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“Tell us, Michaela. How have you arrived in our territory? Did you come alone, with family perhaps...are there others?” Ciaran forked a mouthful of the tofu scramble on his plate, but kept his gaze locked on Michaela.

Amaros didn’t miss the gleam in his eyes. The vampire was hopeful that Michaela being there was a sign that they’d all have a chance to find mates. Amaros didn’t fault the other vampire, or any of them for anticipating it.

Michaela began to raise the heirloom tomato speared at the end of her fork to her mouth, but quickly she set the utensil down, using Ciaran's question as an excuse to hold off eating longer.

“I’m in your territory alone. I don’t have any family. I ran from the human compound with a friend, but we were separated. I don’t know what happened to her.”

This was news to Amaros and he found himself curious about what she was saying. In their suite, she hadn’t wanted to discuss her ordeal. He wondered if this was part of the information she’d held back.

“We are sorry to hear about your friend,” Jezebel added. “Maybe there is hope she is still out there and will also make it here.”

Michaela nodded but kept silent. Finally, she brought the tomato to her mouth.

She let the vegetable sit in her mouth for a moment, as if she were willing herself to chew it.

Finally, her jaw moved, and she ate it. Her brows furrowed, relaxed, and then furrowed again, as if she were trying to decide if she liked it.

Amaros didn’t know if she liked tomatoes before.

However, he knew that food to a vampire was neither good nor bad.

There was a light taste, but nothing compelled them to eat or reject it.

However, it was just necessary for them to blend within the human population, even if that no longer existed now.

Amaros also knew that their Prime appreciated being able to share meals with them.

As masters to the Prime, they were responsible for providing for those who served them, even in such small matters.

As for Michaela, he could not imagine how it would feel to know food tastes one way and then to have it taste extremely different. Amaros was a born Vampire, and food was just food. Blood was life.

“What was the urgency, Amaros? We’ve waited this long, couldn't our meeting have occurred later?” Athan stifled a yawn.

“No.” Having finished half of his soup, Amaros pushed it away. Lifting his napkin from his lap, he pressed it to his mouth to collect any droplets. “It could not wait. Since Marceline and I will travel to the preternatural council meeting tomorrow with Michaela.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Michaela pause in the act of swallowing the vegan scramble and spinach she had just forked into her mouth. She was practically choking herself, and she hastily reached for her water.

Why? Michaela didn’t look at him, but anxiously focused on forcing the food down her throat. If she had choked, she would not have died, just more of a slight discomfort to have the food lodged there until she could get it up or down with bread.

“Why?” Athan echoed as he hovered his spoonful of soup before his mouth.

Instead of answering her mentally, Amaros addressed the group: “As she stated, she came from behind the Wall of her own volition, and because she is Marked, in good faith, we must present her before the council, so we are not accused of hiding her. It would be against our treaty if I did not take her.”

Will I have to be around the human government there?

This time he did answer her. Glancing in her direction and waiting until she met his gaze. When her earnest Arabian-sand eyes met his, he said, No, little angel. Even if you were, I’d kill them to protect you.

“If we are lucky, perhaps you will bring other marked ones.” D’Arcy appeared wistful as he picked up his goblet of pig’s blood.

Amaros knew they were all tired of waiting for their mates; before Michaela, he had felt the same frustration and disillusionment in the devious human government. As Sire, the feeling never completely disappeared, not while so many of his kind were without their blood mate.

“Perhaps,” he stated flatly as he broke his gaze with Michaela.

“Now, that we are discussing the hope to increase our population...” Kenia stroked a long nail along the side of Amdis's neck, her mate, they were the last blood mates, finding each other so many centuries ago, that Jezebel, their child, and once the ruler of Egypt, had grown into a leader of her own right. Amdis, a mate but not a leader, human born like Michaela, was dragged to Africa on a business venture with his father when Kenia happened upon him. He’d been attacked by a lion and left for dead when Kenia smelled his blood, she rescued him from death and gave him a different life.

Kenia’s midnight gaze lit with glee as she continued, “Can we discuss the ones your mate carries even though she does not fully hold your scent.”

Amaros sighed. Leave it to the one Vampire who had once carried a child, to be intuitive enough to discover Michaela carried, too.

Nine sets of eyes turned and stared at him, then to Michaela and him again.

He saw the hurt in Marceline’s gaze as his Vice realized that he had not revealed the information the day she’d ventured into his room.

Since Michaela had been in stasis, between life and death, Marceline would not have been able to hear the babies' heartbeats.

Amaros exhaled. He hated explaining himself, but he knew it was more than necessary in this situation. It was the reason he’d summoned them.

“Yes, Michaela is pregnant.”

“Three...do I perceive three heartbeats in her womb?” Marceline’s gaze lowered in the direction of Michaela’s stomach.

“Yes!” Velorina confirmed.

“Oh, my,” Athan uttered.

“How is this possible?” Jezebel’s finger went slack and her spoon plopped back into her soup.

Amaros wished he had the answers. Michaela had confided in him while they were in the privacy of their room, so he could share this and release her of the burden of his Coven’s interrogation. However, she had not been ready, and he hadn’t wanted to force her, but now the time was here regardless.

Silence stretched around the table. Once more, his council members' gazes shifted from him to Michaela and then back to him. They waited for either of them to respond.

Michaela sat beside him, her hands again clasped in her lap, her head bowed low, and her chin practically touching her chest. He could see her body shaking, evidence of how she struggled with opening up about her situation.

Although he could see the war raging in her body, Michaela’s mind was blank.

It was as if every memory was so bad that his mate didn’t even want to think about it.

Amaros was grateful none of the leaders rushed her, most likely because they all could smell the taint of her anxiety perfuming the air—a foreign scent on a Vampire—but Michaela was new, and they would allow her the grace.

Little angel...if I could rid you of the stress of this moment, I would. He slipped his hand below the table and covered her knee. He felt her flinch and shift as if she wanted to pull away from his touch, but didn’t.

That’s when worry saturated his body. What did they do to you, little angel? Tell me so I can plan my retribution.

They... She swallowed and cut her thought.

Instead, she forced her chin up and met his gaze.

“We were guinea pigs...lab rats to the scientists. But we couldn’t complain because.

.. all thirteen of us volunteered for the research project.

That’s what was on the flyer, what we were told when we arrived.

Our service and sacrifice were for the greater good of humanity and to help heal the sick.

They repeated this to us when we complained that it got hard.

..or painful.” Her voice wavered then broke, but she continued.

“I don’t know what brought the other women there, because we weren’t allowed to talk to each other.

Not even our roommate. We did, a little.

Ava and I discussed what each of us planned to do when we got the money and exited the lab cells. ”

Michaela never averted her eyes from his, as if it were easier to tell him her story and ignore the others in the room.

“But they were never going to let you out,” he whispered.

She shook her head. “No. It was easy to lose track of time in there. I don’t know if I was there for days, weeks, months. They controlled when we ate, relieved ourselves, slept, woke, submitted to exams and tests, after tests, and blood cleaning.”

Blood cleaning . That grabbed his attention, but he kept his thoughts to himself.

“Something wasn’t right with the cleaning.

” She made air quotes. “Ava and I talked about it. They hooked us to something they called a dialysis machine right from the start. They said it would clean our kidneys from any impurities if we came in contact with the XD87867 virus, but it hadn’t manifested yet.

We all got sick right after the first two times it was done. ”

“How many times were you subjected to the process?”

“Four. After each time there were more and more tests.” Her eyes glazed over, as she rubbed her hands over the bend of her arms as if she could feel the needle pricks even now.

He caressed the top of her thigh, bringing her back to him.

The babies. How did you get pregnant, little angel?

Amaros didn’t want to ask. Seeing her response to the tests and examinations, he was worried about what he would hear.

Not really for his sake, he could not be more enraged than he already was at her government, but for her.

Unfortunately, the council needed to know.

They all needed to know.

Michaela was not one of theirs, and Amaros did not doubt that his leaders were also categorizing murderous thoughts.

“They put them there.”

“The scientists?” Apparently, unable to restrain herself any longer, deep lines creased Kenia’s otherwise perfect, unmarred skin.