I stare at him, stunned. “Is that why you threw me out that night? Because Terrence wanted you to declare our engagement and you wanted him to marry Arabella?! You thought that if I died, if you told him I ran off and got killed, he would happily accept Arabella?”

“Yes!” Beruth snarls. “One of the most promising individuals in our clan, married to you? Mated to an inferior creature who was rejected by her father? You can’t even be called a vampire! And look at you now. You don’t ...