A loud pounding on the door of our quarters woke me at six in the morning. Jane groaned and tried to snuggle deeper into my side.

I stroked her hair gently as I pulled my arm out from under her, throwing on some sweatpants on my way to the door. I opened it to find guards there, but they weren’t wearing the royal uniform. Behind them stood three men who were completely still and quite pale and I realized suddenly that these were vampires.

“How can I help you, gentlemen?” I inquired with a passive expression on my face.

One of the guards spoke aggressively, “You and your Luna are under arrest for the murder of Gabriel Michael Francisco. Both of you get dressed and come with us!”

I glanced behind the guards to find two of the vampires staring at me with utter disgust, and the third observing me with mild interest, though I could detect no malice there.

Mr. Madison came running down the hall to address one of the vampires, “Your Grace, I understand you have a warrant, but you still have no right to barge into the royal guest wing without invitation. You should have presented your warrant to me and allowed the King to deliver the Alpha and Luna to you for questioning later today. That is proper procedure! You know this!”

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The vampire addressed as ‘your grace’ hissed at Mr. Madison, “Serious crimes are beyond protocol!”

Mr. Madison stood his ground, “The law does not support your statement, sir.”

His Grace bared his fangs and stepped towards Mr. Madison but was interrupted by a gust of wind that blew past him.

King Avalore appeared beside Madison and declared in a slightly raised tone of voice, “I know you were not about to inflict harm on my loyal servant, Nevil.”

His Grace, Nevil, replied with a sneer, “You ought to teach your servants some respect, Your Highness.”

The ‘your highness’ bit of that statement was said sarcastically, but Avalore ignored it.

“Council members with an inability to follow law and royal protocol have a long way to go to earn respect. Even from my servants,” the King declared.

Nevil was so enraged I could practically see steam coming out of his ears, but he held himself in check. I wondered who would win in a fight between them. My bet was on Avalore.

“Your warrant?” Avalore asked, holding out his hand.

One of the other vampires placed a thick sheet of paper on his open palm. He grasped it and looked down to read it briefly.

“Your ‘warrant’ is not an arrest warrant as I’m told your guard declared. It is a summons to court for questioning. You have no right to barge in here and attempt to remove my guests from my home to take them goddess knows where. I expect you to vacate the premises and leave it to me to deliver them to the court at the appointed time.”

Nevil sneered, “Fine!”

At that, the entourage of vampires and guards was gone. If I’d blinked, I’d have missed it. Hell, I missed it anyway.