Page 106 of The Blood Witch

When the door shut behind her, Amalia sat heavily on her bed, suddenly unable to continue standing. Her heart thumped hard in her chest.

What had she just done? Linh had been like a mother to her, evenmore than a mother, really. And now that she had finally come to visit after so long, Amalia had treated her like that?

“I can’t believe I just did that… I think I might be sick,” Amalia said, putting her head between her knees. “Could you pass me the waste bin, please? I don’t want to make a mess.”

Vee laughed. “What are you talking about? That was incredible. You sounded so… so…”

“Like a princess?” Amalia muttered.

“No,” said Vee, sounding amazed. “You sounded like aqueen.”

Amalia almost smiled. If she didn’t know better, she’d say Vee was proud of her. Maybe she wouldn’t throw up, after all.

“What was her problem, anyway?” Vee asked, tugging at the ends of her hair. “I thought Miss So-and-so was going to get you appropriate friends,” she said in her best Linh impression. “Not some… scoundrel mutt!”

Amalia laughed. “She’s not normally that bad,” she lied.

Vivian pretended to shudder. “What a monster.”

Amalia sat up, hugging herself. “She was nice to me after my mother passed, you know. Well… notnice, but… she was there for me, at least. I think she figured I was going to be queen one day, so she might as well get on my good side.”

“You think she really believes that?” Vee asked. “That you’d be queen?”

Amalia shrugged. “I guess. I think a few of them did. Linh didn't like the idea of the council at all. She’s the one who insisted the other High Priestesses act as my advisors when I was the representative.”

“She’s on the council?” Vee asked, sounding disgusted.

“Yes. I mean, no, not really.” She struggled with how best to phrase it. It was hard to explain, wasn’t it? “She and the other High Priestesses were meant to… well, meant to help guide me as the Faction representative. But none of them are really on the council. The Witches only get one vote, same as all the others.”

“One vote, but many representatives?” Vee said. It sounded like she was teasing, but there was something hard under the words that sounded a bit too much like anger. “Doesn’t sound very fair to me.”

“I guess,” Amalia said with a shrug. “Anyway… I haven’t seen Linh for ages. She lives at the Air temple, just down the way, but she got sick, and… I guess she just stopped coming after a while.”

Vee reached out and took her hand. “Hey,” she said softly. “I’m sorry. But you don’t need that bitch, okay? She’s just… just awful.”

Vee shuddered again, and Amalia laughed. Maybe Vee was right, she thought. Linh had always been rude and critical, just like her mother. Nothing like Vivian. Maybe she didn't need her anymore.

After all, she had Vee, now, didn’t she?

Why would she need anyone else?

Chapter 47

CASSIEL DESANGUINE

He was late. And Cassiel deSanguine, the self-proclaimed Fallen King and patriarch of the most powerful Vampire family in history, hated being late.

This was Alice’s fault. He’d nearly forgotten all about the meeting withl’enfant de sangthat she had insisted he set up. Why should they even bother with the other Vampire families? It wasn’t like their bloodlines were even a fraction as strong as the deSanguine family. But Alice had insisted.

Alice. He sighed, thinking of the young Witch. They were all young, though, in his mind, compared to him. All children in the eyes of time, regardless of their Faction.

But Alice? She was the worst of them all. A child and an idealist, all in one. And God damn her, she made even him believe in these foolish ideas she had. Like this one, uniting the heads of all the Vampire families together, bringing their Faction together, finally, under one singular representative. It was insane. Too ridiculous to even consider.

And yet… Alice made him believe they could do it. Shifters, too. She wanted a council that truly represented everyone, every citizen in the realm, regardless of Faction or octant. And despite himself, despite the cynicism time had drilled into him over his hundreds of years of life, Cassiel found himself wanting it, too.

Maybe it wasn’t so crazy, after all.

A shame. A shame Alice wouldn’t live to see if it worked or not.

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