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“He’s going to be very angry you broke through his ward again,” she warned, sitting down hard on the couch, as if her extra bounce was going to stop me.

He definitely would be, she wasn’t wrong. “I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t at least try.”

Where this extra-protectiveness for a man came from, I wasn’t sure. It was an entirely new mode of operation for me. But it felt right. I’d been trying to ignore the novelty, but serious feelings were growing for the stoic vampire.

I’d honestly be really upset if something happened to him.

And that was why I was going to sneak off to some kind of homicidal, bloodthirsty, vampire summit. Or whatever they were doing.

Squaring my shoulders, I marched to the door and yanked on the handle. The door opened so easily I had to take a step back. I glanced at Katarina and she arched a brow just before I left safety behind and plunged headfirst into God knew what.

Hopefully I’d see her again.

CHAPTER 22

Cassia

The hall was dead silent. It was eerie, the complete absence of life or sound. I’d never been in one, but it made me think of a deprivation chamber. One of those containers people use to try and center themselves or whatever, without the interference of anything else.

The strange feeling that I was the only person alive washed over me, skittering up my spine and covering me with a chill. I suppressed a laugh over the irony that supposedly I practically was the only person alive. Interestingly enough, every vampire I’d met or seen seemed quite alive and well and nothing like the creatures on TV.

Nothing changed on my way to the throne room, where I assumed everyone would be. Not one single person, vampire, or Kakian demon was in sight, nor were there any drafts of air. I might as well have been in outer space. My footsteps were barely audible, and I couldn’t tell if I was hearing a sound, or if it was the sensation of carpet or marble underfoot making me think my five senses were in proper working order.

The massive double doors of my destination soared above me, and my steps slowed. The guards were missing. I walked up to the wooden panels and held my breath, straining to hear anyone on the other side. There was nothing.

My hand trembled as I grasped the thick, iron latch and pressed the lever. If the door made the slightest creak when I pulled it open, God knew how many sets of hungry eyes would pin me in place. This was absolute suicide and I knew it. But I couldn’t sit back on my fancy couch eating bon bons while Lukas was getting torn a new one by the bitch Queen.

Or torn in two. Or drained. Whatever they did, it wouldn’t be pretty, and it wouldn’t be anything I could fix.

Much to my delight, the door swung open easily. When I peeked inside, the spacious hall was just as empty and lifeless as everything else. Sunbeams streamed through the tall windows and onto the veranda on the other side, the place where I had a very uncomfortable and strange lunch with Annalise.

Turning around, I walked back out and stood there for a moment, concentrating. I wanted to say it was impossible for everyone to simply disappear, but I was living proof that wasn’t true at all. They had moved somewhere else since Katarina saw them last.

While I waited to figure out what to do next, my gaze dragged to another set of doors, on the opposite side of the foyer. I’d seen them when I first arrived, and I’d thought they looked important, but no one ever used them, to my knowledge. With their glossy black finish and raised moldings, they were intimidating as well as beautiful.

I hurried across the floor and took a closer look. When I lifted my hand toward the handle, I paused. Something was different.

It was as if an electrical current had stretched out and gently wound its way under my skin. There was no pain, it didn’t hurt. But it was entirely unexpected. This is where everyone was, and I wouldn’t be able to be convinced otherwise.

The space behind the door must have contained so much energy that it spilled out through the seams. My heart thudded in my chest and sweat prickled my brow. I was a God damn idiot to have left my room. Who the hell did I think I was that I could go up against an entire society of supernatural beings? It didn’t matter how human they looked or sometimes acted. I was completely out of my element.

When I took a step backward trying to stave off a heart attack, the doors swung inward with a sweeping gust of air.

“Well, well. Look who decided to pay us all a visit,” a musical voice trilled.

Queen Annalise came waltzing forward with her hands stretching out toward me as if she were going to clasp mine. Then she curled her fingers toward her palms, and I was lifted into the air and left on the tips of my toes.

My eyes watered as I was pulled forward, swinging my arms out uselessly as I searched for some sort of stability. She dragged me until I was in the center of the room and left me like that—balanced just enough that the amount of weight on my toes hurt, and I couldn’t do a thing about it.

The room was shaped like a half circle and full of tiered seating. Toward the back, I recognized many of the servants and other workers and right in front of them were the Kakian demons. They stuck out oddly, in their fancy designer suits while the people behind them were in maid uniforms or other drab clothing.

In the front, the finery was undeniable. These were people I recognized from the gathering in the throne room when Lukas publicly announced his intentions toward me. Now, they stared at me with a mixture of curiosity and anticipation. Anticipation for what, I didn’t want to know.

Organized in small clusters, were trios of hooded men with their heads bowed and hands together, the cuffs of their robes hiding their fingers. The head coverings were deep, and fabric dangled in their faces, making it seem like the robes could be empty. I couldn’t make out any individual features at all.

Behind the Queen was a platform with a sharply etched throne, spires on the corners of the seat threating to skewer anyone these vampires wished. It was lethally beautiful. Seated on the work of art was Lukas, his fingers gripping the edges of the armrests hard enough to crack the marble. I’d never seen him look so angry.

I met Lukas’s bright emerald gaze and saw the harsh line of his jaw, with his lips pressed together tightly and brow slightly furrowed. His breaths were measured, perfectly even as he sat there like a cat waiting to pounce. He looked different than I was used to, and it wasn’t just the thicker line of black makeup around his eyes.