Honest words tumbled out of my mouth without a filter as I rubbed my forehead. “I was a child. I lost my mother. I didn’t know what was going on. He sent me away and became king after her last breath.”
His nose twitched.
I analyzed my old lover, but I couldn’t understand the expression he wore. As he ducked his head down to scratch at his head absently, I added, “For centuries, I held the belief that her death was my fault and that’s why I was sent away. That’s why he rejected me. My grandfather was appalled at what I thought—no one blamed me for Alaine’s death. I wasn’t even on the same fucking continent.” I leaned forward and pushed the bowl at him. “Cato let a child believe she had killed her mother. I get the mating. I get the love and losing part of who you are. ButI was a child. That’s why I’ll have his balls bronzed for breaking the law.”
Lord Pippin jerked his head up.
I mentally slapped myself.
I didn’t want to share what I had on Cato.
Narrowing his eyes, he didn’t break our stare. “There was no law broken by shipping you off to your grandfather’s. What are you talking about?”
I turned around from him, grumbling, “It was a sham.”
“Excuse me?”
Spinning back, I stuck my finger in the overlord’s face. I had my own set of brass balls at this point. “It was all a sham. The trial that Cato gave me was bullshit. It was a smoke screen. He has something going on that he’s not letting us in on. He used me to take care of his business, dirty business. And he’s breaking the rules. So I will have his head and his balls.”
“What rules?” he questioned simply.
Though Lord Pippin’s glare was intense, and I didn’t really want to reveal what I had on Cato, I also knew, as the overlords, they needed to know about broken laws.
“When I was at Ginter’s house, the vampire we killed was newly made. She smelled fresh, clean like she still had a lot of human in her. And with everything else that went on there, it is my best guess that she was Cato’s creation. You can’t go against the Council, even if you are on the Council!”
“Do you have proof that she was Cato’s?”
“No.”
“Of course, you don’t.”
“She withheld her memories. You know that only the strongest can do that. How could she be newly turned and be able to do that, unless she was made by the oldest of us? Someone on the Council. Since it was Cato’s devious plan, it’s a damn good bet that he turned her.”
“Speculation.”
I slammed my hand on the counter, cracking it. “Doubt it all you want. I know he’s up to something. He wants to rule the humans too, you know?”
Lord Pippin out and out laughed at me. “Humans? Who would want to rule the humans? They’re our food, Gwynnore. Food. You don’t rule food. You hunt it, you herd it. You don’t rule it.”
My temper was running too hot—again—at that point. I had to get away from him before I did something extra stupid. Leaning in, I let my eyes spark red. “Cato is up to something. His machinations have always been a problem, and you know it. You had to deal with him as your king at one point. You and Lord Otto. He’s a sneaky dick. Mark my words, he’s up to something.”
I turned on my heel and stormed through the levels of the stronghold, but I didn’t head to my apartments. I was too hotheaded to lock myself in. Instead, I chose to climb the stairs to the peak of the mountain. I pushed the too-heavy door open and stepped outside.
Bone-chilling cold whipped through me. I stared west in the midday sun, watching it play off the water of the fjords miles and miles away. Another thing that made being a vampire amazing: cold didn’t harm us. My skin didn’t even pucker, but I still didn’t enjoy it. The heat didn’t touch us either. My eyes adjusted steadily to the bright, warm sun.
I was almost to my last trial now, and I had no idea which of these overlords could be an ally. I thought Lord Belshazzar at first, but he had to abstain from nearly everything. Cato was a no. Cato had always been a no. Lord Otto appeared to be so neutral he made beige look like it was a radical faction. Lord Xenon was…well, Lord Xenon. My hope lay in Lord Pippin, which sucked in and of itself. The youngest and least influential of the five, he was still finding his place among the overlords.
I’d had high hopes for him as an ally.
And now I had no idea.
I would still need an ally on the Council—that hadn’t changed. With the strength of the power hungry there—physical, mental, financial, and emotional—as queen, I would need someone on my side. I needed them before I even reached the throne, and no one was stepping forward at all. Even Nial was being a perfect ass about all of this.
My temper started to cool to manageable, gone was the ‘grab him and drain him’ feeling I’d had before. I did actually want to cultivate the alliance with Lord Pippin.
Leaning against the rock, I folded my arms and stared out at the glinting Pacific. Being this high up had its advantages… from eighteen thousand feet, you could see very,veryfar, even without the advantage of vampire-enhanced vision. I needed this fresh air, this view, this time to myself. I needed to find my center. I had been used. I was discarded at birth and used.
And I hadn’t lied to Lord Pippin. Since I was a little girl, since my grandfather started teaching me the laws and the ways of the vampires, I had wanted nothing more, nothing else, than to sit on the throne and wear the queen’s ring, the Black Star, a star sapphire of a blue like the dark of night. I dreamed of that dark black-blue. I dreamed of that crown. Of the thrones. Of people respecting me, finally.
