Page 91 of Blood Curse

She watched me with open heat and a quiet pride that made the room feel smaller.

I turned back to the injured woman. “The Blood King says you let Elias stitch that leg.”

She almost smiled. “Is that also a request?”

“Yes.”

“Then I accept.”

Elias glanced up. “How generous of both of you.”

The side door opened. A young kitchen maid carried in folded blankets. She took two steps, saw the blood on the floor and stopped.

Every hungry vampire heard her heart speed up.

Heads turned.

I stepped between her and the room.

“Look at me.”

The vampires did.

I didn’t use magic. I kept my voice level and waited until even the hungriest one met my eyes.

“The humans who work in this house and on this land are protected. You don’t feed from them. You don’t corner them, charm them or frighten them into offering. If someone approaches you, bring it to me or Mara. Until we know choice from fear, you walk away.”

The man whose companion had called him hungry swallowed. “And if one of us can’t?”

“You can. If hunger gets that bad, you come to the cellar and ask for blood. If you think you might hurt someone, you call for help before you get near them.”

“What happens if someone breaks the rule?”

“They leave Harrowmere.”

“And if they refuse?”

“Then I remove them.”

Silence followed.

The man nodded first. Others joined him.

Bryony’s fingers brushed the Crown again. “Still quiet.”

The words loosened something in the room.

“You accepted because you chose to,” she said. “It can’t feed on that.”

The hungry man looked from her to me. “We can live with that rule.”

Elias drew the last piece of glass from the injured woman’s calf.

Fresh blood ran over his fingers.

The effect on the room was instant.

Fangs dropped. A chair leg cracked under someone’s grip. The dark-haired man near me took one step towards the fire before he caught himself. His companion seized the back of his coat and held on.