“I told you not to come,” Hudson hisses at me. “I told you something bad would happen.”
Nothing bad has happened yet, I try to soothe, but my heart has started beating out of control.
Even Jaxon looks like he thinks running might be a good option, especially as the assembly hall doors swing open and the members of the Circle come parading up the walkway on the opposite side of the auditorium from where the rest of us entered.
Cyrus heads to the podium with all the pomp and flair of Mick Jagger at a Stones concert. Today he’s dressed in a black pinstripe suit with a purple-and-black tie and, not going to lie, he looks like a million bucks. Of course, his eyes are gleaming like a zealot’s, so it takes a little away from the whole picture.
As soon as the other members of the Circle find their seats, he starts the assembly with a, “Thank you, Katmere Academy, for the most exciting Ludares tournament we have ever experienced. It was truly a delight to preside over such an incredible event.”
The room falls silent as he looks the audience over, and I’m not sure what’s scarier, the serious looks on their faces or the sound of the locks as the doors slide shut.
I swallow the panic rising in my throat as I give the audience a shaky smile. What I really want to do is race down the aisle like a K-pop fan after my favorite idol, but instead I stay where I am as the king turns back to the audience and continues what I now know—what all eight of us now know—is a total fucking farce.
“First on the agenda is celebrating the win of this amazing team up here. They played an incredible game of Ludares, didn’t they? That moment when Grace dodged the two dragons was breathtaking. And when she turned one of the dragons to stone?” He shakes his head. “Absolutely captivating.”
The audience claps more enthusiastically than I expected.
“So, with no further ado, let’s bring them up to accept the special prize donated this year—a bloodstone from the royal collection.”
Delilah is also at the front of the stage, though it’s clear she plans to let her husband do all the talking today. She’s dressed head to toe in white, and she looks chillingly beautiful. Her crimson lips are turned upward in a perfect smile—that appears genuine as long as you don’t look at it too closely.
Cyrus motions toward our team at the back of the auditorium. “Can our Ludares winners please come forward together and take a bow?”
The group of us exchanges uneasy glances—but Jaxon squares his shoulders and walks in front, with all of us following behind reluctantly and single file.
“Take your bow,” Cyrus instructs as we come to a stop on the stage, and we do as the audience applauds.
Cyrus walks behind us now and pats everyone on the back as he calls their name. I’m at the end, though, and he stops when he gets to me.
“Grace.” Cyrus hands me the box with the bloodstone in it, looking me up and down, and it totally squicks me out. Not because the look he gives me is lascivious—it’s not—but because it’s avaricious. Like he wants me, but only because he’s already figured out how to best use me to serve his interests.
“It’s so lovely to meet you,” he tells me, coming around to my side and opening both arms in some kind of bizarre facsimile of a social-distancing hug. “My son’s mate, a gargoyle.” He shakes his head. “It’s unfathomable but so, so exciting.”
“So exciting,” Delilah echoes, and her perfect crimson smile never wavers.
Cyrus continues. “I can’t tell you how impressed we were by your performance during the tournament.”
“My entire team did very well,” I agree.
Delilah cocks a brow in exactly the same way as both her sons do but says nothing.
“So they did. But you were their secret weapon. We all saw Grace Foster’s performance at the Ludares tournament yesterday, correct?” Cyrus’s voice booms through the auditorium and elicits cheers in response. “We saw the amazing things she could do, didn’t we?” More cheers.
“But we also saw how vulnerable the poor girl is,” Cyrus adds, shaking his head. “We saw her struggle, we saw her dragged across the field by a werewolf, we saw her nearly die between two dragons. Grace, our only gargoyle in more than one thousand years.”
Where’s he going with this? I ask Hudson as he continues to list the many things that have happened to me since my parents died.
“Nowhere good.”
Cyrus pauses, and it’s like the whole room forgot how to breathe. He turns to his wife and motions her over. “Would you like to deliver the good news, Delilah?”
The queen continues to smile as she walks forward, but it’s not a happy smile. It’s rigid, brittle, and I wonder how long she can hold it before shattering. Wonder how long she can wear this facade before she breaks completely.
Long enough, I guess, because she doesn’t break as she steps forward to take the microphone. As she turns to the audience and says, “It is with the utmost pleasure that I share some exciting news.”
She faces me, and I don’t know whether it’s Hudson or me who’s more anxious about what she’s going to say. Probably me. As her smile grows wider, my heartbeat pounds in my ears so loudly, I’m not sure I’ll be able to hear the words.
“The Circle has voted and agreed. King Cyrus and I will be taking Grace home with us to the Vampire Court.”
Huh. Turns out I definitely heard that…even though I wish I hadn’t.
91
Family Feud Has
Nothing on Us
“Fuck, no!” Everything within Hudson instantly repudiates his mother’s words. Then again, everything inside me does the same thing.
“Don’t worry, Grace. I won’t let that happen,” Jaxon whispers as his hand tightens on mine, but I only vaguely register his words.
I think I’m in shock. My palms are sweaty, but I can’t hear my heartbeat anymore. It’s pounding so fast, it’s just one continuous hum in my head.
“It was a grave and difficult decision,” Cyrus takes the microphone back and adds. “But in a four-four decision—with my lead vote breaking the tie—the Circle has agreed that we must take Grace back home to London with us, where we can train her to defend herself, and protect her until she can protect herself.”
The audience of students begins to clap at his words, though not as enthusiastically as before, but he doesn’t seem to notice or mind. “I know you all care for Grace as we do, and I am so glad you agree that this rare creature, this new hope for our battered world, must be guarded at all costs.”