Page 57 of Blood Secret

I couldn’t have been more surprised.

She had barely been able to make eye contact with Janna, so I had assumed she was just as disgusted as the others.

Serena shook her head, looking mournful. “Isobel, you know the law. No Nightwarden can create another vampire. It’s an offense punishable by death and always has been.”

“But he wasn’t acting as a Nightwarden while he was protecting Janna,” she argued. “We released him, remember? He wasn’t my Nightwarden, and he isn’t now. He’s not serving a witch. The law shouldn’t apply in this case.”

Serena’s eyes narrowed. She didn’t like being contradicted. “But he’s one of the vampires Ralf sired. He falls under the category of Nightwarden.”

“I refuse to accept this,” Isobel protested. She drew herself up to her full height and looked down her nose at the council. “You sent him out there to protect my daughter at my request. He did the best he could, to the point where he risked his existence to preserve hers. Can we really punish him for that?”

“I don’t think you understand the severity of the offense,” Esme murmured, trying to position herself between the two witches.

The energy in the room fairly crackled, and I wondered which one would be the first to throw magic at the other as I positioned Janna slightly behind me in case I had to shield her.

“You’re the one who doesn’t understand,” Isobel insisted. She wouldn’t back down. Her daughter was at stake, even if her daughter was a vampire. “It would be one thing if Vale had created her for his benefit. To build an army, something along those lines. Or if he had done it to turn her into his minion. He didn’t. He did it to prevent her from dying.” Her voice cracked before a single tear trickled down her smooth cheek. “Isn’t there an exception we can fall back on? He knew what he was doing could get him killed, but he did it because he only thought of her.”

“You don’t know that,” Serena reminded her.

“You forget, I sensed his feelings. The imprint is still there.” Isobel looked at me with those eyes so much like her daughter’s. They were nearly the other’s mirror image. “It was more than protectiveness. It was more than duty. I sensed the intensity, and I felt you fighting with yourself. You couldn’t let her die. You would never forgive yourself. You wouldn’t wish your life on her, but you didn’t want to live without her.”

The memories of those critical moments surrounded and threatened to crush me.

Janna wrapped an arm around my waist and rested the side of her face against my shoulder.

She was worth it. “I would do it again,” I announced.

Maeve stepped forward with a soft smile. “There’s a way to settle this,” she murmured, holding her hands out. “If you’ll allow me.”

“What are you going to do?” I asked.

Janna’s arm tightened protectively.

“I won’t hurt him,” Maeve assured her. “But I can see what happened, if he’ll let me in. I don’t like to pry into memories unless it’s absolutely necessary, yet it seems like this is an example of such a time.”

I looked at Janna and nodded for her to let go.

Maeve placed her hands on either side of my head and closed her eyes.

I closed my eyes and opened the door to that night. Finding Janna in the alley, torn and crushed and bloodied. Climbing the wall. Looking down at her, broken in a dozen places and choking on her blood. Listening to her wheezing, labored gasps, torn between duty and the rules and my need for her to stay alive. That raw, unshakeable certainty that life wouldn’t be worth living without her.

Maeve lowered her hands, and I took a deep breath before opening my eyes.

Tears shone in hers as she turned to Janna. “My dear, you had a very close call. I am so sorry that happened to you.”

Janna murmured something that sounded like thanks.

“Well?” Serena prompted.

“It’s as Isobel described it—and much worse,” Maeve replied. “I felt his conflict and understand why he chose the way he did. It was a terrible thing he witnessed. His protective instincts wouldn’t allow her to die. He acted on instinct, as well as the strong feelings he had for her.” She blushed a little and left it there.

I was glad for it, since having her inside my head was unnerving enough.

“Serena, please. Let them go,” Isobel pleaded in a quiet voice. “They don’t deserve punishment.”

“You think he deserves to be freed after this? Even if we leave him with his life, shouldn’t he be imprisoned for acting rashly?” Serena looked around.

I could tell she knew her argument was weakening.

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