So, why did she feel like she’d just made a terrible mistake?
SIX
Nadi adjusted the crimson lace of her dress as the car pulled up to Volencia’s estate. The deep red fabric clung to her body like a second skin. She had to admit, Raziel had good taste, even if the dress showed off more of Monica Valan’sassetsthan the poor newly turned vampire would be comfortable with.
Her thoughts were a storm, debating between her paths ahead. But she had to focus on the task at hand. Tonight was going to be difficult to navigate as it was, without the new opportunity from Mael clearing the way ahead of her. Never mind the fact that she had to play the part ofvampirein front of a room full ofvampireson top of it.
“Remember,” Raziel murmured, his lips close to her ear. “Not a word unless directly addressed. Most newly turned are still adjusting to their senses. You’re overwhelmed. Lost. In awe.”
“Oh, I’m sure.” She rolled her eyes. “Helpless and naive. Trembling in the glow of yoursheer glory,let alone that of a room full of Nostroms.”
“Precisely. Play to their egos.” His smile was thin. “It will make them underestimate you. I was quick enough to do just that, wasn’t I? And look where it got me.”
She really hated it when he made a good point.
“You wouldn’t happen to have a huge bomb, would you? This would be the perfect opportunity,” she muttered to him under her breath.
He chuckled. “If only it were so simple…many of them aren’t so easy to kill.”
“What about your gift? Does it work on them?”
“If it did, I would have slaughtered them all long ago.”
Another good point. She sighed.
The car stopped at the foot of the grand marble staircase leading to Volencia’s home. Unlike Raziel’s mansion with its modern wood and sleek but brooding elegance, his mother’s estate was all polished lacquered woods and detailed carved surfaces. But despite the velvet and twisting embroidered textures, the whole space felt cold. Heartless. Lethal. And it was far older than Raziel’s. More antiquated.
Out of date.
Like a sculpture in a museum. Where Raziel seemed to be trying to keep up with the evolution of time, Volencia’s home was frozen and locked in bygone era. And happily so.
Ivan opened the door, and Raziel stepped out first, offering his hand to help her. His palm was cool against hers—he hadn’t fed recently. Another calculated move. He would appear weaker than he was. The dance of deception never ended in this family.
The doors to the council chamber swung open as they approached. Two guards in matching dark crimson suits stood at attention, their faces impassive. Nadi recognized one of them from Raziel’s estate—a spy, then. She wondered who else in this sprawling dynasty had divided loyalties.
The chamber itself was a masterwork of intimidation. A horseshoe-shaped table dominated the space, elevated on a dais so those standing before it would be forced to look up. Twenty vampires sat around it, their faces ranging from ancientand wrinkled to youthfully smooth, but all bearing the same predatory stillness. Their visible ages were no indication of their years either. Vampires aged in strange ways—not predictably like the fae. Some aged faster, growing old in fewer years on the calendar. Some, like Volencia or Raziel’s grandmother Lilivra, seemed to take centuries to age a decade.
Nadi suspected it had something to do with the strength of their bloodline, but it was only a suspicion on her part. She had no way of knowing for certain.
Behind the seated vampires were their attendants, guards, and other members of the extended Nostrom clan—at least forty more pairs of eyes watching their every move.
At the center sat Volencia, resplendent in a gown of the deepest red adorned with diamonds that glittered like cold stars. Mael lounged to her right, his massive frame somehow elegant in a charcoal suit. Lana sat to Volencia’s left, her blonde hair elaborately styled and her magenta eyes bright with amusement.
The room fell silent as they entered. Not the natural quiet of anticipation, but the deliberate hush of a performance about to begin.
Raziel guided Nadi to the center of the open space, his hand on the small of her back. They stood together, which was strange enough for her as it was.
“Raziel,” Volencia’s voice cut through the silence. “And…Monica.” The way she hesitated before saying the name made it clear she considered it disgusting.
“Nostrom council. Brothers and sisters. Lords and ladies of your regions. Elders.” He paused. “Mother.” Raziel inclined his head, just enough to acknowledge her without showing true submission. “We have come as commanded, to face judgment formyactions.”
“Indeed.” Volencia’s lips curved into what might generously be called a smile. “How very dutiful of you. Especially after yourcatastrophic failure at the estate. You have embarrassed your family line. You have embarrassed all of us seated here, boy.”
A murmur rippled through the assembled vampires. Nadi kept her gaze lowered, playing the part of the overwhelmed fledgling, while cataloging every exit, every potential weapon, every threat in the room.
But most of all, she was making note of every single one of the vampires in attendance. And who the biggest threats were, and in which order she’d have to kill them, if things went tits up.
“I would not characterize it as a failure, Mother.” Raziel’s voice remained perfectly measured. “Rather, a change in strategy.”
