جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 15

Alexander's POVIn the end, even after I pushed for it more than once, the Council didn't have Vicky executed.The truth was simpler than that.They couldn't bear to spill the true Ashbourne bloodline.Not even when she'd colluded with the enemy. Not even when her conspiracy had nearly killed every noble at that banquet.Inside the council chamber, Vicky was on her knees on the stone floor.There were heavy silver shackles on her wrists and ankles. Her face was bloodless.The eyes that had always glittered with calculation and self-satisfaction held nothing now but fear.The Council sat above her.Examining her like a piece of merchandise. Calculating whether it was still worth something."Vicky Ashbourne, you have conspired with vampire hunters. This is unforgivable.""However. In consideration of the fact that you carry the true bloodline of House Ashbourne, the Council decrees that you will be remanded into Alexander's custody.""After you have produced an heir, your punishment will

Elena's POVTo let me recover in peace, Joey took me away from the place we'd been staying.He took me somewhere remote.It was near the sea.The weather was always overcast.The rain didn't stop.A grey-blue sky, year-round, hung over the wet mist.The human me probably wouldn't have liked it here.But somehow, after I'd become a vampire, I started to like weather like this.The wind in the middle of the night didn't feel cold on my skin anymore.When the rain came down, I could smell the wet smell of leaves and earth on the air, sharp and clean.The whole world had become quiet and slow.Like, finally, I had room to breathe.That night, after Joey told me how he felt, the air between us shifted into something strange.But it wasn't exactly awkwardness, either.Mostly, I'd started avoiding his eyes.Because every time mine met his, I'd remember that night.The way he'd looked at the floor and held my hand carefully in his.And said, "I don't want to be your friend."Joey, for his part

Elena's POVIn the end, I didn't go with them.My mother stood there, eyes red.As if, only now, she'd finally understood. I was not going to forgive them this time, not the way I would have before."Elena…"Her voice was shaking."We know. We were wrong. We really do."I just looked at her, calmly, and shook my head."It's too late."The air went quiet.The color drained slowly out of my father's face too.In the end, they didn't push it any further.They just walked out of the hall, the both of them, hollowed-out.I watched them go.And I realized something.The Ashbournes, who had once held themselves so high, had been brought to this.My father's tailcoat was clearly an old model. The cuffs were worn.My mother's jewelry wasn't the priceless collection it used to be.So. Without their "fated bride," they'd never managed to climb into the vampire world after all.I watched them go, and there was nothing big inside me.Only a thin, distant sense of how strange life could be.That was