The Last of the Red Hot Vampires - By Katie MacAlister Page 0,98
have done so."
The crowd moved forward a few feet. I recognized a few familiar faces: the nameless boy proctor who'd taken me to the Akasha, Gabriel, the messenger Theo had stopped. Probably another two hundred people had joined them, filling half the ballroom. Each and every one of them turned to look at Carol Lee.
"Your cruel and callous treatment of this woman is yet another slap in the Court's face," Disin said, her voice flinty and hard-edged. "Release her immediately."
"I realize that kidnapping someone is an extreme action, and one I do not undertake lightly. However, given the circumstances, there was no alternative. I could not have convinced her to come to the Court on her own. If I release her now, she will simply escape."
The crowd made murmurs of disbelief. Disin drew herself up until she seemed a good three feet taller than normal.
It began to snow inside the ballroom.
"Your impertinence is beyond all bounds. Release that woman immediately, or I will have you jailed for contempt."
She looks mean enough to do it, I muttered to Theo as I pulled out a small pair of nail scissors from my purse. Keep an eye on Carol. She's going to bolt the second I have her hands free, I just know it.
Have a little more faith in the security of the Court, sweetling. Despite appearances, the mare will not allow anyone to leave if they do not desire it.
I cut the duct tape on Carol's wrists while Theo untied the gag. The second her hands were free, she attacked me, knocking me down to the ground, both hands clutching my hair while she banged my head on the ground.
Theo pulled her off me while Disin yelled for order.
"I told you," I said softly as Sarah helped me up to my feet.
"There will be order," Disin yelled, her hands gesticulating wildly toward us. "You will, all of you, display the respect due the Court, or I will take such measures as to ensure you will not darken our presence again!"
As a threat, it had sufficient punch to calm Carol down. She jerked her arm out of Theo's grip, but limited herself to a couple of murderous looks my way.
The snow moved to fall only on Carol.
"You will cease with such unseemly dramatics," Disin ordered, pointing at me.
"I would if I could, but I don't seem to have a very good grasp on weather control," I said.
Irina shook her head, her all-seeing eyes on me. "Child, child. This is not worthy of you."
I cleared my throat as a little blush warmed my cheeks. "I hope that once I am formally accepted as a virtue, I'll be able to learn how to control the weather effects a little better."
Sweetling, you will never be an actress.
I smiled at the soft brush of Theo's mind.
"Such an event is not yet in your grasp," Disin answered with a distinct threat in her voice. "Nor will it be, if your present actions continue."
I made an effort to dismiss the cloud, arranging my expression to be something a little less antagonistic, folding my hands together and waiting for Disin to continue.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm late I know, but I was held up in the mortal world. Goodness, is it snowing? How interesting." Suria, the third mare, pushed her way through the crowd, giving the snow-covered Carol an interested look before taking her seat on the dais. "What have I missed?"
"Portia Harding has effected an act of violence against an outsider, and brought her to the Court without either permission or the knowledge of the mare." Disin's glance flickered over to Sarah for a second. "Two outsiders. Such an inconsiderate disregard for the laws of the Court of Divine Blood is not to be tolerated!"
"Portia has little knowledge of Court etiquette and laws," Theo said, moving closer to me. "We ask your graces to show the leniency for which you are so well known in regards to her accidental violations."
"Accidental?" Disin asked, her face tightening. "Do you consider kidnapping a woman accidental?"
"It would, perhaps, be prudent to allow Portia Harding to explain her reasons for conducting such an...extreme act," Irina said softly.
Suria nodded, her normally sunny face pinched and worried. "I will confess that I, too, am curious as to why Portia would go to such lengths. Who exactly is this woman you have abducted?"
"She goes by the name of Carol Lee, and is wife to Milo, who conducted the fourth trial."