Chapter 1

My soul hovered in the air, watching the clan guards swarm my remains.

On the floor of the abandoned church, only a small pile of gray ash was left.

The lead Enforcer on the scene wore a mask of pure shock and horror.

A murder this brutal hadn't stained the clan’s territory in a century.

Our kind is strong enough to deter any outsider. To get past our defenses and kill a pureblood… it had to be one of our own.

The next second, the church doors burst open.

A black cloak swept in like a storm, bringing a chilling aura with it.

Theron strode onto the scene. His deep red eyes swept the room. Every guard bowed their head.

"Lord Enforcer."

My brother, Theron. Of course. He was the only one in the clan who could handle a case this complex.

I looked at his exhausted face, and a bitter mix of love and hate washed over me.

With the Blood Moon Festival so close, clan business was already a nightmare. Now he had to deal with my murder.

Guilt twisted with a sharp pang of heartache. Even in death, I was still a problem for him.

"Report." Theron's voice was ice.

"My lord," the guard captain said, handing him a data slate. "The victim is a young pureblood female. Time of death was at least two nights ago... based on the blood remnants in the ash. Before death, she was…"

His voice caught.

"Go on."

"Tortured. Silver piercing and holy light. The duration… was likely over twelve hours."

I saw Theron's fists clench, his knuckles white.

"Who did this?"

"No leads yet, my lord. The scene has nothing but the ash, some melted silver fragments, and traces of a holy light circle."

Theron stalked to my remains and knelt. Shadows clung to his features, making his face terrifyingly dark. His red eyes burned with raw murder.

"Listen to me," he said, his voice low. "I don't care who did this, or where they're hiding. I will make them pay tenfold."

He stood, his cloak swirling behind him.

"To torture one of our own like this… I'll make them beg for a death that will never come."

The guards shivered.

Just then, a solemn voice came from the doorway.

"Theron." Elias, a friend of our father's for over a century and the elder who’d championed Theron's rise to Lord Enforcer, walked slowly into the church.

His face was etched with deep worry.

"Elder Elias." Theron gave a slight nod. "You're just in time. You can see how serious this is."

"The case is complex, but I trust your skills. I'm here about something else." Elias’s gaze lingered for a moment on my ashes. "It's about Cerys's whereabouts."

I felt my soul tremble.

Theron’s expression changed instantly. The temperature in the room dropped ten degrees.

"Don't speak to me of that jinx. What has she done now? She's been throwing a tantrum for weeks because I wouldn't let her host the festival!"

His words were a thousand tiny needles stabbing my soul.

Right. Theron always called me a jinx.

Because our parents died a century ago. At my blood awakening ceremony.

He had hated me ever since.

He threw me out. Cut off my blood supply. Refused to acknowledge me as clan. He left me with nothing but a rundown house on the edge of the city.

We didn't see each other for a decade.

Not until the clan’s centennial gala. I was invited and saw him with a strange woman at his side.

Lilith. The sister he called his own.

I learned then that he’d found an orphan while working a blood-pact case. He adopted her, and the two of them became a family.

I stood in a corner that night, watching him dote on her, my heart breaking as tears streamed down my face.

He'd rather adopt an orphan than accept his own sister?

Things between us thawed over the decades, but it was never real. Whenever he had to choose between me and Lilith, he always chose her.

Even now, after my agonizing death, he still thought I was off sulking somewhere, trying to ruin Lilith’s big moment out of jealousy.

Brother, if you knew I was really dead, would you be glad to be free of such a burden?

"Your prejudice against Cerys runs too deep. It has to change." Elias frowned, defending me. "Don't forget, she's been preparing your special blood vials all these years. Those potions that stabilize your bloodlust? She made them herself. No one loves you more than she does."

"So what?" Theron waved a dismissive hand. "It's her duty as an alchemist. She's atoning for what she did."

His eyes were full of disgust. He glanced back at the ash on the floor, his face grim again.

"Alright, let's get back to the case."

He turned to a junior enforcer. "Have any disappearances been reported lately?"

The enforcer shook his head. "Even if a pureblood went missing for a day, their family would get a blood-link warning. For a death this violent... the psychic backlash should have been immense. This is strange."

Theron sighed. "Her family must not care much about her. Widen the search."

He picked up a monitoring device, ready to scan the remains again for information.

Elias stopped him. "If you're looking for the victim's family, you should look for Cerys, too. She used to deliver your vials every day. Now she's been gone for days. This disappearance…"

Theron cut him off again, his patience gone.

"Enough. She's trying to blackmail me," Theron sneered. "Thinking she can cut off my supply and force my hand? Pathetic."

He strode deeper into the church, leaving Elias and his words behind.

"I only care about one thing: making sure Lilith's Blood Moon Festival is perfect. As for my clever little sister, she can hide for as long as she wants."

Just as Elias was about to argue, Theron’s communicator chimed.

He pulled out the crystal device and glanced at the message.

In an instant, I witnessed a miracle.

The mask of cold fury on his face melted away, replaced by a tenderness I had never, ever seen.