Chapter 1

The day before my wedding, I went to our cathedral early to get familiar with the place.

Instead, I found my fiancé and my stepsister, Isabella fucking on the altar. Our altar.

I caught them. He didn't even apologize and just threw me out into the storm. I collapsed in the pouring rain.

That’s when he found me. Alistair, the Vampire Prince.

He moved like a god through the storm. He pulled me from the mud, and gave me a palace.

He told the world I was his soulmate. The one he’d spent centuries searching for. His one and only.

For five years, his devotion made me the envy of the supernatural world.

I thought I was the one exception in his eternal life.

Until I found his secret room. My fingers brushed against an ancient scroll. The script was written in blood.

The first line was her name: Isabella.

Beneath it, in Alistair's own hand: “Absolute priority. Above all else.”

Underneath was a healer's log I’d never seen before. A vampire's healing log.

The date was from the night I found out I was pregnant. The night I was attacked by werewolves.

They brought me back to the castle, covered in blood.

The healers never came for me. I woke up alone. The baby was gone. Our child. His blood, my blood—gone. And my clothes were soaked in what was left of it.

I cleaned every trace of it. When he came home, I broke down in his arms. I never told him. I couldn’t bear for him to feel the pain I felt.

Now I understood. That same night, Isabella was also being attacked by werewolves. And Alistair’s order to his council was:

“Send every healer. Isabella is the priority.”

My heart stopped. Despair was a poison in my veins.

“If I was never the one... then you can keep your eternity. I want no part of it.”

...

I determined to choose the cruelest way to leave him. Then I slipped the goddamn scroll back where I found it, deep in his secret chamber.

I fought back the pain, the tears threatening to spill. I went back to our room.

Alistair would be home soon. He always read my emotions with terrifying accuracy. I couldn’t let him know a thing.

Sure enough, just as I stepped out of the shower, a familiar dark shadow materialized behind me.

A pair of long, strong arms pulled me into an embrace.

Alistair’s lips ghosted over the side of my neck.

“Baby, you’re quiet. What’s wrong?”

I didn't melt into his hold like I always did.

“Nothing. Just thinking about my art exhibition.”

“Don’t worry, it will be perfect.” He stroked my hair. His voice was velvet laced with poison. “It’s your night. I’ve even hired an elven soul-healer to make sure you’re at your absolute best tomorrow.”

Tears burned behind my eyes. I refused to let them fall.

Such a caring husband. Such a perfect lie.

For five years, he had spoiled me like this.

His touch was fire, but my blood ran to ice.

I was afraid of the dark, so he’d light my way to sleep with a soft glow at his fingertips.

He promised me eternity. Not the bite, not a blood bond. A way for me to live forever, but stay me.

And I, like a fool, believed him.

Only tonight did I understand. All of it—the public displays, the grand gestures—was just a performance. A smokescreen to hide the one he truly protected.

Alistair’s gaze on me grew hot, possessive, as his kisses trailed lower.

He entered me, devoted to my pleasure, just as he had been every night for five years.

I played my part, savoring one last stolen moment of bliss.

But as I reached my peak, his words sent my heart crashing back to earth.

“Oh, about your exhibition…”

He thrust deeper, kissing me hard.

And in that moment of supposed intimacy, he shattered everything.

“Isabella wants to be involved. She’s been feeling so lost lately. I thought... I gave her a key to the warded studio. So she could watch you work. Find some inspiration.”

My blood ran cold.

A key to the warded studio.

That was where I kept all my unfinished and private works, including my masterpiece, First Light in an Endless Night.

Only two keys to that ward existed in the entire world. One for me, one for him.

And he had just given his to Isabella.

I fought to keep my voice from shaking. “Alistair, you know what those paintings mean to me…”

He cut me off, his voice a suffocatingly gentle poison.

“I know, my love. But she’s your sister. Doesn't her happiness make you happy? She’s just observing, don’t overthink it. Besides, I have a special birthday surprise for you.”

My birthday.

It was the day after tomorrow.

"What surprise?"

"A field of Silvermoon flowers." His eyes gleamed with pride. "I planted an entire field for you in the castle’s back garden. They release the most beautiful light crystals under the moonlight."

My blood turned to ice.

Silvermoon flowers.

The same flowers I'm deathly allergic to.

The same flowers that happen to be Isabella’s favorite.

"You're... sure they're for me?"

"Of course," he answered without hesitation, not a trace of guilt in his eyes. "Haven't you always admired their beauty?"

Admired?

The first time I’d touched one, I broke out in a full-body rash and could barely breathe.

He had summoned every elder, his eyes red with panic. He was ready to offer his own heart's blood to save me.

How could he not remember?

Unless… what if this gift was never for me at all?

The thought was a lightning strike, connecting everything: the scroll, Isabella’s name, and the one detail I’d missed—Silvermoon flowers were her favorite.

When we were finished, he pulled out of me.

“Get some rest, my love.” He brushed a kiss across my lips before heading to the bathroom.

That’s when it happened. A small, exquisite crystal vial slipped from his silk robe, landing without a sound on the thick carpet.

On pure instinct, I picked it up.

Inside was a pigment that shimmered like stardust. A color I had never seen before.

But I recognized it.

“Stardust of Eternal Night.” The name Isabella had gloated about.

“Ever seen a color so unique, sister? My secret admirer says it’s one-of-a-kind. Impossible to replicate.”

I had pretended to scoff. But a part of me, the artist, had marveled at its beauty. I had coveted it.

And now I knew. Her secret admirer... was my husband.

I placed the vial back on the floor where it fell, as if it were a piece of filth.

Then I slipped back into bed, silent. I could feel the blood turning to ice in my veins, inch by inch.

I closed my eyes, but I was wide awake until the dead of night, silently counting down the hours.

My birthday was in two days.

And I would give Alistair a gift of my own.

I would disappear from his eternal life. Forever.