Chapter 18 · The Prince Breaks Rank

The council chamber smelled like old blood and older money. I was still standing in the center of the room, and every vampire in those stone seats was staring at me like I was already dead.

Dorian hadn't answered my question.

He just stood there at the high table, his face blank, his hands flat on the wood. The same hands that had caught me when I'd collapsed last week. The same hands that had signed the contract that chained me here.

"Three days." Seraphine's voice cut through the silence. She was standing now, her white gown catching the lamplight. "The vote will proceed in three days. Until then, the accused will remain confined to the west wing under guard."

Accused. Like I'd done something wrong by existing.

"She's pregnant." Edwin's voice came from somewhere behind me. He sounded tired. "Confining her to—"

"The child is the threat, Dr. Grey." Seraphine didn't even look at him. Her eyes were locked on Dorian. "Or have you forgotten what her bloodline did to this court?"

I hadn't done anything. My ancestors maybe, three hundred years ago, but not me. I wanted to scream that at her.