II

Tay descended the imposing marble staircase, his hand resting on the golden banister. Four large crystal chandeliers cast golden light into the great hall below, the wooden arches supporting the ceiling had been decorated with large golden satin banners with black mask symbols, fluttering in a nonexistent breeze. Soft music was played by a quartet of elves on the left side of the stairs. The thick marble pillars had been decorated with black and silver bands.

The hall was crowded with all sorts of magical creatures; werewolves, elves, vampires, merpeople, some fairies, witches, sorcerers, elves, cuckas, curupiras and even a weird bunch of blue-skinned yaoguai with completely black eyes, all wore masks, some were discreet, covering half the face, but there were others who looked ready for some weird contest, with big feathers and scales and assorted colors, there was a tall girl wearing a mask halfway across her face, and she looked like she was made of liquid gold, as it bubbled from time to time and the girl wore an expression of pain in the uncovered part.

Arcana lived in a very closed society, thanks to the need to hide from the normals, who occupied most of the land, and so they didn't miss an opportunity to show off when they were together.

Tay turned his hand in front of his face and felt the mask coming up covering him from the nose up. He stopped in the middle of the stairs and looked to the side, there were five strips of mirrors that went from floor to ceiling and he checked his reflection with pride. He was very handsome, and the silver mask with embossed thorn roots matched his eyes of the same color, which matched the buckles on his suspenders, he had left his suit and top hat behind, choosing to show off the black straps and white blouse. . Then he looked around, he was looking for his friends in that sea of ​​heads, some with ornate horns.

"Tay!" The silver-eyed boy looked for the owner of the voice "Here!"

Then a long-fingered, ringed hand rose from the crowd at the foot of the stairs and saw Goof Muray, who was trying to get past a barrier of elderly werewolves who were deep in conversation. Goof was a faerie, which made him a magic bomb, so his magic had to be carefully controlled, which meant he couldn't feel very strong emotions. That night his blue hair was combed into a pompadour, his blue eyes were framed by a black mask with silver stars, his tuxedo was dark blue with gold accents. He had finally made it to the steps and climbed up to Tay.

"So many people," the faerie commented breathlessly.

"Where are the others?"

"Trying to get here." Goof pointed aimlessly at the sea of ​​heads while taking a deep breath. "It was very difficult to cross that sea.

Tay paid a lot of attention to him, he didn't want Goof to get too tired and the wall of calm he had built around him breaks down. He touched his shoulder to try to calm him down.

"I'm fine," Goof informed him with a short smile. "I'm not going to explode.

"If you feel you need it, just let me know," Tay informed him lightly.

Usually Tay didn't show his emotions to other people, but when it was his parents and his group of friends he didn't have a problem with it. For him, it was very difficult to control the worry he felt for Goof, he had already seen the fae lose control and release his power, and even though it was extremely dangerous for those around him, Tay could only worry about Goof himself, who was very weak and sometimes injured.

"Oh, get out of the way!" Tay frowned coldly at the voice of Ming Saraw who had been pushing the crowd impatiently.

Ming was an elven prince, and as such he should always maintain his composure, but apparently tonight he wasn't in much of a mood to do so. His long silver hair was pulled back in a braid, held by a black ribbon with a black swan pendant, the wings stretched down to form his mask. Instead of a tuxedo, he wore a long, black blouse with tiny glowing moons that moved across the fabric, as well as his pants and boots.

"Frankly, people seem to go deaf at parties," he grumbled some more as he approached his friends.

"Then you complain because your parents don't like our friendship, they think all this rebelliousness is my fault." Tay laughed and shook his head.

"It's a hellish heat there" He pointed to the center of the room "I can't stand it."

"You'll get kicked out of your own kingdom if you start acting like Tay." Ming laughed and Tay and Goof looked back. The last member of the group of friends was coming down the stairs.

Blay Blood was a vampire, and as such was hauntingly pale. His black hair was slicked back, he wore an elegant burgundy suit with golden details, matching his black velvet mask, which had the strange shape of two hands clasped together, red eyes showing through three fingers. He stopped beside Tay and leaned on her shoulder. His long fingers were filled with gemstone rings that dazzled Tay's vision for a few seconds. Tay knew that his friend didn't wear those rings just to show off, they were his protection, his way of not being tracked.

"And you love to throw that whole vampire glimpse in our face," Goof teased.

"My glimpse is natural." Blay smiled slightly, but it was enough to show his fangs. "Are we going to stand here all night?

"I wouldn't even have gone down myself," Tay grumbled.

— Oh! Still annoyed that this is a celebration of normals? - Ming sighed - Leave that aside, the night promises to be wonderful.

- All Kings parties are wonderful - Goof agreed with his friend - So let's have fun. By the way, I saw a nymph over there." He pointed to the long drinks table, whose location was only visible thanks to the two immense ice sculptures in the shape of angels, which spouted wine through their eyes.

"Don't go messing with the seafolk again," Goof scolded his friend.

- Oh, really! What did they call you? Ming bowed playfully to his friend.

"Leggy," Blay replied for the blue-haired friend who'd chosen to shut up.

"Enough of that, leave him alone!" Tay clicked his tongue impatiently. Inwardly, he thought he would always see Goof as the scared and bruised boy who felt guilty when he used his own magic" Anyway, this party isn't just to celebrate the I-know-what thing, it's to show everyone my family's opinion on the Magistrates' elections.

It had taken Tay a while to consider himself a King, especially when he had to deal with the pitying looks of the older Arcana, the ones who had followed his story around the time he was saved by Will and adopted by Will and her husband. Secretly Tay thought he would never stop being the boy who had brutally lost his blood family. Even there at the top of the stairs, among his friends, he could see some pity and curiosity looking at him from the crowd. Of course there were admiring looks, as the constant training routine had given him muscles and his posture was perfect, but even so he could imagine what always came first in these people's minds; "is the boy who was almost killed by a normal"

"I think that's really brave and smart," Blay commented, "this year's elections are pretty messed up, a crazy bunch of conservatives have started showing their faces, right?

"Yeah, I read earlier today in the Obituary that some conservative hate groups have been going behind the Triad's back in the normal world, attacking them, you know? That's scary." Goof shuddered.

"Father has already made it very clear that the elven realm will support Edward Bras," Ming commented.

Edward Bras was an elf, better known as the Silver Prince, even though he was no prince at all, his title came from his silver hair and eyes, and also from his unnatural gift of turning things into silver. He had innovative ideas, such as major deals to expand the Warlock world with permission from normal governments, and even championed the idea of ​​revealing the existence of Warlocks to normals.

But he was facing strong resistance from the conservative group who believed that normals were inferior and might want to repeat the same thing from a long time ago: enslaving and killing magical creatures for the simple fact that they are not capable of producing magic, some more radicals even advocated overthrowing them. of the Veil and the Ley Lines so that the normal ones would die with the magic. And they were strongly supporting Zorya Berstuk, who argued that interaction with normals should be limited.

Tay hated the normals, but he couldn't help but feel a strange dislike for Zorya, something in his eyes said that giving her power wouldn't just be bad for normals, but also for the Arcanians, because whoever won the elections to lead the Magistrates they would have an absurd power in their hands, even if everything they did had to have the approval of the Divine Triario.

"We'd better get down," was all Tay said.

Together the Dark Inheritors had no trouble making their way through the crowd, which opened up to them, awed and curious. All four were children of important figures in the Arcana world, so they were used to that kind of reaction. Tay was walking forward with his chin up, Goof was blinking non-stop at a few girls and guys, Blay looked distant, like he was thinking about something important, and Ming was showing off, snapping his long fingers and producing red roses and handing them out to people. Soon they arrived at the long table that was crammed with all sorts of food and drink, some glowing and smoking. The ice sculptures were much larger up close, Tay had seen them made by employees earlier.

"I'm going to want to eat everything you have here," Goof informed him with a hungry look as he twirled his fingers, a black china plate rose from the pile on the left and began to pass across the table as it was served by the dishes.

"Take it easy," Blay warned him as he poured himself a cup of animal blood.

Tay stared at the food but didn't feel even an ounce of hunger, even though there were his favorite dishes, he could smell the bittersweet smell of Pato Leuxd and Dalui Mulgogi, a fish with blue scales. He reached for a greenish candy when he felt something on his shoulder and slowly turned around.

Elisabeth Bathory was standing before him.

She was wearing a tight red dress, the straps coming up over her shoulders and entwining her face, forming her mask. Her red eyes sparkled with intensity that night, which said she had just fed.

"I've been looking for you," she said in that silky predatory voice she always used whoever she was interested in, "just follow where the crowd was looking.

"You look beautiful tonight," Tay complimented, touching the edge of her mask.

They had known each other for a short time, they were neighbors in Penumbre, but her parents didn't like the Kings very much, but due to Tay's thoughts about normal they accepted him very well, they even made jokes about their future marriage. Tay liked Elisabeth more for the fact that she understood him than anything else, he knew damn well he wasn't going to marry her, but still… He just wanted her to be around for now.

"And so are you, as usual." She raised an eyebrow suggestively, and Tay liked that.

"Oh! You came." Goof leaned on Tay's shoulder, his full plate floating beside him.

"Goof!" Tay interrupted his friend and took the fae's arm from his shoulder "Let's talk outside - "He told the vampire."

Elisabeth just nodded and tugged at his hand, her cool skin making him startle at the touch, but then he followed her through the crowd. He could feel his friends' eyes on them, but he didn't want to talk to Elisabeth in front of them, you never knew what she might say.

They went out into the cold night. The limniads were still illuminating the garden, like a golden constellation above the bushes, couples were making out in the darkness between the cars and the wall that protected the property. Tay and Elisabeth walked in front of the house, their footsteps crunching on the stone floor.

'Why are you here?" Tay asked as soon as he realized that there was no one else around.

"We were invited." Elisabeth feigned confusion, but he knew her well.

"It wasn't just that, because they agreed to come? He insisted as they turned to walk along the side of the house, there was a small stone patio with a black iron table and chairs where he and his parents had breakfast on hot days and where he had to wipe his feet to wash his feet. do not enter the house dirty with mud after training."

"Things are about to change, that's why we came here" Elisabeth sat on the table "things are about to get back on track."

"What you mean? Tay frowned, he twirled his fingers in front of his face and his mask was gone, he welcomed the night breeze on his skin with relief."

"People like us won't finally have to keep quiet, that's what I'm talking about.

Tay sighed heavily and closed his eyes. Even though he liked the idea of ​​a new move, he didn't want it to happen here at his house, much less near his parents. The Bathory had always been involved in attacks on normals, even though few people knew about it and didn't dare speak out, they reported their plans openly to Tay, not wanting any of their plans to take place there.

"I hope it doesn't spoil my parents' night," he replied, sitting down in a chair.

"Your parents will be fine." Elisabeth waved her hand, dismissing the possibility. "But you'll be happy, just wait.

Tay wanted to say something, but the door behind them opened and Ming stuck his head out.

"Tay, your parents are expecting you for the evening speech." And she held the door open for them to walk through.

Tay wanted to know what the Bathorys were up to, but he couldn't bring himself to talk about it with Ming there anymore. He followed his friend, leaving the vampire behind, he was feeling irritated and confused, he moved his fingers in front of his face and felt the mask resurface. When he entered the hall he looked around for anything suspicious, but people were still talking and laughing, the music didn't stop and there was no hint of shadow magic in the air. He followed Ming to the bottom of the stairs where his parents waited with the rest of the Dark Heirs.

"There you are" James flashed a bright smile "Now that everyone is here, let's start the evening's speech."

Tay followed his parents up and stopped in the middle of the stairs, he and James one step above and Will between them on the step below, being a true King he should always remain in the front. Will snapped his fingers and the music stopped, everyone turned immediately to the three figures standing on the stairs. In those moments Tay felt even more uncomfortable, because even if he liked attention he didn't want to be so exposed like that.

"Good night to all guests and welcome!" Will started to speak, his voice filling the entire room " We're glad you joined the King family in this special celebration. For many years the Normals have continued the tradition of celebrating New Year's Eve, and today we want to join them a little and show that the Kings will always be defending the people who live on the other side of the Veil and...

Will stopped talking suddenly when a commotion was heard in the doorway. The double doors had been thrown open and the crowd was parting to let someone through. Among the crowd, Tay could now see Zorya, wearing a blue dress with silver accents, unmasked and carrying a brooch with the symbol of the Triad on her chest: two peacocks holding a crest with the symbol of the Pelagus Fountain in the center."

Tay craned his neck to get a better look at who was coming, then frowned. It was Edward Bras, the Silver Prince. He was wearing a white suit, his silver hair was down and his silver mask only covered half of his face. He was accompanied by a nymph who wore a long aquamarine dress, her long red hair was combed to the side, but the other half covered her face, forming a weird mask.

"Sorry I'm late," Edward said with a bright smile. It's very beautiful tonight "Then he started walking again and stopped at the foot of the stairs" Sorry to interrupt your speech friend, you can continue.

"Okay, welcome." Will flashed a warm smile. "Well, we'd like to take the moment to support Edward Bras in the election." There was a wave of applause and small, magical fireworks were launched into the air in tones. in white and silver, Tay kept an eye on Zorya's reaction, who was as still as a statue, her eyes daggers toward Will.

The music resumed shortly after the shower of applause. Zorya and the Bathory couple were talking, Tay tried to remember using magic to hear the conversation, but it seemed impossible to isolate just three voices in that crowd.

"Darling, come with us to say hello to Edward and Alian." James took his son by the wrist gently.

Tay let his father lead him to the couple still standing at the foot of the stairs. Up close, Edward seemed to radiate a strange light from his skin. His pointed ear was pierced on the left side, with a small silver chain dangling. His wife, Alian was a nymph, and she looked like she'd just been underwater, though Tay knew it was all seafolk magic.

"We're glad you accepted our invitation," Will said, squeezing their hands.

"It's a pleasure to meet you again" Tiago spoke shortly afterwards "This is our son, Tay."

"Tay Marrapon King" Edward held out his unusually long-fingered hand, maybe it was some elven trait, Tay thought as he shook his hand. Edward greeted the Dark Heirs who were a little further away with a shake of his head.

"I didn't read much about you." Tay shrugged. He could feel his parents' eyes on him — I read little newspaper, I'm more focused on training.

Edward nodded vehemently as if he was understanding and accepting.

"Well, why don't you come with us? There are some people who want to talk to you," Will invited.

Tay took the cue to head for her group and looked around to make sure the red-eyed vamp wasn't around.

"I need to get out of here, I can't stand this dance anymore," Tay complained.

"But it's a lot of fun," Ming countered, leaning back against the stairs. "Shall we dance?

"Tay King, I was looking for you" The four looked at the voice on the right, it was a young man without a mask, his black hair arranged with pomade.

"Alister Wilde? Blay asked in disbelief."

"Hello, Blay. Tay, I wanted to talk to…

'You son of a bitch!'" Tay went for the boy, but was held back by Blay and Ming — Let me go! I'll finish this bastard! She died because of you!

Alister looked paler than ever, his violet eyes wide. A few people nearby had stopped to look at the confusion. Two vampires began to whisper to each other.

"What's going on here? Will emerged from the crowd and watched from Tay being held by his friends to a motionless Alister like a statue."

"Mr. King, I just wanted to apologize, I..."

"Okay, but I don't think this is the time for that, Alister." Will spoke calmly. "Why don't you give Tay some more time? Aeon was after you.

Alister seemed to insist, but then he took one last look at Tay and hurriedly left.

"Let him go," Will ordered and Ming and Blay obeyed, Tay started after Alister, but Will grabbed his son by the collar of his shirt.

"Dad, he… It was him…

"I know what he did, Tay, but I don't think acting violently will solve anything." Will turned Tay around to face him. "Things aren't going to work out this way.

Tay felt her eyes sting. He felt anger blurring his vision, he wanted to attack Alister, make him feel pain. The memories vivid in his mind, the smell of the sand, the sound of the sea, the bruises… He shook his head.

"I know it still hurts," Will whispered, his hands on Tay's shoulders, "but hitting Alister won't bring her back, understand?

Tay didn't say anything, because he didn't want to take out his anger on his father, even though the will was huge, he kept his mouth closed, his lips closed, he looked down now, he didn't want the other to see the anger stamped there.

"Shouldn't have invited him," Tay hissed as he felt the anger waning.

"No one invited the Wildes," Will revealed even more quietly, Tay knew his father didn't want the guests to think that the young Wildes, members of one of the most important families in the Arcana world, had joined the party crashers. don't get close to him, got it? It's only going to make things worse." Tay nodded grudgingly. "Fine, I trust you." And he kissed the top of her head before disappearing into the crowd.

The onlookers started to disperse when they realized there would be no more confusion, Tay sighed in frustration.

"Your dad's absolutely right, messing with the Wildes more can cause you big trouble." Blay paused beside his friend, as if to make sure he didn't run after Alister.

"I don't care, I just want to make that bastard pay," Tay hissed.

"Does not care? But you should, you've broken the law a million times and nearly been arrested three times this year alone, and you're only fifteen." Ming was absently running his fingers through her braid. "Frankly, Tay.

"He deserves what I've got in store for him." Tay could feel the magic seeping through his fingers, crackling like little lightning bolts, Blay gripped his wrist. "I won't attack him here, but one day...

Then Tay saw them walking through the crowd, looking around suspiciously at the Bathorys. With anger blinding him, he had momentarily forgotten what Elisabeth had told him, and now the three of them were walking through the crowd, casting odd looks at Zorya's opponents. For a ball he wouldn't even want to be at, this one was giving him too much of a headache, he thought.

He craned his neck to see where they were going, but it had become difficult as a trio of trolls wearing oversized suits had stopped right next to them, blocking his view of anything in the hall.

"Come with me, I need to tell you something."

Tay led the way, leading his friends down a side corridor to the staircase, there was Will and James' office, facing each other and at the end the door to the King's private library. Tay opened it and motioned for his friends to enter, then checked that they hadn't been followed and locked the door. Blay was waving his hands around frantically, making the lights come on.

The library was a long space, with ten floor-to-ceiling windows framed by red velvet curtains, the shelves crammed with books were tall, with sliding stairs. The Inheritors were sitting in the high-backed chairs at the long table in the center. Tay leaned back on the table next to Ming.

- What happened? - Goof asked worriedly.

Tay took a deep breath before telling everything. He didn't want to reveal these things to his friends, but there was no way to avoid it, if the Bathorys were planning something for that ball, it would surely be something dangerous and he couldn't watch everything himself, there were too many people out there. His friends listened in silence, sometimes Goof would put his hand to his mouth, Ming would curse under his breath and Blay would frown.

"So, let me get this straight," Ming said when Tay fell silent.

"Don't forget it's something that will give them freedom," Goof added. "But what can they do?

"I don't know, but there are a lot of people out there and the Bathorys never act simple," Tay replied thoughtfully.

"You shouldn't have gotten involved with that vampire." Blay shook his head. "I told you what kind of family they are. I've known you for years, long before you were born.

"So grandpa, we talked about them more," Tay asked, sitting on top of the table, with her long legs stretched out.

Blay didn't seem offended by the joke, as he soon began to speak:

"They are indeed one of the oldest families in the Warlock world, believed to have been the first to pass through the Veil when it was created. They have a strong anti-normal feeling for a personal reason, but I never knew what it was, they know well how to hide their secrets. When the Triad signed the first peace agreements with the normals, the Bathory were against it, they even tried to block some portals out of the Arcane world, the Triad did not arrest them, as the woman was pregnant with Elisabeth. They also went to my father asking for housing and understanding, of course my father knew they just wanted someone with an army behind them and drove them out of there.

"This is terrible, this whole hate thing, I mean," Ming said quickly.

Tay didn't say anything. He hated normals and had been silent on hearing of the Bathory atrocities, which made him as complicit in it all as they were. But now that he had told his friends, he felt dirty in a way.

"Anyway, can you help me keep an eye on them?"

"Sure, but what could happen? There's a lot of margals and serfs here." Goof shrugged. "If they do anything, they'll be arrested right away and...

But the faerie couldn't finish talking, for at that moment a boom reverberated from all sides, the lights flickered and then paid off. There were a few seconds of heavy silence where Tay could only hear her own heartbeat, then screams and hurried footsteps tore through the silence followed by the unmistakable sound of something heavy hitting the floor and breaking glass and a desperate scream and agitated voices.

"What the fuck! Tay exclaimed, getting up and running for the door.

He got out first and heard his friends running after him. The golden light had faded from the hall and the lighting now came only from pale blue fire produced by a wizard, his fingers slowly turning, his eyes fixed on something in front of him. Everyone was motionless and squeezing together, forming a circle in the center of the room. Tay pushed and excused himself at the same time and reached the edge of the circle and gasped.

Edward Bras was lying on the floor, his limbs at weird angles, his silver eyes had lost all their luster and were now gray, a pool of silvery blood was forming around his head. Alian was bent over her husband, crying nonstop.

"What happened here? he asked a blue-skinned elf beside her."

The woman looked at him twice, as if to be sure who it was, then leaned closer and whispered conspiratorially:

"We were all dancing when Mr. Bras was simply lifted into the air by some kind of shadow magic and hurled hard to the ground. Nobody saw who did it.

Tay thought he was going to throw up at any moment. He saw his friends reaching out to him and processing the scene before them. So Tay scoured the crowd for three specific people. The Bathorys were on the other side of the circle and looked as surprised as he was. Elisabeth seemed to feel her gaze as she lifted her head and shook her head as if to say it wasn't her or her parents. Tay was starting to think it was a lie when they heard a commotion outside, followed by colored lights illuminating the room through the glass doors and windows, one of them completely destroyed. Will and James ran through the crowd and then more bangs.

Tay ran after his parents and heard footsteps behind him, hoping to be his friends. Outside, chaos ensued. The parents and two other margals known to the family were dueling with a masked man in a suit. Spells were flying in all directions, Tay had to duck to avoid being hit once, and he heard another window shatter and he shielded his head as a shower of glass rained down on him.

The stranger wore a mask of Zepar, one of the arcane gods who did not approve of the relationship between arcane and normal. Then he understood that Elisabeth was lying, of course that had the Bathory finger. The stranger was being cornered, he tried to hit James but narrowly missed, the red spell hitting a bush that started to burn violently. The limniades had made a safety net at the entrance to the property, preventing the stranger from leaving. Robert, one of the margals, managed to produce thick, dark ropes that attacked the stranger like snakes, but the man burned them with a wave of his hand. He was good.

Tay felt that his heart would go out of his mouth at any moment, he couldn't take his eyes off his parents, he feared for them. He felt the presence of friends right behind him and then the noise of guests trying to get through the doors. A spell hit Will in the arm and he fell into a serpent-shaped bush with a short cry. Tay felt her insides freezing and ran to the circle to take her father's place and let her magic flow freely through her hands, urging her to grievously injure the stranger. One of his spells was blocked and hit the ground, forming a large rip in the rocks. The stranger's orange eyes fixed on him for a few seconds, he attacked the man again as four more margals joined the fight.

"Totem! Tay heard a female scream behind him, then a huge phoenix whose long feathers burned red and gold flapped over his head, then hovered above the man."

Zorya appeared in his field of vision holding an amber stone that glowed brightly, attached to his neck by a silver chain, it was a totem stone. The phoenix was the Magistrates' totem. The man looked dazedly at the fiery beast above him, and tried to attack it with a spell, which was a distraction for James to attack him. The man was held by huge, oily chains that circled his body so violently that he fell to the ground with a thud. Tay looked at Tiago who had a furious expression on his face, maybe he was getting revenge for her husband.

Thinking of Will, Tay turned to the snake-shaped bush. Her father was seated, a Healer, recognizable by the gray hanfu, was kneeling beside her and checking the wound on her arm.

"He got what he deserved," he said wildly, Tay knew he was talking about Edward. "No one with his mind should…

James attacked him again, this time ropes of fire appeared around the man, but they weren't touching him, the thin flames making as if to touch the chains that bound him.

"If you dare move, I'll burn you, understand? – James asked menacingly.

"I'm not afraid of you, of any of you, I'm afraid of those who live on the other side of the Veil, who have been cruel to us in the past and will be cruel again!" A morbid silence swept the garden "Do you think they've changed? Of course not! They are limited, inferior and greedy! Zepar is furious with all of you filthy normal lovers!"

"He arrives!" Zorya exclaimed "Margals!" Several margals stood out from the crowd "Take him to Vanguel's Barracks, where he will be tried for Murder Crime and Noxious Assault."

The ropes of fire disappeared and three margals lifted the man, the rest formed the circle around them and spun their hands in an identical motion, forming a glowing sphere around them, then teleported away, disappeared into thin air, as if made of smoke.

"Dad," Tay stammered, reaching down to Will, the healer had a gray strip around the wound—his arm…

"I'll be fine, it was no big deal." Will touched his son's face. "Don't worry.

'That filth!'" James exclaimed, bending down too – Honey, I wanted to kill him for what he did to you.

"I'm fine, it was no big deal," Will insisted, leaning his forehead against his husband's.

"What happened here? Zorya had approached them."

"Probably another one of those responsible for the normal attacks," Will replied as James helped him to his feet.

"Edward..." Zorya glanced at the mansion quickly.

"Dead," James replied in a weak voice. "It was… terrible.

"Even if we were opponents in the elections, I wouldn't want something so brutal on him." Zorya shook her head.

"You promise? Tay frowned, so surprised he'd forgotten to call Zorya Lady or Magistrate.

"Zorya is now leader of the Magistrates, right?" Mrs. Batohry asked approaching them slowly, a smile of pure satisfaction on his face.

"Well, the law is clear…" Zorya nodded slowly. "As it was just Edward and me, and now he… Well, it's just me and…"

Tay gaped at Elisabeth, who followed behind her father, paler than usual. Mrs. Batohry was congratulating Zorya, as if nothing much had happened. Tay felt like his brain was soaked in cotton, all sounds around him muffled. He was walking and he could hear his parents calling him, but he didn't care, he stopped in front of Elisabeth.

"That was…

"Brutal, I know, but I swear we had nothing to do with it" Elisabeth spoke urgently, her eyes were shining brighter than usual, as if she was trying to hold back tears "Tay, I swear."

"You made it very clear earlier that Zorya was going to win the election, how did you know that? His voice was cold as steel.

"Tay, take it easy." His friends had approached and he could feel a hand on his shoulder.

"Responds! Tay yelled at the vampire in front of him."

"It wasn't us, I swear!" He attacked on his own! Our plan was to spoil the night by putting something in the drinks for the guests to hallucinate! We would never kill… We don't kill caresses, you know that.

"Like killing normals is normal," Goof hissed.

"We didn't kill any normals," Elisabeth countered. "That man acted on his own!

"If I ever find out that you or your family was behind this attack, I swear I'll finish you off, understand? Tay hissed at her.

"Tay, I…"

"He arrives! I don't want to talk to you anymore now!

Tay marched away from the vampire, toward the house.