Chapter 16 · The Regent Wakes

The footsteps stopped outside my door.

I couldn't breathe. The baby kicked hard against my ribs like it knew something was coming. My wrists throbbed where the silver had burned through skin.

Dorian stood between me and the door. His hand was on the handle but he wasn't opening it. His shoulders were locked tight.

"Dorian."

The voice came through the wood. Low. Old. Not loud but it filled the whole room anyway.

"Uncle." Dorian's voice was flat. "You should still be in the crypt."

"Should I?"

The door swung open without anyone touching it.

The man who walked in didn't look like a monster. He looked like Dorian. Same dark hair. Same sharp features. But his eyes were wrong. They were black all the way through. No iris. No white. Just black.

He smiled at me.

"So this is the girl who's caused all the trouble."

I pressed back against the headboard. The baby kicked again. Harder this time.

Dorian didn't move. "She's under blood protection. Mine. You can't touch her."

"Can't I?" The Regent tilted his head. He looked at me like I was a painting he was deciding whether to buy. "Edwin told me about the clause.