Page 160 of Brimstone

And then she pitched forward and vomited a jet of blood into the empty ice bucket Tal had given her before his grand speech.

It’s okay. It’ll be over quickly. You didn’t drink much of his blood, I told her.

It was a rare and messy business, the rescinding of the blood. I’d never seen it performed. I’d heard tales of it happening,though. Over the centuries, Malcolm had sired every single high blood in this court. Occasionally, one of them had displeased him, and he’d had reason to call back his blood.

He had gathered his court around him and made an event out of it, using the spectacle to publicly shame his offspring, but also to demonstrate to his other children what would happen tothemif they stepped out of line. A high blood would live after a rescinding. On paper, very little changed. They were still alive, inasmuch asanyvampire was actuallyalive. . . but they were outcasts. Cut off from the royal blood. Malcolm had often gone a step further and officially shunned a high blood once he had recalled his blood, and that? Well, thatwasa death sentence for most.

Tal couldn’t shun Saeris. He’d said plenty of pretty things about no rancor and respect, but what he did here tonightdidshame her, according to the precedent that Malcolm had set. It was selfish—something so utterly unlike Tal that when Saeris had mentioned it before, I had assumed the suggestion of it would never come to anything. And yet here we were. I would be pinning the bastard up against a wall later and demanding to know what the hell he was playing at, him beingsoconcerned about Saeris not appearing weak in front of the court.

Saeris bore the display with considerable dignity, given that she was vomiting blood in front of an entire court who loathed her. It was over quickly, as I’d assured her it would be. A few mouthfuls of blood were all that was owed.

When she was done spitting into the silver bucket, Tal took it from her, bowing low. “Thank you. I’m sorry.” Quick as a flash, he faced the crowd again, garish green light washing over his skin as he addressed the court. “Behold! Saeris Fane, first of her name. Scion of no one. Rise for your queen!” he bellowed.

It couldn’t be denied: He put on a damn good show when he felt like it. To what end, I couldn’t fathom, but still. He had theentire Blood Court on their feet, reluctantly holding their glasses in the air.

“May she be the last monarch this court sees!” Tal shouted, snatching a glass up from a passing thrall’s tray. “May she overcome all, for the glory of this holy court. May she usher in a new era and a new beginning for the people of Sanasroth! To Queen Saeris!”

The toast was a confusing one. Had any of the vampires present been faintly sober, they might have questioned Tal’s unusual tribute, but half the court was already in its cups, and the other half were catching up. A sea of glasses went up in the air, the light glancing off their gold-edged rims in a dazzling display as all of Ammontraíeth called out my mate’s name.

“Queen Saeris!”

Silence followed quick on the heels of the shouting, as the high bloods drained their glasses. It didn’t matter that they were probably cursing her name to themselves as they downed their wine—they still drank.

Blood and wine, after all.

Blood and wine.

Seemingly pleased, Taladaius descended the dais steps and set his glass on the table to the right. “And now, there are five loyal members of this court who would ascend to the position of Lord, to safeguard a tithing of its power and become a court protector. I call forth Kavan Dahlish to present his case!”

Kavan Dahlish was a brute. At well over seven and a half feet tall, he towered over everyone as he bulled his way through the crowd and came to stand at the center of the five-pointed star.

The moment he turned and bowed toward the dais, I knew him.

His thick dark hair hung all the way down his back; in life, he had been a fine warrior. Courageous and brave. Funny, too. His nose was flat, pressed to his wide face having been brokenmany times.Ihad been responsible for one or two of those breaks, courtesy of some rowdy sparring sessions that had ended in blood on both sides.

His eyes were flat and dark now, where once they had been blue. They narrowed imperceptibly as he nodded first not to Saeris, but to me. “Commander.” There was no warmth in the greeting. Even less warmth to the greeting he paid Saeris. “Your Highness.”

My skin prickled all over; my tattoos were rioting beneath my clothes. Howfoolishof me. I’d made a grave error. Malcolm had stalked the killing fields of so many of our battles. The crows fed from the fallen, plucking out their eyes. Malcolm had done the fucking same. Only, he had taken theirsoulsinstead of letting them pass peacefully into the beyond.

The tallest. The strongest. The ones who had still been putting up a fight. Because Kavan wouldn’t have gone quietly. Malcolm would haveforcedhim to take his blood . . .

How many of my warriors had he taken that way, plucked trembling from the verge of death and made to swallow from his foul veins before they were ended and turned to his will?

Rage painted my vision red. A futile, impotent emotion. What was I supposed to do with the hate that roiled in my gut, for a male who was ash on the wind? There was no one to scream at. No one to blame. There was only the warrior whom I had called friend, who had died on my watch and been condemned to an eternity of debasement and depravity as a result.

“I’ve served this court for two hundred and seven years, Highness. During that time, I have trained many captains in the art of siege warfare. I have piloted several battalions of the horde in successful campaigns. I have cast the armies of our foe at the gates of hell and pitched their bodies in.”

A low droning sound drowned Kavan out.

He stared at me as he rolled off a litany of atrocities that had earned him praise and commendations from Malcolm, and my blood ran cold as ice in my veins.

The training he had received fromme. The skillsIhad taught him. All of it, turned around and used against us.

Kavan had known how to wield his weapon. He had stood in the shadows and watched as the monsters who had killed him tore apart the friends he had once sworn to protect.

As he spoke, the acrimony in his eyes, theaccusation, was clear.You left me here to this. What did you expect?

“I may not be one of the longest-serving members of this court, but I have brought glory to Sanasroth and upheld my master’s will. I propose thatIbe selected as Ammontraíeth’s newest Lord of Midnight, specifically as Keeper of Warfare.”