Chapter 1

Julian. The vampire lord I’d loved in secret for centuries. The boy I grew up with. My stepsister drugged him and threw him in my room.

The air was thick with the coppery scent of blood and something sickly sweet.

His eyes were crimson, fangs fully descended as he tore savagely at a sofa cushion. The potion was a fire in his veins, burning away his sanity.

“Elena!” Julian’s breath was hot, his scarlet eyes locked on me.

I knew he was obsessed with Chloe, my human stepsister. But he would never turn her, not before their official bonding ceremony.

He had to feed his lust. He couldn't risk breaking our most sacred law by losing control. He would have to settle for the next best thing.

Me. He’d drink my blood and take me to bed.

Last time, on this very night, I walked straight into his arms. I offered my body without a second thought.

But when my stepsister found us, she saw the marks he’d left on my skin, and her jealousy exploded. She fled.

The next time I heard of her, she’d been forced to marry the cursed Lord of Eternal Night. When the king’s curse flared, he strangled her without mercy.

Julian turned all his hatred on me for Chloe's death. It lasted a hundred years.

He hated that I’d slept with him. Hated that Chloe had caught us. Hated me for her tragic end.

Not this time.

I pulled an ancient scroll from the bookshelf and unrolled it.

“Antilla. Noctis. Vinculum.”

The ancient blood-purification spell flashed with silver light.

Julian howled as an unseen force slammed him to the floor.

I drew the silver whip from my belt.

CRACK!

The whip struck true across his back. The searing burn of silver instantly fought back the potion’s effects.

He died for me once. This was me returning the favor.

“Where’s Chloe?”

The spell and the whip had cleared his head enough. He was no longer panting my name. The first name from his lips was hers. The human girl who was already gone.

“Don’t worry. The servants took her back to her room.”

“Good. About tonight…”

“Relax. I won’t say a word. Besides, we didn’t do anything, did we?”

Julian stared at me, completely stunned. This wasn't the me he knew.

I was the girl who’d followed him around since we were children, the one who called him “Julian” in a sweet, adoring voice. Centuries had passed, and we were long past childhood. But I had never hidden my obsession with him.

My coldness stunned him. This wasn't the girl he knew.

He saw I was no longer his meek admirer. Anger flashed in his eyes. Then, he turned his back on me.

I left the room and told Julian’s second-in-command to look after him.

Back at home, Chloe was trying on the latest collection of evening gowns.

She saw me and smiled knowingly. “Julian didn’t keep you for the night, did he, dear sister?”

“Don’t call me that,” I said coldly.

As if expecting it, Chloe stepped closer. “I’m calling you sister to be polite,” she whispered. “So what if you’re the heir to the Moonlight Clan? Your family is a fallen house. Your father despises you. And I am the mistress here.”

She smirked. “And Julian… you love him so much, don’t you? You threw yourself at him tonight, but you weren't even good enough to be his fix.”

“What makes you think you can compete with me?”

I looked at her arrogant, smug face and gave a faint smile.

“I don’t need to compete with you. Everything you have, you stole from me. At least I don’t have to drug a man to see if he cares about me.”

Chloe’s face twisted in rage. She snatched a silver fruit knife from the coffee table.

“What did you say?!”

The blade flashed. Blood welled from a cut on her arm.

“Dad! Help me!” she screamed, collapsing to the floor. “Elena’s trying to kill me!”

My father appeared in a swirl of black mist. He saw the blood on the floor and Chloe’s tears, and his face went dark.

“Elena! What have you done?”

“She tried to kill me!” Chloe sobbed. “Dad, I just wanted to ask about Julian, and Elena attacked me like a crazy person!”

I watched the familiar scene play out, feeling nothing.

In my last life, I would have argued. I would have been angry, hurt.

This time, I just walked toward the study.

“Where are you going?” Victor demanded, following me.

I opened the safe. I took out an ancient contract. It was written in blood.

“The Blood Pact with the Evernight Empire.”

The color drained from Victor’s face. “Elena, are you insane?”

“The clan needs to send a bride to be bonded with the cursed king.” I held up the pact. “It was supposed to be Chloe, wasn’t it? The adopted daughter. The clan thought she was the perfect sacrifice.”

Victor’s eyes darted away.

“Then let me go instead,” I said, my voice dead calm. “I’ll take her place. I've already sealed it with my blood. You don't have to force me.”

My father’s face lit up with relief.

The Evernight Empire was too powerful to defy, but he didn’t want his precious human daughter to marry a king rumored to have killed his last three mates.

Chloe’s gaze turned sharp with jealousy. She always wanted power but was terrified of the risks.

“Father,” she said, her voice dripping with false pity, “sister doesn’t really want to go. I saw her use a forbidden spell on Julian last night, and then they were in a room together all night…”

Before I could even argue, my father’s hand struck my face.

“Nothing happened between Julian and me.”

“Elena, don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to. Your marriage into the Evernight Empire is set in stone. Don’t try to use Julian to get out of it. Besides, that boy never loved you in the first place.”

Chloe shot me a triumphant look.

“Since you have no shame, you can go accept your punishment.”

I took the pact and knelt, barefoot, on the silver plate carved with purification runes.

It was our clan’s punishment. Two hours if you admit your guilt. A full day if you don’t.

As searing pain shot up from my knees, Julian materialized from a swirl of black mist.

He shot me a quick glance, then rushed inside.

When he came back out, the urgency was gone from his face. He knelt beside me.

“Elena, I know our mothers arranged our bonding pact when we were children. But I can’t go through with it now. I can't let them send Chloe to the Evernight Empire.”

A silent laugh escaped me. He had no idea.

The person being sent to the Evernight Empire was already me.

If she wasn’t going, I was the only one left.