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Twelve
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2025-06-24 02:02:25The invitation arrived bound in black silk and sealed with crimson wax, featuring a symbol stamped into it: a crescent moon caught in a serpent’s coils. Autumn's name was elegantly inscribed in silver ink. There was no return address, no sender.
Tristan stared at it, as if it might explode.
“You’re not going,” he said firmly.
Autumn arched an eyebrow. “That’s not your decision to make.”
He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply through his nose. “Autumn… this is Jaiden’s seal.”
She paused for a moment. “Then I absolutely have to go.”
---
The masquerade took place in an abandoned cathedral outside Chicago, now restored to haunting opulence. Candles floated mid-air, and crimson velvet draped the walls. A slow, ancient waltz pulsed through the space like a heartbeat.
Autumn entered alone.
Her mask was silver with veined onyx lace, and her gown—a deep emerald satin—hugged her curves as if it had been tailored for seduction. Beneath her collarbone, her pendant pulsed.
Minutes later, Tristan entered, dressed in tailored black. His mask was simple and sharp, cut from onyx like a blade.
At the center of the ballroom stood Jaiden, unmasked as always. He wore confidence like armor and grinned when he spotted her.
“Sister-in-law,” he said, his voice smooth like honey over knives. “You look… delicious.”
Tristan stepped protectively between them.
Jaiden raised his hands in mock surrender. “I come in peace. Tonight is about politics, not blood.” His eyes flicked toward Autumn. “Mostly.”
Ignoring the threat, Autumn asked, “Why did you invite me?”
Jaiden’s smile shifted, softening just a bit. “Because the Hollow is stirring. Because you’re the last Veilwalker. Because there are other players moving now, and if you don’t pick a side, one will be picked for you.”
She felt the Book pulse inside her purse.
Before she could respond, the music stopped.
A figure stepped onto the balcony above, cloaked and masked in gold, their voice amplified by magic. “The council acknowledges the bond between Veil and Night.”
Whispers rippled through the crowd. All eyes turned to her.
Tristan looked ready to kill.
Jaiden beamed. “They’re announcing your soulbond. It’s public now.”
“I didn’t agree to that,” Autumn whispered, her voice trembling.
“You didn’t have to,” Jaiden replied. “The Veil chose. The Blood chose. And now the world will watch.”
Feeling exposed and claimed, Autumn fled to the side hall, her heart pounding. She needed space.
Jake found her there.
His mask was plain wood, carved with the symbol of his maker—Jaiden.
“You shouldn’t be here,” she said, frustrated.
“I was told to protect you,” he responded.
“But you work for him,” she countered.
“I work for balance,” Jake said. “And something’s coming, Autumn. Bigger than Jaiden. Bigger than you.”
He looked at her pendant and then into her eyes.
“Your soul is being watched.”
Suddenly, the lights flickered.
A cold wind rushed through the hall.
In that moment—just a breath—Autumn saw her reflection in the window. But it moved differently, smiling wider. Behind her, a woman with white eyes whispered one word:
“Soon.”
Bab terbaru
First Bite Epilogue
The candlelight flickered incessantly in the meticulously drawn circle that Autumn had outlined with ash and salt, its warm glow casting dancing shadows against the worn walls of her grandmother’s ancient ritual room. Outside, the soft spring wind rustled through the newly budded branches of cherry trees, creating a gentle, melodic sound that felt almost like a whisper. Meanwhile, inside the sanctuary of her past, the Veil waited and listened with an almost sentient presence.Seated cross-legged on an intricately woven mat, Autumn surrounded herself with a collection of ancestral artifacts—delicate bones that spoke of forgotten lives, smooth stones imbued with ancient energy, vibrant feathers from elusive birds, and the softly breathing Book of the Veilwalker, its pages fluttering as if sensing the charged atmosphere. The remnants of the Hollow fire still etched traces on her skin: a faint silver burn that curled around her collarbone like a serpent, and a tattoo-like mark of dark thr
First Bite Fifteen
The estate was silent.Too silent.Not the kind of silence that comforted, but the kind that watched—breathing behind the walls, listening through the floorboards. It wasn’t absence. It was attention.Autumn descended the grand staircase, her bare feet cool against the stone. Each step echoed louder than the last, until even her breath felt like a trespass. The pendant at her throat no longer glowed. The Book—keystone of all things hidden—sat unmoving on its pedestal, closed and unreadable. Somewhere beyond the garden wall, a wind howled once and died mid-cry.The world held its breath.Tristan met her in the parlor, a shadow amid lamplight. He wore no shirt, only a dark pair of linen pants that clung to his hips like silk. His chest was bare but not unmarked—etched with ancient sigils drawn in salt and ash, a protective rite older than the bones beneath the house. He hadn't needed it in centuries.But tonight was different.“You feel it,” she said, her voice barely more than a breath
First Bite Fourteen
The mirror stopped smiling first. Autumn shattered it anyway.The council met at midnight, deep beneath a hollowed-out basilica carved into the earth. Pillars wrapped in ivy framed a long obsidian table. Around it sat the supernatural elite—witches, vampires, spiritwalkers, and those who had survived too many blood moons. Autumn entered last, her pendant glowing. She felt their eyes on her, weighing her, testing the limits of what she had become. Tristan was at her side. Jade and Dominic sat across the chamber, both pale and serious. Jade’s power pulsed in waves, laced with something new—panic barely contained by bone.Autumn spoke first. “I saw Mara.”Whispers erupted. One of the elders, an albino vampire with no eyes, leaned forward. “The Hollow is waking.”“She tried to pull me under,” Autumn said. “She’s inside the veil.”“No,” Jade said softly. “She’s beneath it.”That silenced the room.“What does she want?” asked Dominic.Autumn’s voice barely rose. “Me.”---Later, in the quie
First Bite Thirteen
The heavy side doors of the cathedral crashed open, allowing Autumn to surge into the bitter cold of the night. Her breath emerged in sharp, frosty clouds, each exhale crisp in the frigid air. Just behind her, Tristan raced to keep up.“Autumn—wait!” he called, his voice laced with urgency.She whirled around to face him, fury and betrayal sparking in her hazel eyes. “You knew!”“I didn’t agree to the announcement,” he replied, his tone defensive.“But you knew they would do it!” She shouted, her words reverberating off the stone walls of the empty lot, starkly contrasting the stillness around them. “You let them bind me to you without my consent!”Tristan clenched his jaw, frustration etched across his features. “The bond was already there. They only made it visible.”“That doesn’t make it right!” she retorted, anger coursing through her veins.An oppressive silence hung heavy in the air, thick with a mix of power and panic. Suddenly, a sinister whisper curled out of the shadows: “Ru
First Bite Twelve
The invitation arrived bound in black silk and sealed with crimson wax, featuring a symbol stamped into it: a crescent moon caught in a serpent’s coils. Autumn's name was elegantly inscribed in silver ink. There was no return address, no sender.Tristan stared at it, as if it might explode.“You’re not going,” he said firmly.Autumn arched an eyebrow. “That’s not your decision to make.”He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply through his nose. “Autumn… this is Jaiden’s seal.”She paused for a moment. “Then I absolutely have to go.”---The masquerade took place in an abandoned cathedral outside Chicago, now restored to haunting opulence. Candles floated mid-air, and crimson velvet draped the walls. A slow, ancient waltz pulsed through the space like a heartbeat.Autumn entered alone.Her mask was silver with veined onyx lace, and her gown—a deep emerald satin—hugged her curves as if it had been tailored for seduction. Beneath her collarbone, her pendant pulsed.Minutes later, Tristan en
First Bite Eleven
The Mirabella Estate loomed before her, a grand relic of a bygone era, its timeworn stones draped in thick, clinging ivy and shadowed by the encroaching dusk. Through the dimly-lit windows, flickering amber light emitted an eerie warmth, but behind the glass lay secrets that pulsed with an ancient energy, concealed from the world outside.Autumn stood frozen at the wrought iron gate, her fingers curling around the chilled metal, feeling both the weight of its history and the frigid air of the approaching night. Beside her, Tristan remained silent, his presence a solid wall of unease. His discomfort was palpable—she could sense it in the stiff tension of his jaw and the protective brush of his hand against the small of her back, as if he were prepared to whisk her away at a moment’s notice should anything go awry.“It’s just a house,” she murmured, attempting to dispel the growing anxiety that settled like a heavy fog around her.“It’s never just a house when it remembers blood,” Trist
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