Page 130 of Blood Curse

“We have days,” I said.

“Then we use today.”

For the first time since her pulse stopped, I wasn’t waiting for Elias or the Crown to decide what happened next. Bryony and I had chosen an action we could finish before sunset.

I bent and kissed her. There was nothing desperate in it. I wouldn’t let the Crown turn every touch into a farewell.

Her hand settled against the side of my neck. Her pulse remained uneven, but she kissed me back with enough certainty to quiet the part of me that wanted to carry her out of Harrowmere and keep moving until the estate disappeared behind us.

When I lifted my head, Bryony was watching me with tired green eyes and a steadier expression.

“Do it,” she said.

I turned to Mara.

“Call the court. I want everyone in the Night Hall to witness the release.”

23

BRYONY

Stellan tried to carry me to the Night Hall.

I let him lift me because standing made the bedroom tilt. I made him put me down at the bottom of the stairs.

“I want to walk in.”

His pale eyes moved over my face. “Your heart stopped less than an hour ago.”

“It started again.”

“An achievement I would like it to repeat.”

Mara waited beside the open doors. “She can lean on you. If she falls, catch her. This doesn’t need to become complicated.”

“Thank you,” I said.

Stellan looked at her. “I was going to suggest the same thing.”

“Eventually.”

He offered me his arm. I took it, and we walked into the hall together.

Every returned vampire was waiting. Nobody had formed ranks. Some stood near the fires, while others occupied the long tables or the window ledges. The grey-braided woman had reclaimed her chair and propped her injured leg on another. A man near the door held a sealed bottle of blood in one hand and his coat in the other, prepared to stay or leave.

Nobody knelt.

The Crown warmed against my scalp when their attention settled on us.

It liked an audience. It liked Stellan at my side and the old dais behind him. It liked the expectation hanging in the room, even though nobody had offered obedience.

A dark pulse pushed hunger into my stomach. My gaze caught on the blood bottle. The need to tear the seal open was sharp enough to make my jaw tighten.

Fuck off.

The Crown heated, but my mouth remained mine.

Mara had placed a plain chair near the front of the hall. I sat because my legs had started shaking, not because the chair made me important. Stellan stayed beside me until I released his arm.