LAVINIA QUISPE POV: Consequences

The air was still vibrating with the raw, aggressive energy I had unleashed. Zack lay stunned on the earth, the powerful glamour of a pureblood momentarily fractured.

Silence pressed in, broken only by the sharp, stunned gasps of the assembled court.

Zilo was the first to move. He spun from his shock, rushing to my side. His hands lifted, checking my throat, my arms, his gaze frantic.

“Lavinia, are you hurt? What was that?” His warm, cool scent, usually a comfort, was now mingled with the sharp edge of fear.

Klaus, his obsidian aura now fully stabilized, strode forward, stepping over Zack’s prone form without a glance. He stopped inches from me, his dark eyes intense, assessing. “She is Ascended. And dangerous.”

Zack pushed himself up, his eyes blazing, a terrifying mix of lust and challenge. “You like to play rough, Lady. Fine. The Hunt is on.” The Sanguine Circle beneath the Blood Moon pulsed a blinding, wicked red.

I stood trembling, my core humming with the aggressive, untamed power. The shame of being a "failed" Dhampir had been incinerated by the fury; now, I was fueled by it. I had survived the worst part of the Rite—the Awakening—by sheer rage.

But the relief was fleeting. My father’s presence was a cold weight behind me.

“It worked,” he stated, his voice devoid of pride, laced instead with pure, furious calculation. “But her gift is untamed, volatile, and deeply improper.”

He grabbed the black velvet cloak Zilo had discarded earlier and threw it over my shoulders with unnecessary force. The heavy fabric was cold, a harsh reminder of my nakedness and my exposed status.

“The Hunt is postponed,” Father announced, his voice booming over the nobles, canceling the Rite mid-sentence. “Princes, you will stabilize your consort. Lavinia, you have endangered the ritual and proven your gifts are a threat to this Covenant.”

He didn't wait for a response. He seized my arm, his grip like iron. The raw electricity still coursing through me made him momentarily wince, but his resolve was absolute.

“We are going directly to the Byrne Medical Institute. Now. They will find out why your power manifested as an uncontrolled weapon, and they will contain it.”

Contain it. The word was a deeper terror than "forfeit."

“I am not some lab rat!” I protested, twisting my arm to escape.

“You are my daughter, and the failure of this House,” he hissed, yanking me forward. “You will submit to testing. If you cannot control your weapon, it will be controlled for you.”

Zack, now fully recovered, stalked up beside us. He met my eye, a chilling, triumphant smirk on his face.

“Better submit, Lady,” he grated. “Or the Hunt will be the least of your worries.”

Zilo stepped in front of my father, his stance protective. “Lord Quispe, she just awakened. She needs rest. We will take her home and-”

“You will follow my orders, Princes!” Father roared, his own ancient glamour flaring in cold warning. “She is unstable. She is a danger. The Covenant does not tolerate uncontrolled power, even in its Lady.”

He dragged me off the dais, forcing me down the hill and away from the stunned court. Zilo and Klaus followed, their expressions tight with anger and helplessness. Zack trailed behind, his smirk fixed, the silent promise of future punishment hanging in the air.

This was not freedom. This was a worse kind of prison, where my very power was seen as a disease to be cured.

No matter how stressed she was by the whole arranged Binding, it could be worse. She could've ended up with a complete low-blood like him. She pitied whatever female noble actually fell for his arrogance.

He made a few more attempts to get under her skin on the drive, but she ignored him, and he eventually gave up. The Byrne Medical Institute wasn't far from the residential district of the Covenant. They were sheltered and protected, while their Sentinels prowled the deeper shadows of the territory, keeping a vigilant watch for any Feral Vampires or nearby Outer Coven Delegations who might cause trouble.

Sofia hadn't been to the Institute since her last annual checkup, since she was more or less the picture of health, but she hoped the tech who had been there last time wasn't still around, because he gave her the creeps. It wasn't the kind of thing it would do any good to bring up to her father, though. As far as he was concerned, as long as a male didn't try to force a full Binding or something, he wasn't doing anything wrong.

It seemed no one else was at the Institute, for the only two cars she recognised belonged to her father and the attending physician. She walked inside and Charles followed suit, far more interested in his phone than anything in the outside world, which suited her fine.

She recognized the young woman behind the desk as Hela Pendry, one of the few girls she had been on relatively friendly terms with in her youth, but they had lost touch as soon as Sofia left the general noble academy. She didn't blame Hela. There weren't any perks to befriending the Lord's daughter like there were in some Covenants, but it did put a spotlight on you that most weren't willing to deal with.

“Hi, Hela,” she said, bracing herself for an awkward reunion. The central Covenant was essentially a tight-knit society, and yet she hadn't seen Hela in more than passing at all, really.

"Hey, Sofia," Hela said calmly, though in a way that none of her fears sounded at all ungrounded. "It's been some time."

“Yeah, it has,” Sofia said, clearing her throat. “I think I’m supposed to see the Doctor, or…?”

“Yeah, they’re waiting for you,” Hela nodded to the other hallway. “Good luck.”

That seemed a weird thing to say, but Sofia could tell from the slight grimace Hela gave immediately after she said it that Hela thought so too; Sofia thanked her and made up her mind to hope she just didn't need that luck at all.

The Institute had undergone some remodeling since the last time she had been there. The walls were now painted a fresh, clean shade of white as opposed to their former dingy gray, and from what she could see through the few open rooms on her way, they had upgraded the arcane testing equipment, too.

The first examination room that was empty was the same one she had been to for her last physical, except that her father was standing with Dr. Hector Byrne, which just made things even more awkward. At least there was no sign of the creepy technician.

“Sofia,” Dr. Byrne said, smiling as she walked over to give her a brief hug. Dr. Byrne was a pleasant, pureblood woman in her late forties and her kind smile had always made blood draws a little less off-putting when Sofia was younger. “Good to see you again.”

“Wish it was under different circumstances,” Sofia replied with an awkward nod.

The Doctor gave her a sympathetic look, but her father scowled. He really wasn't a fan of any small talk, regardless of how innocuous it was. It was kind of hard to get over her social awkwardness when at every turn, he reinforced her fears that she was completely unfit for vampire noble society. Being locked away in a gilded tower with only her tutors for regular companions certainly hadn't helped.

“So, what exactly am I here for?” Sofia asked once she realized neither of them was going to volunteer the information.

“Just a regular in-depth diagnostic check,” said the Doctor, but this time her soothing tone simply wasn't enough. “We just have to take some in-depth blood and tissue samples, and check whether there's anything out of the ordinary. Anything arcane or biological that may be affecting the Ascension Rite.”

“Is there something wrong with me?” Sofia asked warily.

“There damn well better be,” her father muttered under his breath.

The Doctor blinked at him but chose to ignore the remark, to Sofia's relief. “It might be nothing, Sofia. Believe it or not, an inability to Awaken on schedule is not entirely unheard of, although it’s unfortunate that it occurred during your first attempt. There are times when extreme stress or minor bloodline imbalances can impact a noble’s ability to manifest their powers.”

Well, that got her attention. This whole time, she had been freaked out about all this for social and political reasons, but it hadn't occurred to her that something could actually be medically or biologically wrong with her. “Oh. But you’ll be able to tell?”

“That’s the idea,” the Doctor said pleasantly. She turned to Lord Quispe, waiting expectantly. “If you don’t mind, Lord Quispe.”

“Of course,” he grunted, stomping out the door and stopping to look at Sofia. “Behave, daughter.”

Sofia waited until the door shut behind him to roll her eyes. What the hell did he think she was going to do, sabotage the equipment? "Hop up here," she said, patting the crinkly paper stretched across the exam table before turning to head to the sink to wash her hands. "It's about time for your annual physical anyway, so we'll start with the usual readings and go from there."