House of Kings(52)

And my stomach drops out.

“Were any of you attacked after you joined her House?” X asks loudly.

I look at them all. Markov stares at me darkly, a look of betrayal and confusion on his face. Lillian shakes her head in answer. Cameron looks confused, looking from me, to the branding rod in Cyrus’ hands, and back.

But Samuel looks at me as if he is certain I orchestrated everything.

He came to me because to him, the attack on Jasmine’s House was the last straw. He left her because she didn’t know what she was doing. His words.

And now, it looks like I ordered the attacks to secure his allegiance.

“No,” I whisper, shaking my head. “I swear! I had nothing to do with this!”

“And what about your shamed father?” a woman demands. “It is no secret that Henry Conrath wanted nothing to do with the monarchy! That he despised us and everything we stood for!”

“Then why would I accept my birthright?” I cry out. “Why would I ever build my own House then?”

“To get close to high-ranking officials,” another throws out there. “To get close enough to kill the King!”

“No!” I scream. “I would never!”

“She had nearly a dozen Royals killed!” someone yells. “The House of Allaway was slaughtered! Yet, none of her House has suffered death. Look at the damage she’s inflicted in just a few months!”

“Kill her!”

“Take her head!”

My heart will surely beat out of my chest any moment now. Surely, it will hammer so quick and hard, it will explode out of my chest and I will collapse to the ground, dead. I can barely see straight. My mind begins to gloss over.

“Give her a trial!” Raheem suddenly bellows. He steps forward again as the crowd surges forward. “If you believe her so guilty of plotting to end our kind, give her a trial!”

And this quiets the crowd. The expression on the King’s face is thoughtful.

“Take her to Roter Himmel you say?” he whispers.

All the blood in my body drops to my feet.

A visit to the palace, unless you are a member of the Court, always ends in death, Raheem once told me.

“Yes,” Raheem says. “She’s a Royal. A House leader. It’s her right to be given a trial.”

Every eye turns to Cyrus, waiting his decision. And he takes his time in answering.

One second.

Two weeks.

Three years.

In a vampire’s enhanced mind, so enhanced it has the ability to consider so many scenarios, that’s what his three seconds of hesitation feel like.

“Than a trial she will be given,” Cyrus says. “Go gather your things, my dear. We depart for Roter Himmel in twenty minutes.”

Two hands roughly grab me around the upper arm, shoving me toward the crowd. Raheem’s sword is instantly at the ready, trying to force the guards away from me.

“Unless you wish to die, right now,” Cyrus growls at him, “you will let them do their job. She will not be harmed before the trial.”

The breath rips in and out of Raheem’s chest, harsh and ready for a fight.

And I see it on his face now. Damn being cautious. Damn hiding his feelings. It’s all out there on the line. All exposed for everyone to see.

And I pray it doesn’t get him killed.

He takes a step back, allowing my captors to shove me forward.

“Lillian,” I beg as we walk past her. “I swear, I swear I had nothing to do with any of this. You have to believe me!”

But her eyes fall away from me as we move past her.

“Anna?” I call as I spot her across the crowd.

She only looks at me with confusion and uncertainty.

I do not get the chance to speak to any other House members, because my captors shove me toward the foyer, stepping over the dead Bitten, and up the stairs.

One of the men opens the door to my bedroom and roughly shoves me inside. “You’ve got five minutes,” he says as I easily regain my balance. “And don’t think of escaping out a window. He’ll be watching the outside.” He points a thumb at his partner.

I swallow hard and nod.

I can’t seem to breathe as I turn to my bedroom.

Just twelve hours ago, I was on top. I had control. I knew what I was doing.

Look how quickly things fall apart. Just twelve hours later, and everyone I thought I trusted has turned on me, and I am probably going to die.

I walk into my closet and grab a bag. I shove whatever my hands find into it. Dump random bathroom things into it. My hands still in the drawer with the false bottom.

Elle came to me not long ago, begging for her family’s safety and anonymity. And before she left, she gave me a gift.

Glancing over my shoulder at the man who stands guard at the door, I find he’s looking away from me.