We stopped in New York on our way home, but since we were in the Council's jet, I didn't get to see Merrill's apartment. Franklin had already left for London; Merrill told me that at least but little else. Flavio, Radomir and Russell were on the flight with us but the others had already gone on to other assignments or back to ones already started. More than once, I wondered what the Council was going to do to me and got the shivers every single time. The trip to London was longer of course and we landed with little time to spare. I discovered I was to be kept in a building on the outskirts of London rather than going back to Merrill's manor. It was a larger cell than the first one I'd had but it was still a cell, holding only a small bed, a tiny table and nothing else.

The Council didn't see me for six days and Merrill didn't come to see me, either. Gavin might have dropped off the face of the earth for all I knew, or perhaps I wasn't allowed visitors. What I knew and they didn't, though, was that I could have turned to mist at any time and just slipped through a crack. I didn't. Their compulsion didn't work when they told me to stay silent and not escape. I had no intention of breaking either of those commands. They'd kill me for sure and maybe that wasn't a bad thing. Too many things had happened to me during the past three months—some of them awful things. Maybe this was karma for killing Lily. Even if she'd made the turn, I just couldn't let her live like that—a half-life, hidden and requiring blood to sustain herself. The Council wouldn't have let her live anyway; she was too young. Her death at my hands had been swift while she was between death and vampire. No, that didn't make me feel good about it. Not in any sense of the word.

Radomir came for me on the sixth night and we didn't talk as he placed the usual silver alloy chains on my wrists and asked me to walk before him out of the building. I was blindfolded when we reached the park I remembered from before and he led me for quite a while. I knew when we passed the two vampires at the entrance to the cave—Russell and Stephan, this time, I could tell by the scent. We didn't say anything to each other. I'd made a choice and now I was about to pay for it.

The blindfold was removed and I found myself facing Wlodek and the Council, just as before. Charles had a deep frown on his face as he tapped away on his computer. I scented the room and could have described everyone there, including Merrill and Gavin. They were both present.

Wlodek was toying with his gold pen. Perhaps that was his way of dealing with things that irked him. He pulled out the pen and twirled it or flipped it in his fingers. There certainly wasn't any expression on his face to give anything away. Charles didn't meet Wlodek's eyes when he nodded to him. Wlodek cleared his throat a little.

"Lissa Beth Huston, formerly known as Lissa Beth Workman, it has been reported to the Council that you disobeyed your sire. Is this true?"

"Of course it is," I said, handing him a level look. It was probably on the vampire version of Youtube or MySpace. Besides, how many witnesses were there? More than enough to convict me, that's for sure. I shivered.

"Explain, please." I did. I told him exactly what I'd told Merrill. My recall was almost perfect. It must have been a side effect of becoming vampire but Merrill and I had never covered that in our lessons. Those were likely over now. I didn't expect to walk out of the Council chamber.

"So, you took it upon yourself to leave the hotel after you knew the ones who'd come to kidnap you were leaving?"

"Yes." He asked me to explain, so I did. He looked at his papers. He didn't ask me to explain how I'd gotten away from my attackers at the hotel or how I'd managed to kill at least ten of the bad vamps along with quite a few werewolves. He did ask me about the incident where I'd saved the mister rather than the werewolf.

"And you considered this werewolf your friend?"

"Yes." I did, there at the last.

"Very well. The Council has already reached a decision in this case; we only wished to hear you answer the pertinent questions. It is all as reported previously." He touched the papers under his hands. Great. They'd reached a decision. "Lissa Beth Huston, punishment is always meted out when a child disobeys his sire," Wlodek went on. "In your case, we have unanimously decided to administer a beating. Twenty strokes. Sebastian." I went cold at Wlodek's words. A beating. Just the thought brought back horrible memories. No, those had to be pushed down. I couldn't show my fear. I couldn't. My skin was quivering so violently I wanted to curl up in a ball. That wasn't an option.

A vampire I didn't know came forward and stood before me, holding what looked to be a long nightstick in his hands. I had to clamp my fingers together; they were shaking so badly. Had to get through this. Had to. Was he going to hit me in the head? Had to squash that thought. "Remove your clothing," Sebastian ordered. Oh, God. When I wasn't doing it fast enough to suit him, he ripped my clothes away instead with shortened claws that appeared on his fingers. I wanted to moan when he tore away my bra and underwear. I stood there before the Council and all the others inside the cave, shivering so hard they couldn't help but notice. I was completely naked and about to receive my beating. The first stroke came so swiftly I almost didn't see it coming. Sebastian hit my shoulders. The club was some sort of hard rubber. If it had been steel, he would have broken bones on the first stroke. He was putting vampire strength into his blows anyway, which caused indescribable pain. He broke my left wrist on the sixth blow and I whimpered a little and bent over, but tried my best to straighten up. Three ribs went with another blow; the crack was audible as they snapped. I received a glancing blow to the head; he'd aimed for my shoulders again on the seventeenth stroke. Someone off to the side was counting the blows as the fell. Sebastian knocked me down completely on the eighteenth blow and then shouted for me to get up so the last two could be delivered. I got up. It was slow but I got up, my chains rattling. They were still around my wrists and the manacle on the left was causing horrible pain. I took the nineteenth blow to the back, the twentieth, and I'm sure he did it on purpose, right to the head. Blessed darkness descended.

* * *

"Sebastian, you were told not to hit her in the head." Wlodek was growling. Sebastian the Assassin turned to face the Head of the Vampire Council.

"As you say, Honored One," he bowed slightly.

"I will consider your punishment now," Wlodek sighed, looking behind Sebastian at Lissa, who lay in a small heap on the cave floor. "Derlin, please come forward and check on the girl." He motioned the vampire forward. Derlin held several medical degrees and was attached to the Council as their official physician.




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