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“Well, that is highly unusual. Humans are not a matter of importance to a Coven. Do the Crimson Sires still possess the human that is the cause of this dispute?” a woman with curly hair and high cheek bones asked.

“She killed her,” Asher spat, standing so fast the chair he sprawled in scraped the ground.

She stared at Asher with impatience. “You have not yet been given leave to speak Crimson Sire, and?—”

“I apologize, I don’t see the issue with the human’s death,” Fred interrupted the female Council member. I gritted my teeth.

“I was fond of the human. As were the others. She was our chosen Pet.” Asher sounded like he was forcing himself not to launch himself.

“Her death at Imogen’s hand, as you so state, is still not a crime. There is no reason the female of your Coven, your Sire, cannot remove a human from her Coven, no matter what its status was. They are only humans after all.” The woman with the curly hair and tan skin waved her hand. “But we will take it into consideration when voting, despite your speaking out of turn.”

I peeked at Talia.Roberta, she mouthed.

Well, fuck you, Roberta.

Roberta turned back towards Imogen. “Your Coven members have spoken out of turn, but they seem most insistent. Do you have more you wish to say, other than the written account that was given to us? Or shall we allow them their chance to speak their side?”

Imogen demurely turned her face downwards, in a show of respect for the Council members, her hands laced in front of her. “No Council members. Everything about my grievances and my request for restitution is in the submitted documents.” She kept her eyes downcast as she returned to her seat behind her table, hunching her shoulders to make herself look small and vulnerable.

I simultaneously wanted to vomit from her faux respect, and leap over everyone watching and claw her eyes out.

Roberta turned back towards my guys, her face impassive.

“Very well. Your Coven Sire has said her piece. Present your evidence against her claims.” She turned her focus on my vampires.

There were murmurs from the onlookers. I caught snippets of words about Imogen. Things like outrageous that this happened to her, clearly within her rights, such a tragedy. My teeth were clenched so hard I wouldn’t be surprised if several of them cracked. I dug my nails into the wooden bench.

Tobias stood and gestured for Asher to sit. He waited to speak until Asher had thrown himself angrily back in his chair. “As you have seen in our written report, several key details are missing from Imogen’s declaration. For example, she was no ordinary human. Pets are held to a higher level than?—”

“But it is her Coven as well. Is it not?” the other female vampire with sharp features asked, raising an eyebrow. Her hair was cut in a short bob.

Tobias’s lips thinned.

This did not sound good.

A vampire dramatically shuffled some papers in front of him and set it down. He sat in the third seat, fingers tapping against the surface. Even from this far, he seemed so careless. It was obvious he was preparing to talk, and all the vampires remained silent, waiting.

“Gregor Redford,” a female vampire sitting to the other side of Talia breathed.

“He’s notoriously ancient and a recluse,” Talia whispered in my ear.

“Is it truth that your unique Coven was formed by Imogen?” he asked Tobias.

I gritted my teeth. That didn’t sound like the best start to all this.

Tobias’s eyebrows winged down.

“It is, but?—”

“And who exactly is your Sire, Tobias?” A different vampire asked, cutting of Tobias’s answer.

Talia hissed.

“Fucking Wrenhaven.” That name. He was the one working alongside her. What was he doing up there?

I widened my eyes at Talia, and she only shook her head.

“Why areyoupart of the Council?” Asher snarled out. “It’s a conflict of interest!”