Sevette did not even realize what was happening at first.
One moment she was kneeling on the cold marble floor, her palms pressed flat against it in respect, her head bowed so low that her long silver hair pooled around her like spilled moonlight.
The next moment the ground beneath her turned warm, then hot, then unbearably scorching, as if molten blood had begun to flow beneath the stone.
A deep crimson glow seeped through the cracks between the tiles, crawling up like veins under skin, and heat licked at her knees until she gasped and instinctively pushed herself up.
The moment she stood, the crimson hot of the floor faded.
Suddenly, the room fell silent.
Dozens of eyes shifted toward her.
Vampires who had been whispering among themselves suddenly stared as if they had just remembered something important, something delicious.
Their expressions changed one after another, first confusion, then recognition, then a slow, spreading grin that made the air feel thick.
