Fated to My Vampire Lord novel · Chapter 13 of 24

Chapter 13: Nobody Is Watching

I tried to say Tiernan's name, and a growl came out of me.

It rolled up my chest and shook the glass in the tall windows.

Every person in the ballroom took a step back, and the vampire did not.

"You're all right," he said, so low that only I heard. "Willa. Stay where you are."

I was not afraid.

I was a wolf in the middle of a ruined dance floor, and I could not find the way back to my own hands.

I pulled at the place the change had come from, and nothing moved.

The chair stood on the dais with her red sleeves pushed back.

"Alpha Harlan Bellegarde," she said. "The Council's guard will hold you until the Hearth record is read."

Four guards in black came down the steps.

"I know nothing about this," Dad said. "The girl never shifted. I would swear it on my pack."

"Then you have nothing to fear from the record," said the chair.

He looked at me once as the guards took his arms.

He did not say my name, and I understood that he never would again in front of anyone.

Two more guards lifted Keeley onto a stretcher.

Her eyes were open, and she watched me all the way to the doors.

Otis went out on his own feet with his arm held against his ribs.

"Tell her I'm fine," he said to Tiernan. "Tell her I've had worse from the walk-in freezer."

Then Ottoline struck the floor with her stick.

"Switch off the cameras," she said. "All of them. Now."

The red lights died one by one.

Within the hour the ballroom was empty, and the candles had burned down to puddles.

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