Page 65 of Gilded Wicked Mirrors
Law 2. Vampires cannot create new vampires or mark a human.
Law 3. Vampires cannot disclose any information about the Blood Council, Blood Mirrors, or the existence of vampires to anyone who does not already know the secrets.
Law 4. Vampires can only feed to maintain their existence.
Law 5. A vampire can compel a human but only to protect the secret or for the purposes of feeding.”
Halfway through the reading of the laws, Quinn slid on her knees across the floor to peek through the railing. A member sat to the right of the room, was holding up a scroll and reading from it.
Law 6. Vampires are forbidden to compel anyone to tamper with the Blood Mirrors, destroy them, or threaten them in any way.
Law 7. Vampires cannot compel a human to release their painting from a Blood Mirror.
Law 8. Only human council members can enter the mirrors and unbind a vampire. The cost of unbinding vampires will be a soul.
Law 9. Council members must keep the vampire secret or face imprisonment or execution.
Law 10. The council will choose its next leader, who will act as New Swansea’s queen. Every 25 years, a new human will be chosen from among the council members as the princess who will eventually become the queen.
Law 11. If the public finds out about the existence of vampires, all vampires will be executed by the Blood Mirrors.
“This concludes the reading of the Vampire Accords.” The announcer’s words echoed through Quinn’s mind, and her fingers bit into the cold metal railing. She felt the blood rushing from her head, dripping like crimson tears, leaving her face ashen and haunted.
Vampires were truly alive. She’d heard it before. She knew it,but it didn’t feel real until this moment.
The monsters that haunted her dreams were real.
The only comfort was that they were bound by the laws and apparently unable to kill.
Did that mean a vampire was not behind Jane’s murder?
The queen rose from her throne slowly, like a snake examining its prey. She was radiant. Age barely took any of her unnatural beauty. Although wrinkles settled beneath her eyes and her pale skin didn’t hold its youthful tightness, she still managed to catch and keep every subject’s attention. Her beauty wasn’t in looks that faded, but in the power she emanated.
She strolled to the center of the room and faced a young man with brunette locks and square-rimmed glasses. Giselle stiffened and stifled a gasp. “We offer our condolences to Francois of Les Fantômes’ gang for the tragic loss of your second, Jane.” The queen’s voice pulsated with a soft dominance and majesty.
Second? How had Jane become the second most powerful Fantômes in the city? That was a long way to rise.
Francois bowed to the queen. “Thank you, your majesty.” The people surrounding Francois also bowed or curtsied.
A tangle of emotions churned in Quinn’s stomach as she stared down at the gang members. Lies, so many lies. From the gang, from Emrys, from her uncle. Was everyone in her life lying to her?
Giselle tapped Quinn on the shoulder, tearing her out of her thoughts. “I am going to try and get a better view,” Giselle whispered.
“A better view of what?” There was nothing else to see except maybe the papers on the table, and the girls were too far up to be able to make out any of the lettering. Not that Quinn ever could.
Giselle waved a dismissive hand. “Everything.”
“Remember, our plan is to collect as many fingerprints as possible.”
“Yes, I will be doing that too,” Giselle said as she jumped onto the railing and began climbing a pillar to the rafters. Within seconds, she’d disappeared.
“It is a tragic day indeed to lose yet another council member,” the queen said from below. “Medical Examiner Thyssen, please give us an update on Jane’s murder.”
Uncle Matias approached the center of the room with ease. There was always a sway and rhythm to the way he moved, the way he spoke. Soft but commanding and utterly terrifying with his subtly.
He cleared his throat and launched into a report. He compiled the same evidence that Quinn had with similar results. Jane had lacerations across the throat and puncture wounds. The only new information Uncle Matias provided was the alibis of the seven vampires who were unbound when the first Blood Mirrorwas destroyed. Most of the names on the list were unfamiliar, but Countess Teagan Atwater’s name struck with the force of a falling cable car.
Teagan Atwater. The girl who made Quinn’s life a living hellwas a vampire. A vampire unbound by the Vampire Accords. Vampire who could kill.
