Chapter 3

Three days later, I was in my lab, putting the finishing touches on the sun-immunity serum.

The liquid in the test tube turned a perfect, shimmering gold.

The experiment was a success.

It was the last formula I would ever develop for Evander.

In one month, I would walk out of this castle with the Elder Council’s writ and never look back.

BANG!

The lab door was thrown open with such force that the glassware on my shelves rattled.

Evander stood in the doorway, his face a thundercloud. His crimson eyes were burning with rage, his entire being radiating a violent aura.

"Linnea."

His voice was a low growl, heavy with the authority of an Ancient.

"You want to leave?"

My hand jerked, nearly knocking over the tube.

He knew.

"If I didn't have spies on the Council, when were you planning on telling me?" He stalked toward me. "You filed a request to leave the family?"

"It's my right," I said, forcing myself to remain calm. "I am an alchemist. I have no bond or contract with you."

"Right?" Evander laughed, a cold, sharp sound.

He cornered me against a workbench, his voice a low, dangerous growl. "Is this some pathetic attempt to make me jealous? To threaten me?"

He laughed, a humorless, chilling sound. "You actually think I would break a sacred bond for you? Don't be absurd."

I froze. How could he twist my intentions into something so venomous?

"My Lord," I said, looking straight into his burning eyes. "You already have your bonded mate. Why would my departure threaten you in any way? I am simply an alchemist whose contract has been fulfilled."

His breath hitched for a second.

"I never signed any contract with you," I said, pulling my chin from his grasp. "I have the right to choose my own future."

Evander's face grew even darker. "A future of your own?"

He sneered.

"Linnea, the moment you stepped into this castle, you sealed your fate. You can never leave. Not unless you undergo the Soul-Purifying Ritual and have your memories wiped."

His voice was a venomous threat.

"You will suffer a fate worse than death. You are not leaving this place."

My heart pounded. The Soul-Purifying Ritual was a form of torture reserved for traitors. It left you a mindless, empty shell.

But I calmed myself just as quickly.

If he knew I’d already traded the formula for the Council’s writ, he wouldn't be standing here threatening me. He would have torn me to shreds already.

Seeing my expression settle, Evander’s eyes narrowed dangerously.

"You think I'm joking?"

He turned and strode toward the private greenhouse at the back of my lab.

That was my secret garden. The place where I poured all my passion, completely separate from my duties to his family.

"Don't—"

I tried to stop him, but it was too late.

Evander threw open the glass doors, his eyes sweeping over the rare and delicate plants I had nurtured.

Seventeen genetically modified, UV-resistant plant species.

Three of them were on the verge of genetic stability—the key specimens.

They were my ticket back to the human world, a potential breakthrough for treating photosensitivity in cancer patients.

This had nothing to do with his family.

This was my dream. Linnea's dream.

The dream I couldn't achieve in the human world.

"Evander, stop!" I scrambled to my feet and lunged for him.

Too late.

He raised his right hand.

The same hand that had once gently caressed my face was now glowing a sickly, necrotic gray.

The Wither Touch of an ancient vampire.

His hand drifted over a mystical orchid.

"Everything you are, Linnea, you owe to me. Your knowledge, your time... your very thoughts. They all belong to me."

"No—" I charged him, but an invisible barrier threw me back.

"And now you dare to dream of having a career of your own?"

In an instant, the beautiful flower withered, blackened, and crumbled into ash.

"Without me," he declared, his voice dropping to a terrifying whisper as he reached for the next flower, "you are nothing."

A hybrid sunflower wilted at his touch. A moon-petal rose dissolved into black dust.

All of my plants. Two years of my work. All of it turned to nothing right before my eyes.

I collapsed to the floor, my trembling hands sifting through the still-warm ashes. Tears streamed down my face. These plants were my children. I had watched them sprout, grow, and bloom.

Now they were all gone.

"Why..." I choked out, looking up at him. "Why would you do this to me?"

Evander looked down at me, his eyes devoid of pity. "Because this is reality, Linnea. You are an accessory. You are not entitled to your own dreams."

I stared up at the beautiful, monstrous face I had once been willing to die for.

The tears still tracked through the ash on my cheeks, but inside, my heart wasn't just turning to ice. It was shattering.

I lowered my head and wiped my eyes.

"I understand, my Lord."

My voice was unnervingly calm.

He seemed satisfied with my response.

He released me and turned to leave.

I knelt in the ashes for a long time, unmoving.

Then, I slowly pushed myself to my feet.

I walked to my workbench, opened a locked drawer, and pulled out a rolled-up parchment scroll.

The Writ of Absolute Severance from the Vampire High Council.

A messenger from the Elders had delivered it himself at dawn.

The gold seal of the Council gleamed in the lamplight.

I ran my thumb over the seal.

He thought he had broken me. He had no idea he'd just set me free.