Chapter 4

The cold wind sliced across the terrace like a knife, and I brushed a tear from the corner of my eye.

Cheers erupted from the hall behind me.

Another game, I surmised. Kieran, without a second thought, chose Seraphina again.

"This is your fate, Aurora," I told myself. "Even if you gave him your heart, it wouldn't be as precious to him as that porcelain doll, with all her 'royal blood'."

I pulled myself together, ready to go back inside, when suddenly, the air shimmered.

Years of ingrained caution made me freeze.

A man in a servant's uniform darted from the shadows, a jet-black dagger clutched in his hand.

My eyes widened.

It was a demon hunter's blade, coated in enchanted poison.

"Die, vampire!"

He was coming for me.

I dodged awkwardly, the dagger slicing my arm. My clothes ripped, and blood gushed out instantly.

The searing pain made me gasp.

"Kieran!"

The name just slipped out.

For the past five years, whenever I was in danger, he was always the first one to arrive.

The doors at the end of the hall flew open.

Kieran burst out, moving like a black streak of lightning.

He'd heard my cry.

My heart leaped.

He still cared about me…

"Ah!"

At the same time, a delicate shriek echoed.

Seraphina was right behind him, stumbling as if she'd tripped on a rug and tumbling toward the stairs.

From that distance, she would have barely scraped herself if she fell.

But facing me was death, dagger in hand.

In that split second, Kieran stopped his charge toward me.

He spun around, catching Seraphina as she "fell," holding her protectively.

Time seemed to stop.

I watched Kieran's concerned gaze as he checked Seraphina's ankle. All the while, the assassin, grinning, raised his dagger again, aiming for my throat.

My heart shattered.

Despair turned into a strange, wild strength.

I didn't try to dodge again. Instead, I grabbed a pure silver candelabra from a nearby table.

The silver seared my palm, sending up acrid smoke.

But I needed this pain. This pain made me feel alive.

With all my might, I swung the heavy candelabra at the assassin's head.

He hadn't expected me to grab silver barehanded and stumbled back.

The next second, the manor guards finally arrived, pinning the assassin to the ground.

I leaned against the wall, my hand a bloody mess, blood dripping from my fingertips onto the expensive rug.

Kieran finally looked up and saw me, covered in blood. His pupils contracted sharply.

"Aurora…" He started to move toward me.

"Don't," I croaked.

Seraphina, trembling in his arms, whimpered, "Oh, Aurora, you're bleeding so much. But I suppose it's okay since your blood isn't as precious as mine, right?"

Tears of innocence streamed down her face, but her words dripped with pure cruelty.

"Oh, and," she added, as if remembering something delightful, "I found a ruby necklace in your vanity. It looked so old-fashioned, I thought it would suit my cat much better, so I put it around his neck. I'm sure you don't mind?"

The last thread of my sanity snapped.

It was the Blood Moon ruby necklace my mother had given me. My last connection to her.

Ignoring the vampire doctor tending to my wound, I lunged for the fruit platter and grabbed a silver fruit knife.

"Aurora, stop!" Kieran's voice boomed.

Too late.

I stood before Seraphina.

She hadn't expected me to actually do it and stared with wide, frightened eyes.

I wasn't going to kill her. That would be too easy.

My hand moved like a flash, and I plunged the knife deep into her wrist – the wrist that flowed with that so-called "noble blood."

"This is what you get for touching my mother's things!"

Blood splattered.

Seraphina let out a piercing scream.