Page 85 of Our Sins in Silver (Coven of Sin 3)

How could I be with my princes and hold my head high ever again? I wouldn’t kill them. I couldn’t. I was risking the lives of my princes for the lives of these strangers, and I fucking hated myself for it. But…fuck me. I couldn’t do it.

The most agonizing ache bloomed in my chest and spread like ice through my veins, making me stiff and sore.

Sterling must have sensed this as a moment later, he leaped to my rescue. “Council. These games are beneath our princess, and we simply don’t have the time for them. Ruby Renada Baxter has Knight blood coursing through her, and with it, she’s inherited much of her father’s magical abilities. She’s demonstrated great physical power. She can rip out limbs and organs with her bare fists. She’s capable of casting mind magic with those she’s closest to. Our coven oracle has even seen a future where she gains complete mastery over these powers.”

“If she can’t kill these worthless humans, then she certainly has no place taking the throne as the vampire queen,” Elder Grigori said with a bored voice while his fingers—with creepy, long fingernails—drummed over his knee.

“What if she were to have guidance?” the fourth Elder offered. “Sharpe’s plan for the princess to select her king may be null, but what if we were to select her mate for her? Someone worthy of the throne. Someone who may be better suited for the throne than Thomas Knight.”

“Servius!” You’d think the woman had been slapped by the way she gasped and covered her mouth in mortification. “How can you say such a treacherous thing?”

“Even with control of his son’s necromancy, there’s no guarantee the reanimation spell will hold forever. Maybe it is time to pass the mantle to a younger Knight.”

“And who are you proposing, Elder Servius?” Sterling muttered. The little hairs on my nape stood up when I caught the priest’s pain-carved expression.

He knew.

I never directly told him, but somehow, Sterling knew I had decided a while back that I wasn’t going to pick any of his brothers to be king.

“Why, I think the obvious choice is you, My Prince,” Servius said. “The coven reaper doesn’t possess the same respect for our people as you. The dark fae is much too dangerous. And the youngblood is too young and unskilled.”

A fist-sized lump swelled in my throat.

Sterling had never looked more uncomfortable. I knew he’d rather cut off his dick than take up his master’s throne. And Vincent…? Fuck. The tension in his balled-up shoulders made my own muscles hurt.

My priest stared straight through me with not a single emotion glimmering in his eyes. Yet, I felt his grief. We were bonded so closely together, his pain was my own. Being the vampire king would kill a part of Sterling’s soul that still thrived after all that had happened. That spark would die.

But losing a part of our worth had to be a small price compared to the alternative. Losing our light had to be better than death…right? Yes, I was sure of it. So…why didn’t it feel like it?

The silver prince, with a stature that commanded even the moon at his back, sat a little taller on his throne. “I’ll take my master’s place as king, but only if Ruby is to be crowned my queen. And only if she accepts my hand. It is her decision to make.”

A few weeks ago, Sterling’s agreement to be my king would have made me the happiest woman alive. Now, it made my heart shatter.

This isn’t what he wanted. This isn’t what either of us wanted.

“He’s sterile,” Vincent said suddenly, pulling every eye in the room toward him. “As a half-blood, the princess is not only capable of reproducing, but she can survive carrying a vampire child to term. Imagine, the first blood heir. And a Knight at that.”

Sterling’s eyes slit, and his ghostly irises grew dark and hazy like a gray fog settling over a storm-ravaged sea.

Oh, fucking hell. I knew where this was going.

“I am perfectly capable of siring an heir,” Sterling said.

Bam. There it was. The flame burning in the elder prince’s orbs was the spark lighting the fuse. Vincent was the bomb.

“What?” I regretted Vin’s proximity to me now. He was burning so brightly and malevolently that I felt like a fucking witch on trial staring at her pyre. If these were better circumstances, I’d say strap me to that pole and light me the fuck up. But now? All I felt was the sear of his brand-hot glare, intent on turning me to ash.

“Tell me he’s just saying shit to get the Elders’ vote,” Vincent snarled in my ear, too softly for anyone else to hear.

Well…shit.

I was given two direct paths to the throne. Either prove that I was cutthroat enough to rule alone by killing the human prisoners or save twelve lives and watch Sterling wither under the weight of his abuser’s crown.

No matter what choice I made, I now had to deal with Vincent knowing he had competition for my womb. Which was another can of worms I just didn’t have the energy to unpack at the moment.

Sidestepping Vin like a battlefield mine, I turned my attention back to the council.

“Here’s my answer. No,” I said firmly.

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