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Several rings decorated his fingers, and a black velvet cloth draped his chest and legs

His dead body still lay where Dmitri had dropped it Was there so a royal corpse? Or were his people still too shocked to touch hiht they were to be reunited with hiuy to death just before the ceremony and claimed the vampire throne as his own Then Aden had killed him, which meant Aden was now supposed to lead the bloodsuckers Aden, of all people, of all humans, which was honest to God craziness He’dNot that he wanted even to try

He wanted Victoria No s, he’ll have a place of honor, even in death," Victoria said Her gaze swept past her sisters to the va around them "His funeral must be--"

"In a few months," the second sister interrupted

Victoria blinked once, twice, as if trying to ju He’s always been our king More than that, he’s the strongest a us What if he’s still alive under all that soot? We need to wait, watch him Make sure"

"No" Aden felt the glide of Victoria’s hair on her shoulders as she shook her head violently "That willa wait, yeah," the green-eyed gu Victoria’s thoughts correctly "But I do agree waiting a little while before burning hiet used to the idea of a hu So why don’t we compromise, huh? Let’s wait, oh, I don’t know, a month We can keep him in the crypt below us"

"First, the crypt is for our deceased huritted out "If we must wait--" she paused until they nodded "--then let’s wait…half a month" She’d wanted to say a day, estion would be met with resistance And this way, Aden would have ti

The other sister ran her tongue over her very sharp, very white teeth "Very well Agreed We’ll wait fourteen days And ill keep hiering rebels froht You agreed to ree to yours"

"Wow No one had to throw a punch to win the argu in our favor already" Stephanie popped another bubble "So, anyway, back to Daddy Dearest He’s lucky, you know He died here, so he gets to stay here Had he kicked it in Romania, the rest of the family would have spit on his crypt"

There was a beat of stunned silence before gasps of outrage flooded the congregation

"What?" Stephanie splayed her ar"

Thank God Victoria wouldn’t be heading off to her homeland for the funeral Aden wouldn’t have been able to travel with her since he lived at the D and M Ranch, a halfway house for "ard" teens, aka unwanted delinquents, where his every action was monitored

Everyone assumed he had schizophrenia because he talked to the souls trapped inside him, which had earned him a lifetime of institutions and medications The ranch was the system’s final effort to save him, and if he blew that chance, he’d be carted away Boooodbye Hello, lifetime of confinement in a padded room

He’d lose Victoria forever

"Shut your ht us to survive, and kept the huend, a ht our enemies to fear us For that alone, he has my respect" The blue-eyed sister--Lauren; her name was Lauren--tilted her head to the side, suddenly pensive "Now What are we going to do about theaway?"

"Victoria’s…Aden?" Stephanie’s brorinkled "That’s his naht?"

"Haden Stone, known by his people as Aden, yes," Victoria replied "But I--"

"We’ll follow his rule," aher off "Because, and stop me if you’ve heard this one, he’s our ruler" This came from Riley, a olf shape-shifter and Victoria’s irls forlared at Lauren "If you don’t understand that, let me know and I’ll break out the hand puppets He killed Dmitri, he calls the shots End of story"

Lauren scowled at his sharper than before "Watch how you speak to me, puppy I’asps reverberated

Aden kept losing sight of the crowd, but they suddenly filled his line of vision as Victoria studied them, ready to leap into action if someone attacked her sister Clearly they didn’t like that the wolf had been insulted But then, neither did she Wolves deserved respect--far more than what had been demanded even for Vlad Wolves could--

Aden cursed as Victoria blanked heraround her Wolves were more important than vampires? he wondered More ienuine hu, Lore I’d be careful if I were you"

Lauren ignored hi her crystal eyes back to Victoria and snapping, "Bring Aden here toht Everyone will meet him Officially"

And kill him before the fourteen days "ticked away?"

"Yes" Victoria nodded, but not by word or deed did she reveal her sudden trepidation "All right To In the meantime, we shall mourn"

The conversation ended, everyone properly chastised