The end of the staircase revealed not a chamber, but an arena.
The Hall of Judgment was a natural cavern, expanded over centuries through excavation and magic. The ceiling vanished into darkness, supported by raw stone columns that resembled the ribs of a giant. Torches of green and blue fire burned along the walls, casting a cold, sickly light over the space.
But what made Kara's blood freeze wasn't the architecture.
It was the audience.
In the carved galleries along the sides of the hall, dozens of vampires watched in absolute silence. They were members of minor clans, nobles of the nocturnal society, all dressed in timeless elegance, their eyes glowing in the gloom like malevolent stars. They were there to witness the spectacle.
At the center of the arena, on a raised platform of black marble, sat the five pillars of the vampiric world:
The Council.
Albert walked forward, stopping at the base of the platform. He struck a ceremonial staff against the stone floor, the sound echoing like a gunshot.
"The Tribunal is convened. I present the accused: Alice von Richter and the human Kara Sullivan."
Alice kept her head high, holding Kara's hand tightly, though she could feel the tremble in her girlfriend's fingers. Her gaze swept across the semicircular table, assessing her judges and executioners.
At the center sat Vlad IV. The Last Impaler.
He did not move. He wore ceremonial black armor beneath a velvet cloak. His skin looked like gray stone, and his eyes were wells of ancient darkness. He radiated such dense power that the air itself felt heavy to breathe.
To his right was Sir Benjamin Pierce. The Alchemist.
An elderly-looking man with white hair and a monocle, who regarded Kara not as a person, but as an interesting specimen to dissect.
Beside him sat Talia Dun. The Seer.
Her eyes were white — no irises, no pupils —and her fingers moved through the air as if weaving invisible threads. She wasn't looking at the accused, but at their future.
At the far left was James Butcher. The Warrior.
A brute covered in scars, with teeth that looked filed into sharper points. He drummed his claws against the table, impatient for bloodshed.
And finally, to Vlad's left…
Baroness Elise Crowell.
She reclined on her throne, holding a fan of black feathers. Her red lips were curled in a smile of pure mockery.
When her golden eyes met Alice's, the smile widened.
"Well, well…" Crowell's voice sliced through the silence, melodic and venomous.
"If it isn't my favorite disappointment. Alice von Richter, crawling back to Daddy Vlad."
Alice clenched her jaw.
"Baroness. I see you still confuse cruelty with leadership."
Crowell snapped the fan shut.
"And I see you still confuse food with companionship."
She pointed the fan at Kara.
"Bringing a pet into the sanctuary? How vulgar."
Vlad raised his hand, and the Baroness fell silent immediately, though her mocking smile remained.
"The Law is clear," Vlad said.
His voice wasn't loud, but it vibrated in everyone's bones.
"Secrecy is our armor. Mixing with mortality is our ruin. Alice, you exposed our nature to this creature. How do you plead?"
"Guilty of love," Alice replied, her voice firm as it echoed through the hall.
"But innocent of betrayal. Kara has kept my secret for a year. She is loyal."
James Butcher barked a laugh.
"Loyal? She's meat! Humans change their minds like they change clothes! Today she loves you, tomorrow she sells you to a circus or the church! Affection blinds, and blindness brings the end of our race!"
Kara, who had been frozen in fear, felt indignation overpower her terror. She released Alice's hand and stepped forward.
"I am not an object," Kara said.
Her voice shook at first, but grew stronger.
"And I'm not a child. I know what you are. And I chose to be here. You talk about order and superiority, but you hide in caves, afraid of one human girl. Maybe what you call 'Law' is just cowardice."
A shocked murmur rippled through the galleries. Vampires whispered in outrage.
Sir Benjamin adjusted his monocle, offended.
"Insolence! A mortal dares judge this Council? Tear out her tongue!"
Crowell laughed, delighted by the chaos.
"She's got spirit, Alice. I'm going to enjoy breaking her."
Vlad rose to his feet. His shadow swallowed them both.
"Enough."
Silence fell instantly.
"The human has spirit," Vlad said.
"But spirit does not change the Law. This situation is unsustainable."
His gaze locked onto Alice.
"There are only two paths to correct this failure."
"First: Transformation.
The human dies and is reborn as one of us. The secret is preserved through blood."
"Second: Oblivion.
Her memory will be erased. All of it. The love, the fear, your face. She will be returned to the human world empty of you."
Alice felt the world spin.
To transform Kara was to condemn her to eternal thirst, to the darkness Alice despised.
To erase her memories was to kill their love—to turn everything they had lived into nothing.
"And if I refuse both?" Alice challenged.
"Then she dies here and now," Vlad said simply.
"And you will be imprisoned for insubordination."
Kara looked at Alice, panic finally breaking through.
"I… I don't want to forget you. But… a vampire? I never…"
Alice looked at the Council. She needed time. She needed to think. She needed a third option.
"I won't make this decision under the blade of a sword," Alice said.
"And I won't force her to choose right now."
"The choice is now!" Crowell shouted, standing.
"End this, Vlad. Kill the human. Alice is too weak to do what must be done. She always has been."
Alice was about to assume a fighting stance, ready for a suicidal battle, when a calm voice came from behind them.
"Perhaps we should wait."
Everyone turned.
Albert—the Council's executioner, its loyal hound—had spoken.
He stood in the shadows, hands clasped behind his back.
Vlad regarded his servant with curiosity.
"Explain yourself, Albert."
Albert walked forward until he stood beside Alice. He looked at Kara, his cold eyes studying the human with strange fascination.
"In five hundred years of serving this table, I've seen many vampires bring humans here. They all begged for their lives. They all cried. They all betrayed their lovers to save themselves."
He paused.
"This girl called us cowards in our own home."
He turned to Vlad.
"It is rare—extremely rare—to see a bond that surpasses the instinct to survive. If we force the decision now, we will gain only a corpse or a reluctant vampire who will hate us. But if we grant time… the choice will be real. And order will be maintained by will, not fear."
Crowell scoffed.
"Have you gone soft, Albert? Sentimental?"
"I'm curious, Baroness," Albert replied calmly.
"And curiosity spares eternity from boredom."
Vlad considered. His gaze moved from Albert to Alice, then to Kara.
A faint, almost imperceptible smile touched his ancient lips.
"Curiosity… Very well."
Vlad sat back down.
"Two days. You have two days. Return to this hall at the same hour—midnight. Bring your final answer. Transformation or Oblivion."
"And if they don't return?" James Butcher asked, disappointed.
"Then I will hunt them myself," Vlad promised.
"And I will not be quick."
Alice finally released the breath she'd been holding.
It was a tiny window—but it was a chance.
"We accept," Alice said.
Crowell collapsed back into her throne, furious, glaring daggers at Alice.
"Enjoy your 48 hours, Alice. Because in the end, you will lose. One way or another."
Albert gestured toward the exit.
"Come. Before they change their minds."
Alice grabbed Kara's hand, and the two of them left the hall, feeling the burning gazes of hundreds of predators on their backs.
They had survived the judgment.
But the sentence still hung over their heads like a guillotine.