Chapter 2

I had barely rolled up the scroll when the heavy iron door to my chamber was kicked open.

"Serena, stop with that dead look on your face. Noah's death was an accident. What matters now is protecting Ella's reputation."

I raised my eyes to him, my gaze glacial.

"An accident? You cut off his only chance at survival."

Ella trailed behind Arthur and cut in, her voice trembling with feigned hurt.

"How can you blame the Prince?"

"The array was unstable. If the Prince hadn't acted decisively, we all would have died."

She paused. A cruel glint sharpened her gaze.

"Speaking of which, where is Helen Warren? She never missed a chance to flaunt her bloodline at a banquet."

"Always preaching, 'Pureblood nobles are worlds above lowborn fledglings.'"

"Funny. She's the one who should be ashamed."

Her sugary little act turned my stomach.

"You don't get to speak here, you lowborn stray."

Arthur's expression darkened instantly.

"Serena! Watch your tone!"

"The Elders are in an uproar. They think Ella brought the hunters here and got the pureblood heir killed."

"In one hour, you will stand before the Elder Council and admit your mistake destabilized the array."

I stared at him, my nails digging into my palms until they drew blood.

"Arthur, Noah was your son too! And now you want me to stand in front of the entire clan and take the blame for the people who murdered him?"

"Not a chance. I will never confess to that."

"Is that so?" Arthur smiled without warmth, then tossed an image crystal onto the floor.

The projection showed my mother, Helen Warren, chained to a pillar in the square.

"Refuse, and I'll accuse Helen of harboring hunter spies and exile her into the midday sun."

"You wouldn't dare!" I shot to my feet, trembling all over.

"Try me." Arthur closed the distance and seized my chin in a bruising grip.

"Serena, just do as you're told. Stop fighting me at every turn."

"You're my wife. You're supposed to obey me."

"No matter how powerful you are, you're still my woman. Why do you insist on making things difficult?"

I closed my eyes and forced down the urge to kill him.

Not yet.

I had to trick him into signing the Blood Bond Severance Pact first. Turning on him now would only get my mother killed.

When I opened my eyes again, my expression was perfectly calm.

I pulled out the heavy scroll bound with ancient gold thread.

"I'll confess, but I have one condition."

"Sign this scroll. Consider it my penance."

Arthur frowned at the faint dark glow rippling across the scroll.

"What is it?"

"It's the deed transferring control of the territory's Shadow Barrier."

My voice was flat and lifeless.

"The whole clan knows the barrier is tied to my life force. If I've failed them, handing over the barrier to the Prince is the only way to win back the Elders' trust."

Ella's eyes lit up, and she tugged eagerly at Arthur's sleeve.

"Your Highness, if Serena is willing to surrender the barrier, that proves she knows she was wrong."

Arthur stared at the scroll as greed flickered in his eyes.

He had always resented that I held the territory's lifeline.

"At least you've finally come to your senses."

Without the slightest suspicion, he pricked his finger and pressed his princely seal to the bottom of the scroll.

As the blood sigil sank into the parchment, I smiled inwardly.

It was not a barrier deed.

It was the Blood Bond Severance Pact I had just written, its true purpose hidden beneath ancient script.

With one signature, Arthur had started the final countdown on our marriage and our fate.

An hour later, I stood inside the Elder Council Hall.

Hundreds of high-ranking vampires sat in the circular gallery, their gazes cutting into me like blades.

I stood in the judgment circle at the center, dressed in plain black robes.

"High Priestess, do you have anything to say for yourself regarding Noah's death?"

Grand Elder Benedict Crowe's stern voice echoed beneath the domed ceiling.

Arthur sat on the prince's throne, watching me as he rolled a communication rune between his fingers.

Before all those eyes, I slowly bowed my head.

"I... take responsibility." I dragged the words through clenched teeth, one by one.

"My spellwork failed. It killed Noah."

Gasps rippled through the hall.

Then came a torrent of curses.

"The clan's only High Priestess made such a basic mistake?"

"She couldn't even save her own child! What right does she have to control the barrier?"

"Kill her! Avenge the boy!"

A bucket of rancid blood was hurled from the gallery, drenching me from head to toe.

The stench of rot flooded my nostrils. I closed my eyes.

I let the filth and the insults wash over me.

Arthur.

Enjoy that throne while you can.

Soon, you will not even deserve the chance to beg at my feet.