of papers before her as if our dispute was a garden bowl’s match.
Please tell me you took everything out, I whispered his way.
Kyros glanced at his father and nodded.
Are you kidding me? What does that mean? I silently hissed.
My mate fixed his gaze on me. It means that I freed you absolutely, Basilia.
Thank fuck.
“Confer and give us your ruling,” King Julius told the woman from the impartial clan.
Yeah. His wording didn’t fool anyone. He hadn’t decided to accept shit from me yet.
She bowed slightly and returned to the row of her clan members. “Will the human witness please come forward?”
I clenched my hands to fists, tense as Tommy shot me a veiled look and made her way around the table to approach the woman.
“Each of us will search your mind and vote upon the verdict of allowing your testimony regarding the removal of Miss Le Spyre’s compulsion,” she told my friend.
My mouth bobbed open. All of them! I quickly counted. There were ten.
Surely that—
Tread cautiously, Kyros’s thoughts invaded mine.
Tommy didn’t hesitate, leaving her bag next to Evie before striding to one end of the line. The male Vissimo locked eyes with her and my friend gasped. But within a minute, he’d released her.
“Next,” the woman called.
Blinking several times, Tommy shifted down the row. I swallowed, my hands slickening as she worked her way through the ten vampires.
If this failed, I had to think of something else, but I could only think of my oldies—who were long gone by now. There was Fred, but I just couldn’t do that to him.
I was cursing the weakness that made me agree to Tommy being here.
When the last Vissimo finished searching her mind, I met her halfway, steadying her as she wobbled back to where I stood.
“We are specifically interested in the witness’s memories pertaining to the difference of what Miss Le Spyre was able to divulge when first compelled in comparison to the last four days,” the female said.
Gina cut in. “That doesn’t prove there’s no compulsion on her. If there is any compulsion on their behalf, she is not allowed to deal with Sundulus. If they cannot prove she isn’t—”
Gerome cleared his throat. “Clan Sundulus keeps clear records of the compulsion parameters we place upon each human liaison. With my father’s permission, I would like to direct Clan Leith’s attention to page two thousand and fourteen of the document titled Human Liaisons.”
Original. They should have titled it Enslavement of the Innocent Because Two People Couldn’t Agree.
A towering male next to the woman, who I assumed was the leader or nominated spokesperson, scrambled to find the document.
“Page one thousand, nine hundred and ninety-eight,” Kyros said quietly.
There was a page detailing the exact limitations Kyros placed on my mind. Yeah, if I lived through today, I was reading that fucker.
I have nothing to hide, he answered me, a slight nip entering his mental voice.
Consider me still weirded out that mental voices existed.
I lifted a shoulder. Just for interest’s sake. It was kind of like me wanting to read my medical history at this point. Plus, I could tell he was telling the absolute truth. The whole emotion radar and telepathy combo didn’t leave room for ambiguity.
The document was being passed from end to end.
When the last Vissimo in Clan Leith closed the pages, the woman spoke again. “With the parameters in mind, we will now vote.”
What? Like an everyone raise your hand type of situation? Surely not.
“Everyone raise your hand if you are assured of the validity of Miss Le Spyre and Crown Prince Kyros Atagio’s claim that all compulsions were removed four days hence.”
I closed my eyes.
After everything, a fucking vote was the straw on the camel’s back that made me want to bury my head in the group and pretend none of this existed.
Open your eyes, Basilia.
Obeying, I stared at the six hands in the air.
My knees wobbled and I locked my legs, counting the hands again. Six out of ten.
Sixty percent. Was that in our favour or against us?
A savage snarl ripped from King Mikael’s lips. “Preposterous. Clan Fyrlia demands an appeal.”
Queen Titania laughed lightly. “The rulings of the impartial clan at the end cascade negotiations is absolute. Do not seek to waste our time, Mikael.”
Oh, snap! The cruel king stared across the table at Kyros’s mother, undisguised lust in his muscular body.
King Julian shifted.
I shared a look with Tommy, and she dipped her head.
Time to get things back on track. This was our show, not theirs. And I could strangle