CHAPTER 3 : First Blood, First Lie  

Ella's POV 

“Get your hands off me!” I scream, yanking against the silver cuffs chaining me to the metal table.

“Calm down,” the older man in the lab coat says, pushing his glasses up. “I’m Professor Thane. You’re safe here.”

“Safe?” I laugh, wild and broken. “You kidnapped me!”

“We extracted you from a vampire attack,” he says, voice annoyingly calm. “You’re welcome.”

“Extracted?” I spit. “You tased the only person who actually saved me!”

“Adrian Vale disobeyed direct orders,” Thane says. “He’ll be dealt with.”

“Dealt with?” My voice cracks. “He’s bleeding out because of me!”

“He’s alive,” Thane says. “For now. Answer my questions and maybe he stays that way.”

I glare so hard my eyes burn. “Ask.”

“What are you?”

“Human,” I snarl.

“Liar.” He slides a photo across the table — me in the alley, golden sparks flying. “Explain this.”

“I can’t!”

“Try.”

“I don’t know!” I yank the cuffs so hard the table rattles. “One minute I’m taking out trash, next minute vampires want me for dinner and my wrist shoots fireworks!”

“Hybrid,” he mutters, writing it down.

“Hybrid what?”

“Half wolf , half vampire,” he says like it’s obvious . “Impossible . Until tonight .”

I stare at him. “You’re insane .”

“Look at your hands.”

I do. My nails are longer. Sharper. Black at the tips.

“No,” I whisper.

“Yes,” Thane says. “You’re waking up. And the entire supernatural world felt it.”

The door slams open . Jared drags Adrian in, zip-tied , shirt soaked with blood .

“Adrian!” I yell.

He looks half-dead, eyes locked on me. “Ella ;”

“Shut up, Vale ,” Jared snaps, shoving him into a chair .

“Let him go!” I scream.

“Quiet,” Thane says. “Adrian, why did you protect the target?”

“She’s not a target ,” Adrian growls, voice raw. “She’s a person .”

“She’s a hybrid,” Thane says. “You know the protocol.”

“Protocol can burn.”

I stare at him . “You knew?”

“I suspected,” he mutters. “After the alley.”

“And you still saved me?”

“Always,” he says, so quiet only I hear.

Thane slams the table. “Enough! The prophecy....”

“What prophecy?” I demand.

Thane hesitates. “A hybrid will either save the world… or end it.”

“Great,” I laugh bitterly. “No pressure.”

Adrian strains against the ties. “You’re not using her as a weapon.”

“We’re not the ones who want her dead,” Thane says. “Valerius Drakov does.”

“Who’s that?”

“The vampire king,” Adrian says, voice dark. “Oldest, strongest, craziest. He felt you wake up. He’s coming.”

My stomach drops. “Why me?”

“Because your blood can make him a god,” Thane says. “Or destroy him. Depends who gets you first.”

The lights flicker. Red emergency strobes kick on.

Alarms blare.

“Perimeter breach!” someone shouts over the intercom.

Thane pales. “They’re here.”

Jared pulls his gun. “How many?”

“All of them,” the voice crackles. “Elite guard. They’re inside the walls!”

Adrian rips his zip-ties like paper, grabs a knife off Jared’s belt. “Keys. Now.”

“You’re under arrest....”

“Keys or I take them,” Adrian snarls, eyes feral.

Jared throws them.

Adrian’s at my side in a second, unlocking my cuffs. The second metal falls, golden sparks explode between us again, brighter, hotter.

“Still doing that,” I whisper.

“Still hate it,” he mutters, but his hand lingers on my wrist.

Thane grabs a shotgun. “We have to move her to the safe room....”

“No,” Adrian says. “We’re getting out.”

“You’ll never make it,” Thane argues.

“Watch me.”

The door explodes inward .

A vampire the size of a truck steps through , face half-scarred, grinning . “Found the hybrid.”

Another one behind him, beautiful, deadly, red lips curled. “Valerius wants her breathing.”

Adrian shoves me behind him. “Over my dead body.”

“That’s the plan,” the scarred one laughs.

They attack.

Adrian fights like a demon, knife flashing, taking hits that would kill anyone else. I grab a broken chair leg, swing wild.

“Stay back!” Adrian yells.

“I’m not helpless!”

“You’re not trained!”

“I’m not dying either!”

The woman vampire grabs my hair, yanks me hard. “Pretty thing. The king will enjoy breaking you.”

I scream, pure rage, and something inside me snaps.

Pain rips through my fingers.

Claws explode out, long, black, deadly.

My eyes burn.

I slash upward.

Four deep gashes open across the scarred vampire’s face , from eye to jaw . He roars, staggers back, blood pouring .

Everyone freezes.

I stare at my claws, dripping red.

“What…” I breathe.

Adrian’s staring too, knife lowered. “Ella…”

The woman vampire laughs, delighted. “Look at that. Baby’s got teeth.”

I lunge without thinking, claws raking air. She dodges, grabs my throat.

Adrian tackles her off me, drives the knife through her shoulder. “Touch her again and I take your head!”

The scarred one recovers, grabs Adrian by the throat, lifts him. “You’re coming with us too, hunter. The king has plans.”

Adrian chokes, fighting.

I scream, claws slashing, catch the big one across the arm. He drops Adrian, roars.

Thane fires the shotgun, blasts the scarred vampire back through the wall.

“Run!” Thane yells. “Both of you! Now!”

Adrian grabs my hand, golden sparks blinding.

We bolt.

Down corridors, past screaming Nightwatch agents, past bodies.

Alarms screaming.

Guns firing.

Blood everywhere.

We burst out a side door into the night.

Adrian drags me into the shadows, breathing hard.

“You okay?” he pants.

I stare at my claws , still out, still dripping. “I just slashed a guy’s face off .”

“Yeah,” he says, voice wrecked . “You did.”

“What am I ?”

He cups my face , forces me to look at him. “You’re still you .”

“Am I?”

“Yes,” he says, fierce. “And I’m still not letting anyone take you.”

Sirens behind us.

More vampires coming.

He pulls me deeper into the dark.

“Where are we going?” I whisper.

“Somewhere they can’t track the mark,” he says. “Somewhere I can keep you alive.”

“Adrian....”

“Later,” he says. “Right now, just run.”

We run.

And somewhere far away, Valerius sits on his throne, touching the fresh scar that just appeared on his own face, mirroring the one I just gave his elite.

He smiles, slow and terrible.

“There you are, little queen,” he whispers. “Come to daddy.”