with a dark secret that his family guarded. James, and I suspected Julius, were merely two werewolves of an entire coven, the children of the alpha…the king who sat at the forefront of the room.
I’d never particularly thought of werewolves as a viable threat, the way that most girls don’t think they will ever be trapped by strangers or taken from an empty street. I simply hadn’t considered that running into a werewolf was something that would ever happen to me, and yet in the past week I’d not only been cornered in a dark alley, but also kidnapped. I’d never thought I would have to worry about something so seemingly simple as that, no less something as unrealistic as running into a pack of werewolves. I considered the people before me with a new respect born of intimidation, wondering if they were all werewolves, then looked to Janna and received affirmation. As quickly as the fear had set upon me, I shoved it back, refusing to let them notice my weakness.
"This creature...she's entirely different from anything we know.” James spared me a quick glance, but his expression was unreadable as ever. “I brought her here, not as our enemy, but as a human."
"Please, James, she is a woman all the same. We will treat her with the same respect you dedicate to your mother and sister." The king's face was stoic, but he glanced my way before turning back to his son. He leaned forward. “Tell us what happened.”
James looked uncomfortable under the weight of everybody’s questioning eyes, but he stood straight. “When I bit her, it was…different.” He looked at me as though he were trying to see through me, understand how I had deceived him. I didn’t want to be transparent, least of all to him. “Though she had the very distinctive qualities of a vampire, it was immediately obvious that she was not.” James didn’t look away from me when he spoke, so I didn’t either.
The king tilted his head to the side. “But we do not bring humans home."
James looked calmly at his father. "No." I could see the muscles locked in his jaw. He seemed composed but for that one tense gesture, which offered me an inordinate amount of satisfaction.
"Nor do we bring vampires home."
"No."
"So why, then, would you bring home a hybrid of the two?"
The way he questioned him was how I imagined scenes in court, which is what I gathered this was supposed to be. But who was the offender here? I was the prisoner, though I wasn’t necessarily in the wrong. Did the King suspect as much, and would he admit it?
"I didn't know what to do." James admitted, casting me a side-long glance. "These are unusual circumstances. When a vampire is bitten by one of our own, they’re not alive long enough to suffer any consequences. There’s no precedent for a human being bitten by a werewolf, so I could only assume they would be brought back to be restored to health. Lilith is neither, and so neither option seemed like the right one. Ultimately, I brought her here seeking the advice of the council."
"Neither option was the easy one.” The king contested. “But there was a third choice, wasn't there?"
James was silent for a short spell, and then spoke hesitantly, as though he almost didn't dare give voice to his thoughts. "A third choice?"
"One that was much simpler, which would have saved you both from the mess you're in now."
"Which was what?" James asked seriously. It had a skeptical undercurrent, but I could tell his faith in his father was such that he believed his words to be gospel.
The king was in no rush to answer, apparently hoping his son would come up with the solution on his own. James waited calmly, but he didn’t seem to know what his father was alluding to.
"You could have let me go," I suggested. For the first time, I wasn’t scared of him, not when we were surrounded by all of these people, and not when the King was able to speak with such a sound
I’d never particularly thought of werewolves as a viable threat, the way that most girls don’t think they will ever be trapped by strangers or taken from an empty street. I simply hadn’t considered that running into a werewolf was something that would ever happen to me, and yet in the past week I’d not only been cornered in a dark alley, but also kidnapped. I’d never thought I would have to worry about something so seemingly simple as that, no less something as unrealistic as running into a pack of werewolves. I considered the people before me with a new respect born of intimidation, wondering if they were all werewolves, then looked to Janna and received affirmation. As quickly as the fear had set upon me, I shoved it back, refusing to let them notice my weakness.
"This creature...she's entirely different from anything we know.” James spared me a quick glance, but his expression was unreadable as ever. “I brought her here, not as our enemy, but as a human."
"Please, James, she is a woman all the same. We will treat her with the same respect you dedicate to your mother and sister." The king's face was stoic, but he glanced my way before turning back to his son. He leaned forward. “Tell us what happened.”
James looked uncomfortable under the weight of everybody’s questioning eyes, but he stood straight. “When I bit her, it was…different.” He looked at me as though he were trying to see through me, understand how I had deceived him. I didn’t want to be transparent, least of all to him. “Though she had the very distinctive qualities of a vampire, it was immediately obvious that she was not.” James didn’t look away from me when he spoke, so I didn’t either.
The king tilted his head to the side. “But we do not bring humans home."
James looked calmly at his father. "No." I could see the muscles locked in his jaw. He seemed composed but for that one tense gesture, which offered me an inordinate amount of satisfaction.
"Nor do we bring vampires home."
"No."
"So why, then, would you bring home a hybrid of the two?"
The way he questioned him was how I imagined scenes in court, which is what I gathered this was supposed to be. But who was the offender here? I was the prisoner, though I wasn’t necessarily in the wrong. Did the King suspect as much, and would he admit it?
"I didn't know what to do." James admitted, casting me a side-long glance. "These are unusual circumstances. When a vampire is bitten by one of our own, they’re not alive long enough to suffer any consequences. There’s no precedent for a human being bitten by a werewolf, so I could only assume they would be brought back to be restored to health. Lilith is neither, and so neither option seemed like the right one. Ultimately, I brought her here seeking the advice of the council."
"Neither option was the easy one.” The king contested. “But there was a third choice, wasn't there?"
James was silent for a short spell, and then spoke hesitantly, as though he almost didn't dare give voice to his thoughts. "A third choice?"
"One that was much simpler, which would have saved you both from the mess you're in now."
"Which was what?" James asked seriously. It had a skeptical undercurrent, but I could tell his faith in his father was such that he believed his words to be gospel.
The king was in no rush to answer, apparently hoping his son would come up with the solution on his own. James waited calmly, but he didn’t seem to know what his father was alluding to.
"You could have let me go," I suggested. For the first time, I wasn’t scared of him, not when we were surrounded by all of these people, and not when the King was able to speak with such a sound
Similar Books
