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I reached for the iron and stopped with my fingers an inch away. “Can I?”

“Take it off.”

I opened the collar and lifted it from his neck.

The heavy ring hit the floor. Stellan drew a full breath and touched his throat. Nothing tightened. The chain lay dead beside us.

Then red light closed around both his wrists.

Two narrow bands appeared under his skin. Matching lines circled his ankles as the throne gave a low pulse.

“What the hell are those?” I asked.

Stellan turned one wrist. The red band moved with him. “The Crown’s blood restraints. They were hidden under the physical chains. I can move throughout the lower court now, but Harrowmere’s boundary will stop me. I also can’t harm the recognised heir while they remain.”

“So the iron is gone, but you’re still fucking chained.”

“Less than I was five minutes ago.” He stepped over the fallen collar and came close enough to put both hands on my waist. “You rejected the oath when it offered you complete control. That matters more than the cuffs tonight.”

“You came back when you could’ve left. That matters too.”

His thumbs pressed into my sides. “It doesn’t erase what I admitted.”

“I know. One good decision doesn’t wipe out the bad ones.” I touched the unbroken skin over one red band. “It does affect the decision I make next, and I’m choosing to face Adrian with you.”

Stellan lowered his head until his mouth was close to mine. “Together?”

“Together. You answer my questions, I don’t put a crown on my head, and neither of us does anything heroic and stupid without warning the other.”

“That last condition will be difficult for both of us.”

I kissed him before the conversation could become another argument. His arms tightened around me, and he took over the kiss at once. The lack of iron between us changed his hold. He could pull me against him without a chain scraping across the floor or closing around his throat.

His fangs pressed lightly against my lower lip. Heat moved down my body despite the blood drying on my clothes and the wounded vampire in my bedroom.

“Later,” I said against his mouth.

“Definitely.”

A cabinet door slammed in the passage.

We separated and looked towards the royal rooms. A second cabinet door opened, revealing a row of dark glass bottles on a low shelf.

Stellan’s expression changed. “The old blood store.”

“Is it safe?”

“It was prepared for wounded court vampires. Harrowmere opened it for Lenora because you brought her under royal protection.” He took the first bottle and checked the silver seal. “This one is clean. It will heal her, but it won’t remove a blood mark. We’ll check her before she leaves.”

We returned to the bedroom. Lenora opened her eyes when Stellan broke the seal, and her fangs dropped at the scent.

He passed her the bottle. “Hold it yourself and drink slowly. You lost enough blood to make speed a bad idea.”

Lenora ignored the final instruction and drank half of it in one pull. Colour returned to her face before she lowered the bottle.

“I said slowly.”

“You stopped being my king when the court chained you.” She took a shorter drink. “I’m following the important part.”