Chapter 59. I Know You Want To

VESTA

I had dreamed of Julian countless times, but none so vivid, none so haunting. This one was a nightmare, and I longed to wake up, to reassure myself it was all in my head.

Standing beside Livia’s seat in the court, I kept my gaze fixed on Claudius, who stood in the center of the room with his head bowed—not in respect, but in sorrow. The urge to walk over and shake him out of his misery clawed at me. Julian wasn’t dead; he couldn’t be. He was a vampire—immortal, untouchable. Wasn’t he?

I sighed, trying to ground myself. My hands trembled uncontrollably, and I clasped them tightly together, whispering to myself, “Julian is not dead. He is a vampire.” But the mantra offered little comfort; my body refused to believe the lie I was spinning.

The silence in the room was suffocating. We all waited for Caesar’s arrival, the tension thick enough to choke on. I glanced down at Livia; her eyes were fixed on Claudius, her expression unreadable. She’d been just as s