“You mean you presumed to know what was best for the Council.”

“Yes, I did. That’s been my job all this time. Doing what’s best for the Council by analyzing every situation the Council publicly faced. This was no different.”

“Then your arrogance will be the death of you. And your mate.” Sage turned his back on them and slowly strolled to the empty chair he’d previously occupied. Still staring at them, he sat down, his dark eyes full of judgment. “Regardless, it seems that we are agreed on one fact. You created another vampire without the Council’s approval. That, from the beginning, has been one of our primary laws. Having you break it willingly and willfully is most egregious. While every other thing about you, Sebastian Kent, could be overlooked by a merciful Council, that cannot.”

Alice looked up at Sebastian, her attention snagged by the small plume of smoke drifting from his face. His gaze went to her, an apology forming in dark eyes drifting toward blood-red in coloring. Her mouth lifted in a small smile, the signs of his dragon always exciting her possibly more than they should have. He could have only done it one better by letting those gorgeous wings flap in the small room. That’d show the stupid Council. Then they’d really get to see who was arrogant.

No, not arrogant.

Justified.

* * *

The door to the room opened and only seconds later, a cart was pushed through. He might have taken a moment to study the objects on its surface, but once he caught sight of three stakes, his heart began to flutter. When Antaeus Stavrou stepped into the room, face hardened and determined, Bast tensed. He stepped forward, putting himself between the executioner and Alice.

“Is anyone going to ask me my thoughts or opinions, or do they not matter because I’m just a human? Or I’m not quite a vampire yet,” Alice amended. She was still looking at Bast, and when he glanced back to look at her, his heart swelled with so much emotion that he couldn’t have pulled his gaze away from her if he tried. They stood in a quiet room, full of people who condemned him, and she took it all in stride.

He studied her blue eyes, gone brighter since she’d begun transition. Those crazy curls seemed a little tamer but framed her face as if it was a picture of sensual beauty. Which, of course, it was. Her skin seemed creamier, a little more soothed. The fatigue he’d witnessed over the past week, the underlining defeat she’d held within her, all gone now. Transition suited her well and would only enfold her tighter in its embrace over the next few days.

In his heart, he knew that the tumor, which had sent her so close to death’s door, would begin to shrink and then eradicate itself altogether. Once she survived the judgment of a council gone drunk on its own power, she would live to see many wondrous things.

“I’m afraid you are collateral damage,” Councilman Renner said from across the room. Bast dragged his attention away from Alice to frown at him. “This isn’t about you as a human, but the message being sent to the rest of the vampire community. Regardless if we like you, and I for one do, the idea that vampires can create vampires without consent is unfathomable. Vampires would overrun the world if left unrestrained.”

“But you’re deciding my fate. How can you sentence me to death when I haven’t done anything wrong? I won’t be punished for loving someone.”

“Your crime isn’t for loving someone. It’s for being born,” Renner said gently. “It’s not a decision against you. The crime is Sebastian’s, but you have to bear the brunt of it.”

Alice squeezed Bast’s hand, then looked up at him again. Winked.

He blinked back, confused. Did she know something that he didn’t?

She turned her attention back to Sage. “We were on our way to establishing a sort of relationship, right? Was it my imagination? The Council had taken my proposal to be its historian very well, I’d thought.”

Sage answered. “We would have considered it. Yes.”

“I see.” She released his hand to begin pacing in front of him. He almost smiled at her attorney-like demeanor in this mockery of a trial. “Would I have chronicled anything beyond the Council’s members and their activities, you think?”




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