LOGINWe were on our way to the Elder Council to exchange our wedding vows when hunters ambushed our carriage. A pure silver crossbow bolt tore through the protective barrier. In that instant, my fiancé, Julian Mason, a high-ranking vampire knight, pulled Vivian, the orphan riding up front, into his arms. He left me exposed in the back seat. The silver bolt punched through the carriage and lodged deep in my back. Vivian and I were rushed back to the Howard family's Alchemy Sanctum. My mother, Victoria Howard, was the most respected alchemist in the territory. She barely spared my mangled back a cold glance before calling every attendant in the sanctum to Vivian's side, though Vivian had only a tiny scratch from a flying splinter and had lost just a few drops of blood. "Vivian is a low-ranking vampire with a delicate constitution," my mother said. "If we don't treat her now, she'll have dark marks that never fade! "Everyone knows we're mother and daughter. If I treat you first, people will say I'm abusing my position to play favorites!" The silver poison spread through my veins like wildfire, and the pain sent my whole body into spasms. With the last of my strength, I clung to Julian, who had just changed into an attendant's robe. "Julian... save me... the silver is eating through my organs..." Before I could finish, Julian shook off my hand, his face tight with irritation. "The hunters were aiming at the front seat. Vivian took the hit for you! You were in the back, where the barrier was strongest. How could you be hurt worse than she is?! "Aria, can you stop using these pathetic excuses to compete with Vivian for attention? When are you going to grow up and act like a real pureblood noble?" He hurried into the alchemy chamber without looking back. He had forgotten that when the bolts came, he was the one who shut off the shield over the back seat and poured all his power into the front. He'd left me to take the silver bolt meant for them. My mother had forgotten too, or maybe she simply didn't care. The medic traveling with us had examined my wound at the ambush site and reported my critical condition to the sanctum right away. Darkness crept into my vision. A searing pain spread from my back toward my heart. I knew my blood would run dry in less than half an hour.
View MoreFive years later.Night settled over the grand, solemn castle. The Elder Council had granted it to me as my sanctum, and it was mine alone.Beyond the gallery, moonlight shone through the fog. Rare blue night roses swayed in the breeze, their petals giving off a faint fragrance and glow.I leaned against a stone pillar, holding a test tube of the dark gold potion I'd just refined. Power surged inside me.Steady footsteps sounded behind me. Castor slowly approached in a dark cloak, a gentle smile on his lips and barely concealed affection in his gray-blue eyes. "Still going over your data this late?"He stopped beside me, took the test tube, and set it down.I smiled. "Just one last look.""The Elder Council has made its decision," Castor said slowly, his eyes on me. "All nine elders approved your project unanimously. Your work will be formally recorded in the Night Codex. It can purify the tangled bloodlines of lesser vampires and free them from wasting away as their powers fade. It ca
"Look at her veins!" an attendant cried, pointing at Vivian.Beneath Vivian's pale skin, her veins bulged and turned black, spreading across her body like a spiderweb.The blood in her transfusion line began to clot. Vivian broke into a violent coughing fit, spraying mouthfuls of black clots across the white sheets.Castor's healer examined her and frowned. "She was given blood carrying a rare rejection factor. It's triggered a severe acute rejection reaction. Her organs are shutting down!"Vivian struggled to breathe. She clutched her chest and wailed. "It hurts... my chest hurts... Mom... save me..."Victoria, who had once doted on her, recoiled as if Vivian were contagious.There was no pity in her eyes, only anger at being made a fool of.She pointed at Vivian and screamed. "Save you?! You lying snake! You told me Aria was fine and hid her file! Now the Elder Council will punish me because of you! You've ruined me! Why should I save you?!"I watched the farce unfold, a mocking smil
The accusations grew louder.Julian and Victoria abandoned all pretense of dignity, exposing each other's cruel decisions after the ambush.Vivian had been cowering in a corner of the bed the whole time. Watching this, she knew there was no saving any of the lies now.Her helpless act vanished, replaced by an almost unhinged sneer. "Enough! Both of you!"Vivian sat up straight, her shrill voice cutting through the argument.Victoria turned to her, stunned. "Vivian... what are you saying?"Vivian wiped her tears away with the back of her hand and looked at them with open scorn. "I said you both make me sick! One plays the loving mother, the other the devoted fiancé. You're both selfish to the core!"She turned to me with a cruel smile. "Aria, you think you've won?"Without the Rothwell family and your research, would either of them even care about you?"Yes, I took your file on purpose! I knew about the silver fragments in your back all along. I wanted to see which of us mattered more t
No one spoke. Only the hum of the arrays echoed off the stone walls."There's more," Castor said, breaking the silence. "The inspectors need to see what happened during the ambush."A knight entered carrying an image crystal.It showed the moments before the attack.Julian sat up front holding the reins, with Vivian snuggled close beside him. She even kissed his cheek. Far from pulling away, he freed one hand from the reins to hold hers.I sat in the back, leaning against the window with my eyes closed, with no idea what was going on between them up front.Then the hunters' silver bolt came screaming toward the carriage. In that instant, Julian did the exact opposite of what my knight should have done. He shut off the shield over the back seat and threw all its power around Vivian in the front!The carriage was knocked sideways, and I took the full force of the silver bolt in the back seat!The inspectors gasped and swore under their breath. "Disgraceful! He was Aria's fiancé and her k






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