Page 105 of Blood Curse

“Stellan.”

“Still here.”

“Then look at my eyes.”

I did.

Mara had known me as a king, a prisoner and the idiot who tried to hide injuries from Elias. She didn’t look away. She didn’t offer forgiveness for something I hadn’t done yet.

She trusted me to keep fighting.

I held one foot above the floor until my leg shook.

The bodies holding me strained.

“Now,” Mara said. “Move the table left.”

The court obeyed her because the plan made sense. The broken edge slid across my path. I let my knee catch it and went down hard.

The command threw my hands out. I landed on my palms instead of my face.

Mara disappeared behind the barrier again.

Bryony made another sound.

“Revoke…”

The word broke free.

“Yes,” I said. “Keep going.”

“I revoke the order to hold Mara.”

The Crown cut off the last word.

The two compelled vampires jerked, but their hands stayed closed.

The revocation hadn’t landed.

Bryony’s face tightened with frustration.

“There are too many orders,” Elias said.

“They’re linked,” I replied. “The Crown built one attack out of all of us.”

The table shifted under my hands. I gripped the split wood and forced myself to remain on the wrong side of it.

Bryony’s mouth moved.

“Crown…”

Red light ran along the black points in her hair.

“Authority,” she forced out.

I understood.

“It used your authority,” I said. “Take the whole thing back.”