Page 84 of Our Sins in Silver (Coven of Sin 3)

I didn’t like it at all.

The Elder leaned back and leveled me with a look full of challenge through his steepled fingers. “Do you want this council to support you as queen? Do you want the army we can provide so you might have the means to defend yourself from whomever you deem as an enemy?”

“Obviously.”

“Then show us you are cut from the same cloth as your father.”

He gestured to the hysterical prisoners. “Kill them.”

Chapter thirty-seven

Council of Vipers

Mylungsseized,andmy hearing went fuzzy for several frantic heartbeats as the Elder’s words blared in my skull.

Kill them.

The Elders wanted me to prove that I had the chops to fill my father’s shoes by killing these innocent people.

The council chamber fell quiet, which made the ball of anxiety in my gut swell when the warbled cries of the prisoners and the clink of their chains grew louder. The stinking aroma of their filth-crusted bodies made my thoughts go haywire, which made it a battle to think at all, let alone make a life and death decision.

Sensing my internal battle, Vincent stepped close. He didn’t touch me, but knowing his formidable frame was there to catch me if I fell allowed me to breathe a little easier.

“Focus, little monster. You can do this.” His dark rasp tickled my ear, and I stood a little taller as if to get closer to the mouth, offering rare words of encouragement.

Focus. Focus. Focus.

He was right. I could do this. Vincent didn’t honey-coat shit, and he didn’t spout pretty lies just to make someone feel better. Not even for me. He told the raw, sometimes barbed-wire-wrapped truth.

And for once, that made me feel better than any tender words of support he or anyone else could have offered.

These people were innocent.

Their only crime was being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now their minds were scrambled. None of them seemed to know where or even who they were anymore. The Elders probably thought killing them was the merciful thing to do. Not to mention that they were right, as much as I hated to admit it. If these humans were let go, it would raise suspicion, and it could draw the police to our doorstep. The last thing we needed was the human world getting caught up in our shit.

Still, all that reasoning didn’t make it right. These people had families. They were people. Not food.

It wasn’t fair that they’d ended up in this situation.

Unlike the Elders, I couldn’t bring myself to point the finger at Vincent. Yes, he’d lost control of his fae side and shifted in front of everyone, but that was only because he’d lost it when he caught me revenge fucking Eros in the locker room.

So, in a way, these people’s predicament was my fault. Unfortunately, there wasn’t any room for guilt at the moment. I had a mega-stressful decision to make, one that would mean the difference between life and death.

The council was offering me an easy path to the throne. Kill the humans, prove my grit to the council, and become queen. Defeating the vampire king and getting out of it alive would be so much easier with my throne secured. Not because of the title or the crown, but the perks that came with it, like the strength of all the covens loyal to the Elders and the warriors they’d send at the council’s beacon.

The only cost was twelve innocent souls.

I stole a sidelong glance at Vincent, who gave me the slightest of nods.

“Do it,” he mouthed.

Why wasn’t I surprised? He saw the path ahead and how our chances of surviving would climb out of the single-digit percentile with the Elders on our side. The dark fae didn’t get hung up on things like human morality since he’d never had it, to begin with.

I looked to Sterling, who, unlike his brother, made no encouragement. With the moon high in the sky outside the window behind the throne, his head was crowned in silver light, painting a shadowy mask of indifference over his mien.

A war broke loose inside me.

If I killed these humans, I would earn my crown and, with it, an army. But how could I wear my crown and wear it proudly, knowing I’d become my father?

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