Night After Day

Chapter 33: Animal Instincts

The door opened two days later and Angeline, wasting no time, went over to the window and opened the curtains.

I opened my eyes and looked at her, watching as she sat at the window seat and gave me a long judging glance. I sat up, rubbing my hair back and sat in silence, waiting for her to say something.

"Hayden I-"

"Shut up."

Her eyes narrowed and I gestured for her to go on.

"I need to-"

"I don't care."

She began to stamp her foot in frustration but then seemed to realize that that made her seem childish. "Do you mind?"

"Not at all."

She sighed. "I need you to come-"

"Fuck off."

She stood, anger clouding in her eyes and I stood too. Facing her off.

"Hayden, it is only by my orders that you are not still in a slow process of dying down there in the cells. Do you really want to go back down there?"

I sat slowly. No I did not. Before, I hated being pushed around, and now my emotions seemed to be amplified but in a way Jason was right. There was no point killing myself. Then I wouldn't be able to see Angeline's world turned upside down.

The queen continued, convinced this time that there would be no interruption. "I need you to come to bear witness to a ceremony."

I stared at her. "What?" She couldn't possibly expect me to actually go to another one of her little parties.

"Hayden, it's important. And it's because we need a werewolf present."

I froze. "What, now that I know, you are fully okay with using it to your own advantage?"

She stared at me like it was the most obvious thing in the universe. "Yes."

I thought carefully before answering. Owen was... gone. But I couldn't sit around here all day. I needed to look for another way out. And maybe find a way to cause a little bit of havoc before I left.

"What is the ceremony about this time?"

She seemed to relax slightly. "It's to give power to the new ruler."

Why the HELL would I want to go to that? I took a few deep breaths and swallowed. "I'll think about it."

Angeline gave a sad smile and turned, walking back out the door. "By the way, your room has been relocated to another floor. I made sure that they decorated it in the exact same way." She gestured around the room and I frowned. Why? Then I realized. She didn't want to be next to someone who might possibly have it out to get her. Smart.

I stood and walked over to the window, shielding my eyes from the sudden glare. Sure enough, now my window faced the large circular driveway, and the scent was even different. Roses and gravel. I turned back to Angeline. "Sure I'll come."

I'll give it to her, she is no fool. Her eyes narrowed and I suppose she was wondering why, especially after all that happened, would I want to go to a power-giving ceremony? I couldn't afford to be left out of the loop anymore. I needed to take every opportunity. And the next one I got, I was not going to hesitate.

***

The ceremony was surprisingly small. A few high ranking vampires perhaps? Something told me that they didn't want many other vampires to be present in this process. My eyes were drawn to Jason's bronze hair as he leaned on a wall off to the side. Cole stood in the corner, looking out at the small gathering and overseeing the process.