VERA’S POV

“Be sure to tell any rogues you encounter that you were once the mate of Lord Shadowmere,” Lady Vela added with false sweetness. “I’m certain they’ll be terribly impressed before they drain you dry.”

I didn’t dignify the comment with a response, keeping my pace steady as I descended the main staircase for the final time. Vampires scattered as I approached, averting their eyes or openly staring, depending on their courage. News of my bond severance had spread like wildfire through the estate.

No one offered a goodbye. No one stepped forward with a kind word or well-wish. Three years of service to this house, and I left as I had arrived, alone and uncertain of my future.

The night air hit my face as I pushed through the main doors, cool and sweet with the scent of jasmine and freedom. I breathed it in greedily, like a prisoner tasting life outside the cell for the first time.

Behind me, the stone manor loomed in silence, its windows flickering with candlelight that no longer belonged to me.

Then I heard him.

“You weren’t going to say anything?”

I stopped. Turned.

Lucien stood a few feet away, just inside the boundary. Still in control, as always. But there was tension in his posture, something unsettled in his face.

“You didn’t say anything when it mattered,” I said.

He didn’t argue. Just looked at me like he was waiting for a different version of this moment.

“I thought, maybe, you’d come back around,” he said. “Eventually.”

“To what?” I asked. “More silence? More standing there while they tore me apart in front of you?”

He shook his head once. “You didn’t want the bond.”

“I wanted you to act like I mattered without it.” I exhaled, sharp and tired. “You wanted me to be with you, but only on your terms. And you couldn’t stand that I wouldn’t fold.”

“It wasn’t about folding. You don’t understand what it means—”

“No. You don’t.” My voice cracked slightly, but I didn’t let it show. “You think offering me your blood was enough? Like that fixed everything else you failed to protect me from?”

He looked away. His jaw tightened, but he didn’t respond.

“Is there a reason you followed me out here?” I asked.

He hesitated. “If you change your mind—”

“I won’t.”

That was it. No last plea. No apology. Just the same guarded face I’d seen for months.

“Goodbye, Lucien.”

I turned and walked into the trees.

My boots clicked against the cobblestones as I crossed the outer threshold of the estate’s domain. The ancient trees thickened around me, rising like watchful sentinels, branches arched as though eavesdropping. Shadows pooled between trunks, shifting and restless.

Each step deeper into the forest was a step away from the only life I’d known, and yet, I felt no grief for it. Just a hollow ache in my chest where the blood bond had been, like torn flesh that hadn’t stopped bleeding.

The memory of Lucien’s fangs at my throat flashed through my mind, followed immediately by the image of him drinking from Celene’s wrist. The way his eyes had rolled back in ecstasy, the soft moan that had escaped his lips, it had been more intimate than any kiss we’d ever shared.

I pushed the thoughts away, focusing on the path ahead. The forest wasn’t dead, but it wasn’t alive either. It was holding its breath.

Something was wrong.

The hairs at the base of my neck lifted, a tingling warning creeping down my spine. I inhaled slowly, scenting the air.

Then I smelled them.

Not Shadowmere. Not Blackthorne. They were strange vampires that I didn’t recognize, more than one, their scents threading through the wind like smoke. They weren’t chasing me.

They were hunting.

Fear lanced through me like ice water. A lone human, estranged, exhausted, and freshly severed from a bond, was little more than a wounded deer to hungry vampires.

My pulse thudded in my ears as I picked up my pace. I moved quickly, weaving through the narrowing path.

My breathing came faster, every muscle pulled taut. The forest around me seemed to darken, closing in. Their scent grew stronger, and closer.

Then came the snap of a twig.

Too close. My heart jolted. I bolted forward without thinking, instinct taking over.

I ran.

Branches clawed at my face, snagging in my hair. My lungs burned, my legs pumping as I leapt over a gnarled root, then a fallen log.

Behind me, the forest erupted. The pursuit was no longer subtle, feet thudding against soil, the crush of underbrush, breathless snarls carried on the wind. I could feel them closing in.

I pushed harder, feet barely finding purchase as the terrain sloped unevenly. I turned sharply left, then right, heart thundering. I didn’t know where I was going.

Suddenly, a dark shape emerged ahead.

It was massive, solid, and blocking the path entirely.

I skidded to a halt, momentum nearly throwing me forward into the figure’s chest. I backpedaled instinctively, breath ragged as my eyes adjusted.

The vampire stood tall, easily a head above any warrior I’d ever seen. His eyes, glowing silver in the moonlight, locked onto mine. Not with hunger. But with purpose.

I twisted to flee, but it was too late. Four more figures stepped from the shadows behind me, flanking like coordinated predators. I was surrounded and trapped.

They were all armed. The moonlight caught the polished edge of silver blades at their sides, deadly, ceremonial, precise. My blood turned to ice.

With no way out, the last remnants of pride dissolved. I fell to my knees, fingers digging into the earth, head bowed. My voice shook as it escaped me, cracked and barely above a whisper.

“Please… I’m leaving the territory. I don’t want trouble. I’m no threat to anyone.”

There was no response or movement. My chest rose and fell with the effort of holding back the sob that wanted to crawl out of my throat.

And then… one by one, the vampires dropped to their knees.

Every single one of them knelt with their heads bowed.

I stared and blinked in confusion. My mind refused to process what I was seeing. I’d prepared myself to be torn apart. But reverence? This made no sense. My lips parted, dry as bone.

“What… what is this?”

The largest of them, the one who had blocked my path, raised his head. His face was strong-jawed, older than me but not aged, his eyes the pale silver of moonlight on steel.

He wore a breastplate etched with a sigil I didn’t recognize: a crowned raven beneath a blood moon.

His voice, when he spoke, was low but firm. Foreign, almost regal in cadence.

“Princess Vera,” he said, and the title sent shockwaves through my entire being. “We’ve been searching for you for decades.”

“Princess?” I echoed, barely breathing the word. “You’re mistaken. I’m just… I’m nobody.”

“Nobody?” One of the other vampires, a woman with silver hair and ancient eyes, laughed softly. “My lady, you are the daughter of the Vampire King. The last of the pure bloodline.”

“That’s impossible,” I whispered. “I’m human. I was raised by humans.”

“You were hidden by humans,” the leader corrected. “Protected from those who would use your power for their own gain. But the time for hiding is over.”

“My power?” I shook my head, still kneeling in the dirt. “I don’t have any power. I couldn’t even keep my own mate.”

“Couldn’t you?” The silver-haired woman moved closer, her movements predatory yet respectful. “Tell me, Princess, when Lord Shadowmere drank from you, what did he taste?”

The memory came flooding back unbidden. The way Lucien’s eyes had widened in shock when he’d tasted my blood during our confrontation. The way he’d staggered backward, whispering that it tasted like royalty.

“I don’t understand,” I said, but my voice was growing weaker.

“Your blood calls to every vampire within a hundred miles,” the leader explained. “It sings with power older than any house, any family line. You are the heir to the throne that has stood empty for centuries.”

“Your father is waiting, Princess. Let’s go home.”