I ran to my room in despair, my bare feet striking the cold marble as the weight of everything pressed down on me like a suffocating chain. Three days. That was all I had left before whatever judgment the Velistra bloodline had planned would descend on me.
I collapsed onto my bed and curled into myself, staring at nothing, trying and failing to imagine an escape that did not end in punishment or death.
Downstairs, Layla's voice cut through the mansion again, sharp and hysterical as she screamed at Father.
She was threatening to abandon her studies entirely unless he chose between her and Seraphina. The house shook with her tantrum, but none of it felt important to me. It never did.
I wish I had your problems, I muttered under my breath, bitter and hollow. At least hers came from being wanted.
*****
The next night, I sat by my window, knees drawn close, staring into the forest that stretched beyond the estate. The trees were thick and ancient, their shadows moving like something alive beneath the moonlight.
I had been thinking of escape for hours, turning it over and over in my mind, searching for a path that did not end with my capture.
A knock broke the silence.
One of the helps stood at my door, eyes lowered. The new madam sent for you.
My chest tightened at the name. Seraphina.
Where is she, I asked quietly.
In the outskirts of the forest, near the old blood oaks, the help replied.
My stomach dropped.
That place was not normal land. It was one of the oldest vampire territories connected to the Velistra lineage, where blood rituals had once been performed under the full moon.
Even now, it remained unstable ground, where the air felt heavier, where instincts sharpened without warning, where even strong vampires avoided lingering too long alone. No one sane went there casually, especially not at night.
Why would she call me there, I thought.
Still, I went.
I slipped out through my window and rose into the night air, moving silently above the mansion until the forest swallowed me whole. The deeper I went, the colder it became, until I finally saw her.
Seraphina stood alone in a clearing bathed in pale moonlight. She wore a deep velvet red dress that moved softly with the wind. Her fingers brushed against the leaves of the ancient trees as if she could feel them breathing.
She looked calm, almost beautiful enough to belong to the forest itself.
You came, Ivy, she said without turning. I thought you would be too afraid.
I landed a few feet away and folded my arms. Afraid of what exactly, I asked. You are the one who called me into vampire hunting grounds in the middle of the night.
That made her pause. Then she turned slowly.
And laughed.
It was soft at first, almost warm. Then it shifted. Something sharper hid beneath it, something that did not belong to anything related to my presence here.
What is funny, I asked.
Her laughter stopped instantly.
The silence that followed felt wrong, too complete.
Then she vanished.
There was no sound, no movement, no transition. One moment she stood several meters away, the next she was directly in front of me as if space itself had folded around her.
My instincts barely had time to react before her hand closed around my throat.
Cold pressure snapped through me as she lifted me effortlessly off the ground and drove me back into the trunk of an ancient tree. Bark cracked behind me. The force stole my breath.
Her eyes had changed. Fangs fully extended now, sharp and unmistakable in the moonlight.
What are you doing, I choked out.
She did not answer.
Instead she threw me.
I crashed into the undergrowth, rolling through leaves and broken branches, confusion burning through my mind. Before I could recover, she was on me again.
This time there was no hesitation.
Her strikes were precise, fast, controlled. Not wild like a human. Every movement carried intent. She hit my ribs hard enough to make my vision blur, followed with a sharp strike to my jaw that snapped my head sideways. Her knee drove into my stomach, forcing air out of my lungs. Then her nails raked across my cheek, leaving a burning line of pain.
Stop, I shouted, blocking another blow. Do you want me to kill you?
I pushed her back with force, finally breaking her rhythm, but she came again immediately, relentless, refusing to give me space.
"Do it" she yelled
That was when I stopped holding back.
My eyes burned crimson. My fangs descended fully. Power surged through my limbs like fire waking from sleep.
But even as the beast in me rose, something inside me hesitated.
Seraphina had been… kind to me. In small, quiet ways no one else in the house ever had.
She had never raised her voice at me. Never looked at me with the same disgust the others did.
And now I was supposed to hurt her?
I pulled one strike at the last second. She punished the hesitation instantly, her elbow slamming into my side with vicious accuracy.
I growled and tried to end it cleanly, aiming only to subdue. Again she twisted the moment back into brutal combat, forcing me to meet her fully.
She wanted everything.
So I gave it to her.
Leaves exploded around us as we moved. The ground tore beneath our steps.
Her nails dug into my shoulder as I pinned her wrist, only for her to twist out and slam her elbow into my chest.
I caught her mid-strike and drove her backward, but she landed lightly and came again without hesitation.
She was not backing down.
I could feel it now, the difference in our strength.
Not in words, but in the way her body yielded just a fraction when I truly pushed.
In the way my blows landed heavier, in the way the air itself seemed to bend more readily to my will than to hers.
I swept low, catching her leg and twisting hard.
A sharp cry tore from Seraphina's throat, raw pain that cut through the night air like shattered glass.
I stopped.
The sound hit me harder than any of her strikes. My grip loosened instantly. I pulled back, horror flooding through me.
"I'm sorry—" The words slipped out before I could stop them, soft and unsteady. "I didn't mean—"
I stepped closer, reaching out to check on her, the fight draining from my body in a rush of guilt.
That was my mistake.
Seraphina's eyes flashed. In one fluid motion she drove her palm upward, the impact catching me square in the sternum with devastating force. The blow lifted me off my feet and sent me crashing backward into the dirt. Pain exploded through my chest. The world spun.
For a moment I lay there, stunned, struggling to draw breath.
But the hesitation was gone now. The guilt had been weaponized against me, and something colder took its place.
I rose slowly.
Seraphina was already pushing herself up, breathing hard, that dangerous smile still playing at the corner of her lips.
I didn't give her time to recover.
I moved faster than before, closing the distance in a blur. This time I didn't hold back. I didn't apologize. I didn't hesitate.
My hand closed around her throat—not crushing, but firm enough to control.
With a surge of power I slammed her back against the ancient tree, pinning her there. My other hand caught both of hers above her head, locking them in place.
She struggled, but the fight had shifted. I felt her strength straining against mine, felt the tremble in her arms as she realized she couldn't break free.
Our faces were inches apart now. Her chest rose and fell rapidly against mine.
The velvet of her dress brushed my skin. Her scent night-blooming roses and something darker filled my lungs.
She stared up at me, crimson eyes wide, lips parted.
Neither of us moved.
The forest felt distant, as if the trees themselves were holding their breath.
Then her gaze dropped slowly… to my lips.
And gently, she lifted her head from the bark, leaning closer.