Chapter 49: Timwise the Brave

The Hall of Ascendancy had been thoroughly cleaned before Kate arrived, the chains were no longer present. The seating had been rearranged to a stadium style formation, holding fifty people parallel to each other on either side of the room’s center.

Kate was escorted to stand on the circle Thane was on hours before.

Unlike traditional crowds, the vampires of the Winterblood court were absolutely silent, their eyes reflecting what little light there was from the shadows. None of them spoke, their dark silhouettes perfectly still as they waited for the ceremony to take place.

Other than a dim chandelier light from overhead, old, hooded lanterns provided a path from the center of the room to the exit, and hung from hooks near the front row of each set of seats.

Kate wiped the sweat forming on her palms against the long coat she wore and then stuck her hands in her pockets. No matter where she looked or what she thought of, there was no way out.