Chapter 3

I turned around.

Silas stood right behind me. As a high-ranking vampire, he had moved without stirring a breath of air. His expression was frozen solid, his eyes locked on my overstuffed suitcase.

Julian leaned against the doorframe with his arms crossed, wearing an identical look of contempt.

Elena trailed behind them, her head lowered, but the barely contained excitement practically seeped from between the fingers gripping her skirt.

For one second, I wanted to tell them the truth. But I remembered Julian's emotionless words: "You don't need to explain yourself to us."

All my courage evaporated.

Fine. When I was finally gone, at least I could lie to myself-they simply didn't know I was leaving, rather than simply not caring.

I shoved my hands into my coat pockets, my fingernails digging into the unhealed wound on my palm, using the pain to force myself to stay calm. I shrugged with feigned nonchalance.

"As you can see, since the master bedroom has been given to Elena, I need to move my personal things to the cellar or to school."

Silas's expression froze for a beat. Then he replaced it with something even more vicious.

"Don't pull this running-away stunt on me."

"If you leave, don't ever expect me and Julian to turn you."

I nodded along with his words. "So I'm indeed not planning to accept your transformation anymore."

Silas's pupils contracted sharply-the telltale sign of a vampire's rage. I swear I wasn't trying to provoke him. I just wanted to make my exit as painless for them as possible.

Elena put on her most innocent face. "You should stay-this is your home, after all. I'll be the one to move out."

I looked at her without a flicker of emotion. "No need. Once I'm gone, I'm never coming back."

Elena's lips twitched in a smile she couldn't suppress fast enough. She quickly ducked her head and went back to playing helpless.

Julian lunged forward a step. "Who are you threatening? You think you'd survive three months in the vampire world without this family? You really want to live out your life as an ordinary human?"

Silas sneered. "If you want to leave, then leave. You think anyone would spare you a second glance without us?"

I said nothing more. I picked up my heavy suitcase and headed for the door. Fifteen years in this castle, and there wasn't much I wanted to take. Apart from a few necessities and our parents' belongings, nothing in this house was mine anymore.

I dragged two black suitcases toward the foyer. Julian's savage voice erupted behind me:

"Go ahead-and don't you dare die out there!"

I hauled the cases down the marble steps.

Silas's taunt drifted down from the terrace, dripping with casual cruelty: "Don't come crying at our door when you're starving and digging through garbage!"

I wanted to grab the black umbrella by the entrance. But his words hit me like a sledgehammer to the chest, leaving me gasping. I shoved the door open and plunged headfirst into the midnight downpour.

The freezing rain soaked through my shirt in an instant, and the cold cut straight to my bones. I dragged my suitcases through the courtyard, rain blurring my vision.

Julian's voice was still rising behind me:

"From this moment on, anyone who dares open the door for this traitor can leave with her!"

My eyes stung so badly I couldn't keep them open. I couldn't tell if it was the rain or the tears I couldn't hold back. My soaked sleeves began to seep dark red-the ceramic wound on my palm had torn open again from the strain.

Years ago, during that explosion, while Silas and Julian were being turned, I'd shielded them from interference and suffered severe burns across my back. My health had never fully recovered since.

But I couldn't feel the pain anymore. My body just felt like lead.

I wasn't sure if anyone would still be at the Council offices at this hour. The truth was, I had no idea where else to go.

Then Elena ran out into the rain, her voice pitched with theatrical urgency: "Wait! I'm sorry, this is all my fault! If you hate me, I'll be the one to leave!"

Julian's furious voice chased after her: "Elena! Are you insane? You're human-the rain in vampire territory will burn your skin! Get back inside!"

I managed a bitter, self-mocking smile. I was human too. I was half-dead from the rain, and he couldn't have cared less. But a few drops on Elena, and he acted like the sky was falling.

The world began to dim around me. Just as my body was about to collapse into the mud, a strong hand caught me firmly by the waist. The pounding rain above my head vanished instantly.

I forced my eyes up.

The man before me wore a pure black commander's cloak, a ruby medal of supreme authority pinned to his chest. This was Caspian-the First Enforcer under the Vampire King.

He had long been searching for a way to make vampires completely immune to holy water and crucifixes. He'd noticed my talent in blood pharmacology and had extended multiple invitations on the King's behalf-to join a century-long isolation project. Once you entered, you were cut off from the world entirely.

I'd always refused because I couldn't bear to leave my brothers. But now, there was nothing left here worth staying for.

His black Rolls-Royce idled in the rain. Several vampire attendants in black suits stepped out in perfect unison and took my luggage.

Silas and Julian went white the moment they saw the scene. As vampire nobility, they recognized exactly whose people these were. Almost reflexively, they straightened their spines and bowed in a formal gesture of submission to Caspian.

Silas's voice trembled. "Sir? what brings you here? If my sister has offended you in some way-"

A flash of worry crossed his eyes. Obviously, he assumed I'd gotten myself into trouble. In their minds, being singled out by Caspian meant one of two things: being taken as a lowly blood slave, or being dragged away to die.

Just as Caspian gestured for me to get in the car, Silas and Julian moved in unison. Even facing the overwhelming pressure of a superior, they gritted their teeth and threw themselves in front of the car door.

"Sir! If Alice has offended you, we'll take her punishment!" Julian's hoarse shout made something clench in my chest. That reckless protective instinct-I hadn't seen it in so long.

But Caspian merely gave a cold snort. He didn't even raise a hand. The sheer force of his bloodline authority radiated outward like a hammer blow, sending both of them hurtling backward into the estate's thick stone wall.

Two heavy thuds. Cracks spiderwebbed through the masonry as they slid to the ground, coughing up dark blood.

I instinctively started toward them, worry flashing in my eyes. Then I looked down at my own blood-soaked palm and remembered the serum they'd taken from me.

I stopped dead in my tracks, said nothing, and got into the car.

Caspian swept a cold glance over the two crumpled figures. "I'm taking Alice."

He opened the car door for me himself, as gently as if escorting royalty, and shielded me from the rain overhead.

Silas and Julian stared, stunned.

Julian wiped blood from his lip, and the worry in his eyes instantly turned to the wild fury of someone who'd been deceived. He braced himself against the wall and stood, his voice sharp with scorn:

"So that's why you suddenly grew a spine-even daring to leave home!"

"You climbed into the Enforcer's bed. Alice, you'll really do anything to get back at us, won't you?"

Silas hauled himself upright too, his smile sharp and hollow. "All this just to secure your next meal ticket. You even staged that whole martyr act. Get lost-and don't you ever call yourself one of ours again."

The window rose slowly, cutting off their venomous curses.

Caspian looked at my bloodied hand, his expression dark. "This is how they treat you? I truly don't understand why you insisted on going back for more."

I watched the streetscape blur past the window. A long time passed before I murmured, "Because they used to be? really good to me."

Caspian said nothing. He didn't believe me.

Tears finally mingled with the rain and slid down my face.

"Really. My brothers used to love me so much."