Adrian came to stand in front of Julian, towering over the vampire.
“It seems you are the only one who thinks I am not worthy of this crown I wear,” he said, and he leaned forward, both hands on Julian’s shoulders, squeezing. “Would you like it?”
“N-no, Your Majesty,” Julian answered quietly, his gaze falling to the floor.
“Look at me when you lie, Julian,” Adrian said. “It will make this next part far easier.”
What next part?
But I soon found out, because just as Julian lifted his head, Adrian clasped his face between his hands. The ring he’d been twisting turned out to also be a small, curved blade, which he slid right into Julian’s eye. My nails bit into my palms as the vampire screamed, and Adrian continued to push the blade farther until he wrenched his thumb free and the eye came with it, hitting the ground with a slick splat.
Julian fell to his knees, rocking forward, holding his hands to his eye socket. I trembled but managed to remain steady as Adrian spoke, his hand dripping with Julian’s blood.
“Never assume you understand my purpose.” Then he turned, gaze sweeping the crowd. “You will all instruct your territories to light fires around their gates to keep the mist at bay until we are able to locate Ravena or the person responsible for the spell. You are all dismissed.”
The noblesse filed out silently, passing Julian as they went. Adrian placed his boot against Julian’s side and kicked him. The vampire fell with a groan to the floor.
“Get out!” Adrian yelled.
I flinched and watched as Julian scrambled to his feet.
“I’d like to be alone with my wife,” Adrian said to Daroc and Ana, as they still lingered.
I looked at both of them, a note of hysteria climbing up my throat, but they were already retreating. When the doors were closed, Adrian and I stared at each other.
“Do you feel justified in your belief that I’m a monster now?” he asked after a long bout of silence.
“That was indeed monstrous,” I said. “And all because he said you could not multitask.”
“It wasn’t what he said. It was what he was thinking,” Adrian said.
I stiffened. Sometimes I forgot Adrian could read minds. And apparently not just mine.
“And what was he thinking?”
“He called you a whore,” Adrian said.
“I see,” I said, suddenly feeling far less sorry for the noblesse. My eyes fell to Adrian’s clenched hands. I took a step away from the table, closer to him.
“He is lucky he left with his head.”
“Why were you so generous?” I asked.
Adrian’s lips twitched. “Eager for a beheading, my sweet?”
“I only wish to know why he is so valuable to your council.”
“He is an excellent huntsman,” Adrian said. “And he teaches his people to live off the land. It is a valuable skill.”
“And no one else can teach such skills?”
“Not as well as he does. Not yet,” he said.
Which told me he would eventually be expendable.
We were quiet for a moment, and then I asked, “Do you think Ravena is responsible for the mist?”
“I think she is likely responsible,” he said. “If the attack only occurred at Vaida, I would have continued to think it was a mortal who happened upon a rogue spell. It wasn’t until Sadovea I began to suspect otherwise.”
“Why did you not tell me as soon as you suspected?”
I thought I knew why, and it had everything to do with his past—a past no one seemed inclined to tell me about. I wanted to know why and how Adrian had become the first vampire. I wanted to know why he was so invested in the High Coven. I wanted to know why this witch wanted an army.
He watched me for a moment and then answered, “I wanted to be certain.”
Suddenly, he reminded me of my father, but not in a good way.
I want to protect you, my father would say as he barred me from attending his council meetings, but really it was just an excuse, a way to keep me from knowing exactly what was going on while men discussed things like barring shipments of blue cohosh and silphium—two methods of birth control for the women of Lara. I’d been so angry, I hadn’t spoken to my father for two weeks and only relented when he agreed to a compromise. He would remove the ban and allow healers to administer the herbs. It was not the best circumstance. Healers could be bribed, and some, themselves, did not believe in preventing pregnancy, but it was better than no access.
“That is an excuse,” I said. Even now, I could recall the moment I suspected Adrian knew something—it had been the way he’d set his jaw and stared off into the distance. He’d been connecting the pieces, searching for confirmation. “You could have told me, but doing so would mean telling me about your past, and it seems you value its secrecy over winning the trust of your wife.”