Bab 243: Parley with Blood, Part 2

Note: Edited - 12/11/23. Added more prose and dialogue. 

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Honestly, I didn't think I'd be helping the traitor who had literally stabbed me in the back in my last life, and yet here I was standing protectively over him while four elder vampires moved to attack me. 

Zuri, who I'd sent flying to the stands was howling for blood along with all the seated bloodsuckers, and then there was Fatima blocking the exit. 

Yep, negotiations had broken down even before they began. Or so I thought as I pulled Hrunting from its sheath. 

"Stop!" Carmina commanded.

It would've been a hilarious moment seeing these elder vampires—which included both a murder clown and a dude in an acrobat's colorful tights—freeze in place like we were playing a game of 'Red Light, Green Light' with just one word from their mistress. 

"These are my guests. They are not to be harmed," she insisted.