Chapter 20 | Sebastian’s POV I

She walked beside me—but not with me.

I could feel it. The stiffness in her spine, the slow-burning defiance in every reluctant step. She was done moving on my command. She’d let the scene play out to end Aiden’s questions, but the fire under her skin was for me now.

Not desire. Fury.

Good.

Let it burn.

We reached the alley behind the station, empty and shadowed. I stopped. She didn’t.

“Noah,” I said flatly.

She spun around, eyes lit like the sky before lightning cracks.

She slapped me.

The sound echoed through the alley like a shot.

My head jerked sideways, not from the force, but from the fact that she did it. Her hand lingered in the air for a second—shaking. Not with fear.

With fury.

“Don’t you ever touch him again,” she hissed.

I blinked. Blood buzzing behind my eyes.

“You’re defending him? A human boy who can’t even tell the difference between danger and desire?”

She crossed her arms. “I thought he was your friend.”

“You should stay away from Aiden,” I said, stepping closer.

She stared me down, jaw clenched tight. “Scared of a high school boy, Sebastian? He’s not even half your age.”

My hands curled at my sides.

“You don’t know what you’re saying.”

“Oh, I know exactly what I’m saying. I know your type. You’re scared that someone else might matter more than you.”

My jaw tensed. I couldn’t stop it. “You don’t understand what’s at stake. The Regent—my father—would kill to protect our world. Burn down towns, families, if you blow our cover. You want to be the reason your parents disappear one night?

Her face paled slightly—but her chin stayed high. “Does The Regent know that his son is a murderer?”

I froze.

“That you’ve been feeding off high schoolers. It’ll all lead back to you one day, you know that right?”

The air felt tighter. Hotter. Like the night was holding its breath.

She didn’t stop. “You’re a monster. Not because you’re a vampire. Because you like it. You like the killing.”

And there it was.

The part I couldn’t deny.

She stared at me like I was something that needed to be put down. And I hated it. Hated how much I wanted her to see me anyway.

“I’m disgusted by you…” she whispered, then turned and walked away.

I didn’t stop her.

Instead, I stood there—alone, teeth clenched, jaw twitching, the echo of her voice scraping inside my skull like a blade.

Disgusted.

Like I was a mistake she wished she didn’t know.

She didn’t know half of it.

Didn’t know about the motel girl with glassy eyes and a knife in her purse.

Didn’t know about the priest in that nowhere town who begged me with the Lord’s name as he bled out under a moon-crossed sky.

Didn’t know about the teenager three towns away who offered me a hit of something laced before I fed until the light left his eyes.

I used to feed carefully. Only out of town. Never twice in the same place. Never enough to link it back.

Because even monsters learned how to clean up after themselves.

But not that night, when Ash touched her.

Not when I read the filth in his thoughts as he passed me—visions of her lips, her thighs, the way she pulled away like he was something she could shake off.

He provoked her.

And I wanted to hurt him.

So I waited. Smiled through the rest of the party. Pretended to sip from red cups and nod along to the music.

After everyone left, Ash was still out back, near the fence line, finishing whatever was left in his bottle. Drunk. Arrogant. Still alive. I changed that part.

He barely had time to turn around.

I grabbed him by the throat and lifted him like dead weight, slamming him against the wood until it cracked.

“Sebastian?” he choked, confused. “What the—?”

“Should’ve kept your hands to yourself,” I said.

He swung. I let him.

Let him feel a flicker of hope before I crushed his wrist like it was paper.

Then I fed.

No hesitation. No mercy.

I didn’t stop until there was nothing left of him but broken limbs and a body torn enough to pass for an animal attack.

And then the second kid—Reed.

A loud sophomore with fast hands and a dirtier mouth. He said something about Noah in the locker room. I didn’t like his tone.

He died faster.

Messier. But I made it count.

I left his body half-dragged behind the bleachers for a show.

After Noah ran off, I spread the news fast.

Said I saw something—huge, black, fast.

Red eyes. Foaming mouth.

Like it crawled straight out of a nightmare.

Of course, they believed. I’m Sebastian Ford.

But Noah saw through flesh and skin and charm.

She saw the rot.

And for the first time in four decades, I gave a damn what someone saw in me.

I needed to feed.

Not to survive—

To shut myself up.

So I went to Velvet.

Dark. Loud. The kind of place where no one notices when people disappear for a little while.

The bouncer knew my face. Didn’t question it.

I slipped in like smoke, headed straight for the bar—already scanning, already hungry.

That’s when I saw her.

Slumped over a half-empty cocktail, eyeliner smudged, heels dangling off her toes like she hadn’t decided if staying alive was worth the effort.

Evie.

Aiden’s ex.

Broken. Open. Ripe.

Her head lifted slowly. She squinted. “Sebastian?”

“Yeah,” I said, sliding onto the stool beside her.

She blinked, as if trying to remember where she knew me from, then waved her glass. “You ever get so tired your soul wants to quit?”

I let the corner of my mouth lift. “More than you think.”

She laughed—a hollow, dry thing. “Aiden won’t talk to me. Says I need to move on. Even shut me out when I asked about how it went with the police. Do you know how that feels?”

“Like being invisible,” I said. “Like you could disappear and no one would notice.”

She blinked hard, nodding.

I leaned in. Let my voice curl low, slow. “But you don’t have to stay invisible.”

She looked at me now. Really looked. Eyes red-rimmed but curious.

“I can make you unforgettable,” I murmured. “Make him beg for your attention. Make him realize he never deserved you.”

Her breath caught. “How?”

I smiled. “Come with me.”

She followed without thinking. Drunk, maybe. But not stupid. Just broken in the way all people are when they realize love is leaving and nothing’s chasing it back.

We slipped out the side door. The city lights thinned. The music dulled behind us.

Until it was just her heartbeat and the hunger inside me.

I led her down the alley, past the dumpsters, into the silence.

“Where are we going?” she whispered.

“Somewhere he won’t forget you.”

She laughed, too loudly. “Is this some witchy revenge spell?”

I didn’t answer.

Just stopped walking.

Turned to face her.

“You still want him?” I asked.

She hesitated. “I just want to matter again.”

I stepped closer.

“I can make you matter forever.”

Then I leaned in, brushed a strand of hair behind her ear.

Her breath hitched.

That’s when the change happened. The snap of bone behind my jaw. The slow bloom of heat in my gums.

Fangs dropping.

Her eyes widened, confused.

She opened her mouth to speak—

Too late.

I sprang forward.

And her scream cut through the night like a blade.