Free The Vampire Gift 2: Kingdom of Ash by E.M. Knight Page A

Right in my face, he laughs. “Is that so? Well then next time, maybe I’ll speak a little louder, so there’s no confusion. I want everybody to hear. I am my Queen’s man through and through. My loyalty is to her. Not to James. And certainly not to you, weakest .
    He stabs a finger in my chest on the last word.
    I just lose it. Before I can consciously reconcile what’s happening, I have his palm pinned behind him in an arm lock. I press down and apply pressure. He cries out in pain.
    “Don’t,” I warn him softly, bringing my lips right to his ear, “ ever make the mistake of calling me that—” I press down. He squirms against the table, “—again.”
    Then I let him go. A space has cleared around us after the brief scuffle.
    The other vampire picks himself up. He looks at me, then spits to the side.
    “That’s what I think of you,” he says. “Don’t assume mommy will keep you safe forever. One of these days, you’ll get what’s coming. Just like your eldest brother did.”
    With that, he storms out the room, cutting a sharp path through the crowd.
    I straighten and pull my sleeves up as I watch him go. I make a slow survey of the room.
    “Does anybody else here have a problem with me?” I ask. I scarcely recognize the voice coming from my throat. I definitely don’t recognize the aggression pulsing through me. ”Anybody? Anybody at all?”
    The vampires closest to me take a step back. Those in the far reaches of the room crane their necks up, curious about what will happen next.
    “Thought not,” I say. “Now that that’s over…” I bend down and pick up the table that had fallen in the fight, “—will somebody tell me why James is the object of everyone’s conversation?”
    Silence greets me. But then, from the back:
    “The Queen has ruled that he’s to become one of The Convicted.”
    “What!” My head snaps to the vampire who’d spoken. It’s Bella, a bland woman of medium build, unremarkable in every way except perhaps for the spark of passion in her eyes. “When did this happen?”
    “Not more than an hour ago, my Prince,” she replies. “Surely, we all thought you would know…”
    “Well, I didn’t,” I snarl. Anger washes through me. It nearly takes me over completely. Anger at my Mother, anger at the vampire who’d challenged me, anger at April’s frailty…
    These are exactly the emotions I’ve managed to suppress for centuries. Now they’re out in full force.
    It frightens me, the things I might be capable of, should I let that anger take over.
    I make my voice extra loud. “Where was the Queen seen last? I was just in her castle, she wasn’t there.”
    Murmurs of uncertainty greet my question.
    “Well?” I demand, louder this time
    Bella shakes her head. “We don’t know. Some of us were there when the plane landed and she made the pronouncement. But we all split after she dismissed us.”
    “What about the humans?” I ask. “What has she done with them?”
    “They’re still clustered in the caves underground,” a voice answers. “They were taken there in advance of Raul’s arrival.”
    I nod. That makes sense. Mother must have taken precautions…
    “I apologize if I scared anyone,” I say. “I’m not… quite myself at the moment.”
    Before they can ask me why, I stream straight out the room and into the hallways of the compound.
    I walk briskly toward Mother’s room. I fling the door open with force.
    She isn’t there.
    I grunt in frustration. I still can’t believe what I was told about James. Could she have really sentence one of her sons to such a fate?
    Then again, should it really surprise me? Knowing what she did—or tried to do—to me?
    Without thinking, I start going through her things. I don’t know what it is I’m looking for. Some piece of evidence I can use against her, something that will give me some sort of advantage in the looming confrontation…
    “Enjoying yourself, are you?”
    I spin around. The Captain