Page 103 of This Violent Light
“At least wait until we’re done,” Beatrice calls. “Then you two can consummate every room in this manor, for all we care.”
“Now there’s an excellent idea,” I say.
Grace and I cross the courtyard, taking our place at the stone table. This area feels so much larger now. Shortly after escaping from the Day Realm, and while Grace was still adjusting to life as a vampire, I met with my inner circle one last time.
In exchange for ruining our chance of breaking the curse, I promised a change. And unlike the last time I made an agreement, I kept my word. I stepped down as king of the vampires, to let this group lead as a clan. Beatrice, Milas, Amelia, and I now have equal claim.
I offered a place for Cora, and she’d pretended to vomit.
I’m a witch, Sebastian,she’d said.What would I want looking after a bunch of bloodsuckers?
And yet, here she sits. In her baggy black dress, thick tights, and clunky shoes. She can pretend all she wants—we all know she belongs at this table as much, if not more, than the rest of us.
“Let’s start with the worst of it,” Grace says before anyone else has the chance.
I smile despite myself. Here for thirty seconds, and already taking charge.
“What did you do with Oskar?”
My smile falls.
Grace has her hands on the table, palms up and to the sun. She’s staring at them, rather than me, so I’m sure she won’t notice the way I pause. The way my fingers curl into fists.
Her hand finds mine instantly. She strokes her thumb over my knuckles, glancing at me with a reassuring smile.
“It’s okay,” she says. “Whatever you decided, it’s okay.”
When I told her I’d saved his murder for her, she had balked at the idea. When she realized I was serious, she actuallylaughed. She’d gotten laughing so hard she started crying.
Look at that, she’d said, still giggling.Vampirescancry!
After that, she told me to do what I wanted with Oskar. She made it clearshewouldn’t be killing anything, and that she certainly wouldn’t be killing Oskar.
If someone caused my death, I think you’d go crazy too,she said.I’d want them to have mercy on you. But this isn’t about me, Sebastian. Do whatyouneed to do.
I visited him that night. He’d been kept in the basement cell for a week at that point. He was wild with bloodlust, snarling like an animal from within his cell. It made me nauseated in a way I hadn’t expected.
You were supposed to be my friend, I wanted to say. The rush of anger paralyzed me and twisted through my gut until I said something that surprised us both.
I’m sorry, I said. Oskar paused in his erratic pacing, glaring at me from between the rungs.Truly, Oskar. I am sorry for what happened to Freja. For my part. I never meant for our people to get hurt. I’m sorry that they did. Thatshedid.
He didn’t respond. He only stared at me, as though trying to decide if I was fucking with him
I wasn’t. The truth was, I hadn’t been a good friend to him either.
When I killed him, I was fast. He knew it was coming, but he didn’t fight me. He stood proud, chin lifted, as I tore his head from his shoulders.
“Sebastian,” Grace says.
I startle back into the present, blinking at her. Everyone else at the table is looking at me, waiting. They’re not going to tell her what I’ve done.
Cora. Beatrice. Milas. Amelia.
So fewer than we used to be.
“Dead,” I say. Grace flinches, but I don’t let myself look away. “I made it fast. I promise.”
I expect her to cry, to look disappointed. She only nods, and her thumb resumes its strokes over the back of my wrist.
