Chapter 29 · The Bride's Veto

The kill order came through at dawn.

Vivian heard the blood messengers before she saw them—three vampires in council black, boots echoing through the manor's entrance hall like nails in a coffin. She was halfway down the stairs when Lucas caught her wrist, his grip tight enough to bruise.

"Don't," he said. His voice was flat. Dead.

She yanked free and kept walking. The messengers stood in a perfect line, each holding a sealed scroll bound in red cord. The kind that didn't get opened in private. The kind that required a witness and a bloodseal to activate.

The lead messenger—a pale woman with eyes like black ice—bowed stiffly. "Lady Croft. Lord Croft. The council has issued an edict under Elder Grey's seal. You are required to hear and acknowledge."

"Get on with it," Vivian said.

The woman's mouth thinned, but she broke the seal. The scroll unrolled with a sound like breaking bones, and the words burned themselves into the air in letters of crimson light.

*By order of the Council of Elders, all vampires bearing mixed human lineage within three generations are hereby declared corrupted stock. Immediate termination is authorized. Harboring such individuals constitutes treason.