Page 131 of Blood Curse

“I’m not going anywhere,” I said quietly.

“I know.”

He crossed to the space in front of the dais.

The room changed around him.

Stellan didn’t need the raised seat or a crown. He stood with his shoulders straight and his silver hair pushed back from his face, beautiful and dangerous enough to make every vampire watch him. He hated the title. He was still devastatingly good at carrying it.

Fuck, power suited him.

Giving it away suited him more.

“Stay on your feet,” he said. “This isn’t an oath ceremony, and I won’t accept one by accident.”

A few expressions tightened. Nobody moved lower.

Stellan looked across the hall. “Every vampire here swore to my blood, my title or the court I inherited. Some of you chose the words. Others spoke them because Harrowmere controlled shelter, protection and blood. The result was the same. The throne kept a claim on you.”

The Crown’s warmth sharpened.

Anticipation slid through my body. It wasn’t mine. The curse expected bowed heads and promises it could swallow. It pressed against my voice as if waiting for me to bless the moment.

I gripped the sides of the chair and kept my lips closed.

Stellan’s gaze touched mine. He saw me. Then he faced his court again.

“Adrian used those oaths to shut you out, drag you back and punish refusal. Adrian’s death broke his active orders. It didn’t free you from the throne.”

Mara’s jaw tightened. The man holding his coat went very still.

“I can free you,” Stellan continued. “After tonight, no king can inherit what you promised. No heir can call you by blood. Harrowmere can offer a home. It can’t use an old vow to keep you.”

The room remained silent.

“If you want to leave, leave. If you want to stay, stay. Neither answer belongs to me.”

The Crown pushed harder at my throat.

One word gathered behind my teeth.

Kneel.

My stomach turned.

I bit the inside of my cheek. Pain cut across the pressure. The word broke apart before it reached my tongue.

Stellan’s hands curled once at his sides. Spectral chains didn’t appear. The Crown hadn’t completed an order, and he didn’t rush towards me as if I needed taking out of the room.

I lifted two fingers from the chair.

Still here.

His hands opened.

“By the blood that made me king,” he said, “I release every oath owed to my body, my title and Harrowmere. Nothing passes to another ruler. Nothing waits for an heir. You are free of me.”

Something struck the room.