Page 89 of Blood Curse

His mouth brushed mine. The Crown remained quiet.

The Night Hall bell rang.

Its deep note travelled through Harrowmere, followed by a second and a third.

Stellan went still beside me.

“What does that mean?” I asked.

He looked towards the nearly closed door.

“The last large group has arrived.”

16

STELLAN

By the time we reached the Night Hall, Bryony and I were dressed, clean and pretending we hadn’t spent the last hour in bed.

The pretence failed whenever she looked at me.

I opened the black doors.

Nine vampires crowded the entrance with wet coats, battered cases and enough blood on them to turn every head in the room. The court members already at the tables rose. Twelve more travellers came in from the gate behind us, followed by two vampires carrying their bags between them.

Twenty-three more vampires had returned. Added to the forty already under Harrowmere’s roof, they turned the household into a small army.

One of the new arrivals had an arm around a woman with a grey braid. Her left leg dragged. Blood soaked the cloth from knee to boot.

Elias crossed the hall. “Put her by the fire.”

“I can walk,” she said.

“You can bleed while walking. I’d rather you sat down.”

Mara kicked a bench clear. “If anyone dies on my floor, Elias will become unbearable.”

“I can hear you,” he said.

“Then try harder.”

The room moved. Cases landed against the wall. Coats came off. Two vampires carried the injured woman to the bench while Elias cut open the leg of her trousers.

A dark-haired man came towards me. He looked about thirty, though the weight in his eyes belonged to several lifetimes. He started to lower himself.

I caught his forearm before his knee reached the floor.

“We don’t kneel here.”

“My king.”

“You’re exhausted and bleeding. Stand.”

His gaze searched mine. “Is that an order?”

“It’s a request.”

He straightened.