Page 68 of House of Crimson Hearts
If you think this ridiculous attempt at peace will help, you’re sorely mistaken.
Even if the vampires don’t, the hunters will see through your pathetic ruse.
And while you're wasting your time with your enemies, I'll be quietly pulling the border down. I will reach the cure before you.
And when I do…
I will come for you.
Chapter19
OCTAVIA
“Lovely,” Mother says, the sweetness and light back in her tone now that Lord Berkeley is quietly desiccating. “Then let us begin.”
I notice Sadie, Dahlia and Gabriel, they’re sat at the back of the stage. The Chief and the chosen hunters are on the opposite side. Only Xavier, Red and I remain by the door.
Cordelia detaches the mic and steps off the stage. She gestures to the Chief and together, the mortal enemies walk side by side across the ballroom.
“So strange,” I whisper.
Cordelia spins around, observing the room. “Tonight, we welcome you to Castle St Clair for this prestigious and unique occasion. For those of you who didn’t make it to the Whisper Club, the Chief and I are retiring. We are running a competition in partnership with the hunters for the first time in history to choose our heirs.”
Mumbles drift around the room. Mother stands a little straighter as if the attention feeds her as much as the blood did. The Chief gives her a furious glare, those ice blue eyes piercing through her expression.
“Today we will be choosing the partner pairings for our set of trials which will culminate in us breaching the boundary inside the Montague territory and securing the cure.”
The murmurs rise into a crescendo of jarring noise, from those squarely on the side of finding the cure cheering to those against growling and jeering.
“Silence,” Cordelia bellows into the mic and the room settles down.
She hands the mic to the Chief to take over. “Good evening, you all know me as the Chief of the Hunter Academy. In order to ensure the fairness of the teams, we are going to be using these bowls to pick the partner pairings.”
“WHAT?” Dahlia says from the stage. She stands and marches down the stairs and over to the plinths holding the bowls. Her face trembles with fury as she glares at Mother. Dahlia drops her voice, but I’m close enough I can still hear.
“What the fuck? How is this fair? We should be able to choose our own partners, make the most tactical pairings so that we stand the best chance of winning,” she whines.
Cordelia clasps her palm to Dahlia’s cheek in a loving embrace. “The Chief and I agree that this is the fairest way to do it. There can be no accusations of cheating or favouritism this way.”
The Chief and I agree?What the ever-loving fuck. I glance at Xavier, whose eyebrow is trying to crawl off his brow.
The Chief raises the mic to her mouth again. “If the five chosen hunters and five vampires can make their way to the ceremonial bowls, we need you to scribe your names on these pieces of parchment paper so that we can drop them in the bowls.”
Gabriel and Sadie give each other a sideways glance but they dutifully stand and step down off the stage.
The hunters on the other side of the stage rise in unison like the well-trained, brainless soldiers they are.
Red, Xavier and I meander over together until ten of us stand surrounding the bowls.
“This bowl is for the vampire names,” the Chief says, pointing to the maroon bowl. “And this one is for the hunters.” Her hand moves to the navy bowl on the right.
Cordelia hands out ten needles and ten quills as the Chief continues to explain.
“Draw a drop of blood and use it as the ink to scribe your name. Then fold the parchment three times and drop it into your respective bowls.”
It takes a moment, but all of us do as requested, and then the Chief indicates that we should step back. She collects the vampire names, and Mother collects the folded parchment from the hunters. They both drop the collections into the respective bowls and step back.
The Chief turns to the audience. “To begin this partnering ceremony, I will pick one vampire name from the bowl and Cordelia will pick one hunter. This partnership is binding and irreversible.”
