Chapter 142
Chapter 142
The Council’s seat was a beautiful neo–Gothic building near Grant Park. Weathered gray limestone, narrow stained glass windows, pointed arches, and a towering archway over the massive bronze entry doors made Chloe feel as if she were headed into a cathedral. As they entered the building, she automatically turned to reach for the holy water stoup. She quickly remembered herself and drew her hand back. She hadn’t thought to ask ahead of time, but she’d imagine vampires weren’t keen on the sign of the cross.
The entry was a long, broad corridor. As they crossed the elaborately tiled marble floor, their footsteps echoed to the vaulted ceiling. Chloe tipped her head back to take in the ceiling mural of a beautifully painted night sky. Her gaze slid down the walls, where the mural work gave way to colorfully–veined marble, then to paneled dark wood. There were ornate carvings worked into the wood–moths and owls and bats and foxes and crickets all woven into the twisting vines and leaves of some fantastical nocturnal forest.
“Are we the only ones here?” Chloe whispered into the echoing silence.
“No, we’re just latecomers,” Etta answered.
Amos’s hand found the small of Chloe’s back, gently guiding her forward. “You’ll be an object of curiosity,” he said, almost apologetically. “In the Council chambers, the others will have to mind their manners more carefully than they would have in the entry. We came a little late to avoid
that p>
“Ah.” Chloe swallowed past a dry throat.
“Don’t be nervous,” Amos told her. “ I’ll rip the tongue out of anyone who bothers you p>
“No ripping out tongues!” Chloe said, her voice high and panicky.
“Aww,” Etta pouted.
“It would eventually grow back,” Amos muttered sulkily.
Chloe knew he was joking, but that joke just drove home how she was very much not in her element anymore. Her heart pounded as they neared the massive arched doors at the end of the corridor. The carvings around this door were the most ornate yet, giving the impression of twisting rose briars and creeping animals surrounding a mysterious portal. Unseen voices murmured through the doors, the words unintelligible.
As they approached, the doors swung open grandly, by some invisible means. It was probably an automated sensor, but surrounded on all sides by vampires, Chloe couldn’t help but wonder about magic.
The doors slowly revealed the grandest space Chloe had ever personally stood in. It was as soaring as any cathedral she’d ever seen, with vaulted ceilings as elaborately decorated as any she’d ever seen. Everywhere she looked was rich, lavish, old opulence. Stained glass windows and elaborate woodwork and complex marble mosaics and soaring pillars and hanging banners and golden gilding and so many beautifully constructed embellishments that it made the entryway look downright drab in comparison.
Chloe was so taken aback by the architecture that she completely forgot to be worried about the occupants of the building. But eventually, she realized the murmur of conversation had died away to perfect silence. She brought her gaze back down to eye–level, taking in the vast crowd of people–all of whom were staring at her.
She pulled in a shallow, choked breath, reaching instinctively for Amos. His hand gripped hers with comforting strength, tugging her close to his
side.
“The offer to rip out tongues still stands,” he murmured into her ear.
A slightly hysterical giggle escaped her, cutting sharply through the unnatural silence.
Bodies shifted in the crowd as someone wove through them. A tall, slim man emerged. He was as sharp–edged as a blade, with features that
-L- Vaishhar! Now I’m His–No Escape.
51.1 %
Chapter 142
could cut glass–thin, straight nose, prominent cheekbones, steeply angled black eyebrows. His pale skin had that slightly washed mut look that seemed to be common to vampires, contrasting starkly against his raven black hair. His blondred eyes skimmed up and down Chloe’s body before flicking to Amos.
“Amos Hansen has brought a mortal to the Council?” the man inquired, brows rising with salacious glee. He spoke with an accent that Chloe couldn’t place, something vaguely Germanic, maybe. “And here we thought you’d never stoop to tolerate our existence again.” There was a very pointed emphasis in his words. Murmurs arose from the crowd that told Chloe she was out of the loop on something. “How disappointing”
“Fuck off, Ludolf.” Etta said impatiently.
His gaze slid to her, his disdain written across his sneering face. “In my day, women were more civil p>
“In your day, women kept dying because they wouldn’t stop licking rats,” Etta shot back.
Fran made a choking sound. Ludolf’s gaze cut to her, eyes narrowed. Before he could speak, Amos’s voice cut through the murmurs.
“Do you think you’re safe from me because there are witnesses p>
The murmurs died into another shocked silence. Ludolf straightened, drawing himself up to his full height. He towered over Amos’s average height, but there was no mistaking who the bigger threat was. The crowd’s eyes danced between Amos and Ludolf with nervous anticipation. Chloe clenched onto Amos’s hand, shrinking closer to him.
♡ (1)
AdminJ