Chapter 4

"Time of death, four thirty-seven a.m."

Dr. Hale peeled off his bloodstained gloves and quietly told me he was sorry. He said the silver fragment had already pierced my grandmother's heart before surgery began. The silver poisoning had suppressed the last of her healing ability. They removed the silver, but they couldn't bring her back.

My grandmother lay on the hospital bed, her face so peaceful she could have been asleep. Just last winter, she had been making me hot apple cider and scolding me for not resting properly after my night shifts.

I held her hand, willing my warmth into her. But when a vampire died, the body grew colder than any human corpse. No matter how long I held on, that hand would never be warm again.

Over the next three days, I handled everything alone. I signed over a dozen hospital and cemetery forms, confirmed her identity at the heavily guarded vampire funeral home, and made five trips on the underground train, racing the sunrise each time.

The night we buried her, it rained at the cemetery. Her black coffin descended into the family crypt, the stone door closing slowly. I stood alone in the rain, mud clinging to the soles of my shoes.

Raindrops pattered against the headstone. I traced the name engraved in the stone, RUTH HART, and finally said, "Grandma, no one's going to leave hot apple cider out for me anymore."

Only after the words left my mouth did I realize tears were already streaming down my face.

On the fourth night, I returned to the home I'd shared with Adrian for seven years. The living room light was on. Lillian stood at the closet doorway, loading my clothes into a cardboard box.

She saw me and her eyes reddened immediately. She pressed a hand to her chest and backed away. "Eve, don't be upset. I was just trying to help organize your things. Adrian said you've been emotionally unstable lately. I was worried the silver jewelry might upset you."

"Get out."

She immediately started gasping for air, her eyes turning red, her fangs sliding out. But I could see clearly. She wasn't truly losing control. She just knew exactly how to make everyone panic.

"Evelyn!" Adrian's voice came from the doorway.

Before I could turn around, his hand struck my face. He wore the Mohr family ring on his right hand, its face lined with silver, insulated on the inside by a layer of obsidian that protected him from the poison. The silver-plated surface hit my skin and instantly seared a sharp red welt across my cheek. My head snapped to the side, and my left ear rang without stopping.

"She was being kind enough to pack for you. How long are you going to keep this up?"

Lillian said weakly from behind him, "Don't hit her. It's my fault. I shouldn't have touched her things."

Only after the blow did Adrian realize his hand was shaking. The anger drained from his face, replaced by panic as he stared at the silver burn on my cheek. "Eve, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I saw her on the verge of losing control and I panicked."

"It's fine." I touched my face. The silver burn should have been agonizing, but all I felt was numb. "I've been in a bad place lately. I thought it over, and you're right. Lillian only awakened recently. I shouldn't hold things against her."

I turned around, took my grandmother's gray scarf out of the box, folded it neatly, and placed it in my travel bag.

Adrian stood frozen, unsure what to do. Lillian was still hiding behind him, sniffling quietly. I went on. "The hospital has a placement at a night clinic in the Bronx. I'm thinking of applying and leaving for a month. We can talk about everything when I get back."

Adrian's eyes lit up. He came over, carefully avoiding the burn on my face, and pulled me into his arms. "Good. Go clear your head. By the time you come back, I'll have everything with Lillian sorted out. Once the blood bond is dissolved, we'll register right away and have a proper wedding."

The day I left, he drove me to the night flight terminal himself. He was in a good mood the whole way, playing music and cracking a vampire hunter joke that wasn't funny.

At the security gate, he stopped, cupped my face in both hands, and kissed the unburned side of my forehead. "Get some rest when you arrive. Stop thinking about all this. Call me whenever you miss me. Any time."

"Okay."

"A month goes by fast. I'll be waiting for you."

He waved goodbye with a smile and walked away, his steps so light it was as if he'd finally shaken off a burden.

I watched his back disappear into the crowd. My phone screen kept lighting up. My mother had posted in the family group chat: Evelyn finally came around. This is what family should look like. Claire sent me a private message: Glad you're finally being understanding. Blood wine's on me when you're back.

Three minutes earlier, Adrian had posted. The caption read simply: Storm's over. The photo showed the glass dome of the terminal. No sun outside. Just a cold, pale moon.

I read every last message, then ejected the SIM card from my phone and snapped it in half. The two pieces fell into a trash can. I didn't look back.

Then I pulled out my real ticket. The destination wasn't New York. It was Vancouver.