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They all start speaking at the same time, clamoring to get their word in while one of them, the man sitting on the far end next to Eirisse, remains quiet.
His eyes flicker to me, then he winks and gets to his feet. Gabriel clasps my hand tightly, his heartbeat picking up slightly when the man clears his throat.
This must be Kazimir Vasile.
“Enough. You all are acting like a bunch of children,” he chides, while they all look at him in horror for insulting them. The blonde who spoke first gets to her feet as well and gestures to us.
“She cannot live, Kazimir! An example needs to be made!” she exclaims, looking at me as if she would gladly be the one to make an example of me, but her brother shakes his head.
“You’re all so excited to kill the poor girl that you’ve failed to notice that they’ve Entwined; she’s one of us now,” he says, walking down from the podium towards us while the rest of the council looks on in shock.
Did they really not notice that I was no longer a human?
Kazimir comes to a stop in front of me, taking my chin in between his thumb and index fingers. Gabriel grits his teeth at the proximity, but also at the way Kazimir is looking at me.
“Katherine Décès; a gift given to Gabriel Preutescu to once again grow his bloodline. A gift given by Goddess Nyx, even though she knew what unrest it would cause between our worlds.” He starts, then his eyes shimmer to crimson with no black and the grin on his face sends a disgusting shiver up my spine.
“But, a gift given for us all to use,”
“What?!” Gabriel growls, then takes a step back when Kazimir looks at him. “What do you mean by that?”
Kazimir chuckles, then he places his arm around the back of my neck and walks me closer to the podium. Gabriel’s hand slips out of mine, making me feel naked and alone in front of the six bloodthirsty sets of eyes glaring down at me.
Kazimir chuckles. “We cannot kill Katherine, not only because she is with child, but because she possesses the knowledge we seek. Castles and keeps taken away from our ancestors and turned into Death’s Temple strongholds.”
What? With child?! What the fuck is that supposed to mean? It hasn’t even been a week! I can’t be pregnant, can I? Does shit work differently for vampires? Oh my God, I’m not ready for this! I’m not… there’s no way I’ll be a good mother!
I am so stunned that I nearly miss the next part of his rant.
“From what I have heard, Gabriel killed the old crone Alexander, leaving no one left to lead the guild. So what if we can take back what’s ours, brothers and sisters? What if the Goddess gave us Katherine, not only to regrow a faded bloodline but also to help us get back our homes?”
My heart is hammering against my ribcage and I feel a cold sweat beading on my brow, knowing that my life is clenched in the hands of these people who would rather see me dead. I’m not a coward. No way am I going to allow them to see that they scare the living shit out of me, so I speak up.
“I know the locations of seven keeps spread throughout Europe and can give you the specifications as well as how the guards are spread out,” I say, all their attention snapping to me.
“My father never kept the codes of his safes written anywhere, but he did force me to memorize them all since he trained me to take over from him. There’s a silver box kept in the well of Preutescu castle with the keys to all the vaults of the keeps - but they filled the well with the pulp and seeds of the baobab fruit.”
Their eyes widen, and I know that I’ve hit the jackpot. These castles I’ve mentioned must be their homes and I know exactly how to get them back.
Kazimir chuckles and pulls me tightly into his embrace. “See! What a marvelous gift! Katherine is the key to everything! Through her, we will regain our homes and rid the world of hunters!”
Even though I can see them all slowly changing their minds about me, the way Kazimir has me in his arms causes apprehension to settle deep in my gut. I don’t trust this man, even if he has just saved my life - there’s a different reason he wants me alive, and it’s not because of a few locations of some castles.
He releases me from his hold and smiles, then turns to Gabriel. “Your Fated will not die, but your wife back home will. I will send someone to dispose of her momentarily,” he says, crossing his arms. “And do stay the night–”
“We don’t want to impose–”
“I insist,” Kazimir says, shutting Gabriel up and grinning. “Stay the night.”
Without another word and brimming with intimidation, Kazimir turns on his heel with a final, “Stellan will show you to your room,” before leaving Gabriel and me standing there and wondering what the fuck Kazimir has planned for us.
GABRIEL
If there’s one thing I hate, it’s the way Kazimir looked at Katherine; as if she was the most appetizing thing he’s ever seen. It pissed me off because not only could I not protect her, but if I made a move, it would have meant my death.
Then Katherine would be alone in these mountains with Kazimir as her captor.
“I couldn’t fucking do anything!” I cry out, punching the castle wall of the bedroom they made us stay in. “He stood there, leering over you and I couldn’t do a damn thing!”
