Bloodspell (The Cruentus Curse, #1)(83)

Victoria could feel the palpable change in the air as Enhard regarded her in stunned silence. She stared back just as fiercely until Enhard looked away, noticing that Christian had moved to stand behind her. She leaned into the length of his body and absorbed the strength he offered. His hand caressed her lower back in slow soothing circles.

"The meeting will start shortly in the main conference room," Enhard said, the warmth gone from his voice. "The High Priestess is already here." He left the room without a backward glance. Victoria was stung by his frigid manner, but Christian squeezed her hand reassuringly.

"Don't worry, it's about me, not you," he said, leading her across to the Council room where Enhard was waiting near the doorway.

"Christian, do you have a minute?" Enhard asked.

"Not right—"

"It's okay, Christian. I'll wait for you inside," Victoria said.

"Christian," Enhard began the minute the door swung shut behind Victoria. "I can't even begin to guess at what the Council will say to this. You are flouting ancient laws and this little flirtation—"

"It's not a flirtation. And if you think I give a damn about what the Council thinks, then you really don't know me at all," he said.

Enhard was quick to back down from the veiled fury in Christian's voice, and he sighed. The Council would not tolerate it should they realize Victoria was a witch, and despite Christian's considerable power, he would not be able to save himself. Or her.

"Does anyone know?" Enhard asked.

"Lucian does, I imagine."

Enhard gasped, his eyes flying to Christian's. His face was whiter than Christian had ever seen it.

"Then today will be even worse than I imagined. You know your brother has long craved your complete exile from your House and coveted your birthright. My fear is that he has called this meeting to discredit you with the Council ... because of her. He will use this to destroy you," Enhard said.

Christian didn't bat an eye. He had guessed that Lucian had had some sort of ulterior motive but now, everything fell into place like missing pieces of the puzzle. Lucian had known that Christian would not leave Victoria behind, and something he intended to do or say in that room had something to do with her.

He regretted that Victoria was already inside but there was little he could do at this point to remove her without drawing more attention to them both. He would have to deal with Lucian—and the Council—if Enhard's speculations proved correct.

Christian met Victoria's eyes reassuringly where she was sitting near the back of the room as he walked in with Enhard. Victoria noticed his eyes narrow as he stared at her, sensing that something was different about her, and it was her turn to smile reassuringly at him.

It's a non-detection spell. If it works so well for you, then it should work for anyone looking for Le Sang Noir.

Christian shot her a puzzled look. This space is warded against magic.

Yes, I can sense the wards. She frowned in concentration. But my spell is fine.

The meeting was called to order interrupting their silent exchange, and Victoria looked around the room. It was as beautifully decorated and furnished as the other room had been, with spectacular floor to ceiling windows looking out onto the city of La Défense.

There was a long glossy cherry-wood panel table at the end of the room that curved in a semi-circle, where twenty people were seated, obviously the Council. Enhard sat at the same table. The Council members ran the gamut of age, but they all had two things in common, their fierce mysterious beauty and pale white skin. It was difficult not to stare.

The rest of the room was divided into two sections, similar to a courtroom set-up with two other rectangular tables at the head of each of the sections. She recognized Lucian at one of the tables talking to a tall woman whose face she could not see, but who seemed vaguely familiar. Victoria remembered their last encounter with unease. As if he had felt her discomfort, he turned toward her, a disturbing, triumphant smile playing on the corner of his lips. His cold stare made her flesh crawl.

She looked away, distracted by two new attendees who had been ushered in by the helpful receptionist: a petite pretty woman and another older man. They were not vampires, which she could sense immediately and her breathing quickened as she guessed who they were. They were introduced as the delegates from the witch clan, Grande Prêtresse Aliya and Monseigneur Fardon. Aliya had soft blond hair and looked surprisingly young. The older man had a lined face and white hair. They both sat after bowing respectfully toward the Council.

With their entrance, the tension in the room became almost solid. Despite the fact that they were invited guests, the mutual enmity was, at best, thinly veiled. It was Victoria's first taste of the hostility that Christian and Leto had often spoken about, and it shook her.

She was surprised to see Christian sitting just to the right of the Council panel on a raised dais with two other empty chairs. Despite how young he looked, he radiated authority and everyone around him treated him with deference. It disconcerted her a bit because she had never seen Christian in this light. He was the leader of a House after all, she told herself, but still the thought niggled in her head, it wasn't just that he was treated with deference by his own House, he was treated like that by everyone, including the Council members. She tucked the thought away as Enhard, Council speaker, called the meeting to order.