. I was bonded to Hayes so perhaps…

It was a puzzle for another time. “How lucid is she?”

“Barely. I can't get anything out of her that makes sense.”

Emerson's eyes cleared and she blinked. “Is he not here yet?”

“Who?” I asked, just as the door opened again and Rowan walked in.

“Gang’s all back together,” Hayes said, voice flat and Novalie folded her arms across her chest.

“I'm happy to see you,” she said, but held up a hand before Rowan could come closer. “But I'm still pissed that you killed Nora.”

“Bygones,” I murmured, but gave Rowan a long look. It was true that we were somewhat 'even' for killing each other. It didn't mean I trusted him, though. That would take time to rebuild. “You found something?”

“I found her.”

My breath caught. How had he managed to track Elowen down so fast? Though it was true that I hadn't been trying that hard when I'd gone AWOL. I'd mostly spent the time trying to get drunk. “Where is she?”

“Pretending to be human.”

I shared a look of confusion with Hayes before glancing back at Rowan. “As in...?”

“As in, she's changed her name again and is at some kind of commune.”

“That...” I opened and closed my mouth. Of all the things I'd expected him to say, that wasn't even close.

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