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gaze worked over both her and Vivek, scrutinising and assessing, slowly filling with shame that eventually had him shaking his head. He ran his fingers through his short dark hair and then took his seat, leaned back into it and loosed a long sigh.
    “What am I supposed to do with you two?”
    Neither she nor Vivek answered. Tynan didn’t want them to respond. It was written in the hard set of his jaw and his brown eyes.
    Sophis straightened, standing tall with her feet shoulder width apart, and placed her hands behind her back, locking them together over her bottom. Vivek mimicked her pose, bracing his feet so his right foot was close to her left and tipping his chin up. He made her feel small when he stood like that, towering several inches over her. She fixed her eyes ahead, on the dull cream wall and corkboard behind Tynan, and waited for him to explode.
    She could sense it coming.
    Tynan shook his head again. “The leaders of our bloodline are starting to hear rumours and I do not like being questioned by Lord Timur about my ability to lead his guard. If your behaviour continues, I will be forced to kick you both out. No demotions or punishment. You will be dropped to the rank of servant of this bloodline or you will leave it completely, whatever path your pride allows you to choose.”
    Sophis’s heart fell into the pit of her stomach. Her gaze ate the flagstones under her feet, shame burning her cheeks even though they couldn’t colour. She scuffed the grey stone slabs with the toe of her right boot. Her life was the guard and she had worked hard to achieve her position within it. She didn’t want to throw that all away because of petty arguments with Vivek, but more than that, she didn’t want to jeopardise Tynan’s position as commander. It was one thing when only her and Vivek’s positions were on the line, completely another when their lord was going to pin blame for their actions on Tynan too.
    “We cannot afford to have any weak spots in our defences, not after what happened with the hunter and Lord Timur, and with the approaching masquerade... and that’s what you both are.”
    Vivek audibly swallowed and her gaze crept across to his boots. His shame radiated through her, touching her senses, his feelings open enough for her to read them. They both valued the honour of being a guard, and she had fought to keep a level head and act in line with expectations, but Vivek pushed all the wrong buttons in her. He constantly goaded her into fighting and she had a feeling that he really did want to get her discharged. She just didn’t understand why.
    They held the same position so it wasn’t done out of an intent to gain rank, unless he wanted to lead both squads. Tynan would never allow it. All squads had nine members now. Seven guards, a second in command, and a captain to lead them. Getting her kicked out wouldn’t gain him any more than the eight guards he already led.
    Was he doing this purely to have her dropped from the guard then? He had said in the past that she didn’t deserve her position so soon after becoming a guard but did it go beyond that? Did he believe that she didn’t deserve to be a guard at all?
    She had been a civilian once, when she had been newly turned and still learning from her sire. He had wanted her to remain a civilian too and to go away with him to one of the other Venia safe houses in Europe. She had declined the offer and joined the guard instead, choosing to protect the most important members of her bloodline.
    She wasn’t sure she knew how to be anything other than a guard now. Without her duty, she would have no sense of purpose. If Vivek succeeded in getting her kicked out, she would probably leave Saint Petersburg and join her sire in Nice. She had always wanted to travel and he wrote to her sometimes, talking of the warmer weather and how different the blood tasted down there, spicy and exotic, full of vitality and nutrients that the blood of Saint Petersburg