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Kieran opened then closed his mouth, clearly considering my argument. “Apologies, my lady. King Elias is my uncle, and it’s my job to question and look closer into things that could threaten my family and House. Your mating with my king just seemed incredibly unlikely after the events of the commemoration. That doesn’t mean it’s impossible. I should not have insinuated as I did.”
I gave a rigid nod, anxiety creeping back in now that the initial anger had faded.
“Dannika is a unique shifter indeed, and our mating is not . . . conventional, but I prefer it that way.” He grabbed my hand from the armrest of the throne and squeezed it slightly. “She’s perfect,” he said, looking straight at me. You’d never know he was putting on a show with how intensely I felt his gaze. “They both are.”
One of the vampires sighed. “Look at them.”
Please don’t. Really.
“She’s beautiful. There’s no doubt about it,” Marisa said softly, admiring Nova as my wolf sat beside me. “Does she have a name?”
“Nova.”
“Is this the wolf who . . .?” Katie, the vampire with the black hair, spoke up, pointing at Nova. Then she turned to Ysabeau by the door, looking for confirmation of some sort. When Ysa nodded in response, Katie turned her attention back to us. “Well, you have my support, Nova. Not that you need it, but still. I approve of your methods.” A smug smile crossed her face.
“Indeed.” Another vampire caught on, chuckling. “I heard Katie’s ex was missing an arm. Well done.”
My mouth opened, but no words came out. I hadn’t been expecting that kind of response to Nova ripping off their fellow vampire’s arm. A solider within Blood and Beryl. Possibly someone they knew. I had no idea what to say to it. The condemnation from my former House was the polar opposite of the praise in my new House. All over the same situation.
“We’re delighted to see that Elias has finally found his mate, regardless of how or where you’re from,” Marisa said, warming up slightly.
A tall, handsome vampire with pale skin and light blond hair stood up. He adjusted the cuffs on his shirt, then looked me straight in the eye as he spoke. “Mathis’s son attempted to claim you as his mate. And you rejected him, resulting in your exile. Is that correct?”
My toes curled inside my boots, and I attempted to calm my muscles before they tensed. “That is correct,” I said.
He pursed his lips, nodding gently while he drew out the moment in silence. “It was also said that Markus has not rejected you . . .” He purposefully trailed off, making sure to look around at the other members of the High Court to plant the seed of doubt.
It worked.
Careful gasps and light murmurs questioned how this could be.
“He has not,” I said through clenched teeth.
Elias shrugged. “What of it, Uriah? Weirder things have happened.”
“I’ve never heard of a second-chance mate happening the same night, much less when the first mate hasn’t accepted a rejection,” he said bluntly.
Your life—and Markus’s—depends on it.
“Nor have I,” I admitted. “I don’t disagree with you. But just because something hasn’t been before doesn’t mean it will never be.” I gestured to Nova, making my point.
Eleven other vampires smiled when I said that, but not Uriah. He studied me with narrowed eyes, then dipped his head. “I can’t argue with that, now can I?”
“No, you can’t,” Katie chimed in, crossing her arms and sitting back in her chair. “Though I wouldn’t put it past you to keep trying.”
Marisa rolled her eyes, then pointed for Uriah to sit down. “It should be known that Dahlia foresaw this, so calm your nerves.”
Who? Foresaw what? I glanced at Elias, but he shook his head slightly, as though to say, ‘I’ll explain later, but not here.’
“What exactly did Dahlia see?” Uriah asked.
Ysabeau left her post by the door, approaching the table and standing in front of the dais to address the room. “She foretold that Elias would find his mate at the commemoration. I was there. I can tell you without a doubt, our king was instantly drawn to Dannika from the moment he saw her.” She turned to him, pinning him with a stare, then tilted her head. “His desire to find her only increased once she was exiled, and he set us on a path to intercept her before Mathis could get to her.”
“I’ve never known Dahlia to be wrong,” Katie mused, then she glanced at the vampire seated next to her, who nodded in agreement.
Elias smirked, like he knew something no one else in the room did. Or maybe because he’d won an argument while barely speaking.
“But it was foretold she’d be a vampire in Blood and Beryl,” a woman with thin red lips said. Her black hair cascaded down her back, draping slightly over her shoulder in a long, thick braid. She raised a single brow in dissent, creases forming on her high forehead.
