Come on Girl, you need to breathe and take a break.
Maya's voice cut through the gloom in my mind, sharp and determined. She yanked open my closet without asking, tossing clothes onto the bed like a stylist on a mission. "Black. Red. Leather. That's the vibe tonight."
I'm not really feeling
You've been sulking for days. It's either a club or an exorcism.
I cracked a smile, despite myself.
She had no idea I'd already danced with demons.
Thirty minutes later, I found myself in the backseat of a cab, my black velvet dress clinging to my thighs, red lipstick sharp as blood. Maya shimmered in silver, unapologetically loud, alive in all the ways I forgot how to be.
The city pulsed outside the window, rain slicking the pavement like liquid shadow. Neon signs bled into the night, and the moon peeked from behind clouds like it was watching us, silently judging.
The club was built beneath a graffiti-scarred building downtown. A velvet rope, a tattooed bouncer, and a heartbeat of bass that throbbed like something alive.
Inside, it was chaos and seduction. Bodies moved in rhythm with the red lights casting everything in a devilishq glow. The air smelled of sweat, smoke, and desire.
Maya dragged me to the bar. Two whiskey she told the bartender.
The drinks were sharp and sweet, garnished with cherries soaked in something sinful. I sipped, the warmth licking through me, loosening the tension in my chest.
Then we danced.
God, I forgot what it felt like. The music crawling up my spine, the beat syncing with my pulse. For a moment, I was just a girl again alive, burning, free.
A guy tried to slide up behind me, hands too bold.
I stepped away.
Maya shot him a glare. She's taken, creep.
Technically maybe. Emotionally? I didn't even know anymore.
But something shifted. The air thickened, electric. My skin prickled.
I glanced around, suddenly uneasy. The lights flickered.
Then I saw him.
A figure near the back stood still for dancers, too pale for regular. His eyes glowed faintly under the red lights casting fear on me.
Vampire.
Not Kael. Not anyone I recognized.
I grabbed Maya's hand. We need to leave.
"Why? We just got
The lights cut out.
Screams. Glass shattered. A girl cried out near the bar.
I felt a breath on my neck.
Seraphina
It wasn't Kael's voice
The lights flickered back on, but something was wrong.
The music had stopped.
People stood frozen in confusion, murmuring, laughing nervously like it was all a technical glitch. But my blood screamed otherwise. I felt him before I saw him.
A cold presence too cold. Ancient.
I turned and everything slowed.
He stood in the crowd like he owned the world. Dark hair slicked back, a tailored black coat brushing his thighs. Pale, too pale. Eyes like burning coal. His lips curled into a slow, knowing smile as his gaze locked with mine.
He saw me.
Saw through me.
A vampire. One I'd never seen before.
Maya touched my arm. Let's get out of
Before she could finish, he moved.
Not like a man.
Like a shadow.
In a blink, he was in front of me. "Seraphina," he said, voice smooth as oil, thick with a strange accent I couldn't place. "Come."
My breath hitched. The crowd parted around us, unaware, like they couldn't see him. Like he didn't exist.
I'm not going anywhere with you, I whispered.
"Oh, but you will." He leaned closer. "Kael can't protect you anymore."
Panic surged in my throat. I glanced at Maya, who was frozen mid-step, eyes wide and glassy entranced.
"No, what did you do to her?!
"She's not part of this," he murmured. You are.
Then everything blurred.
The club vanished.
Cold wind whipped against my skin. The night swallowed me.
We were somewhere else.
A rooftop? No a ruined chapel. Gargoyles stared down from broken stone. The moon hung overhead like a wound in the sky.
My knees hit the ground. I gasped, heart racing, senses burning.
He crouched beside me, tracing my jaw with gloved fingers. "You smell like him," he said. "Like Kael."
I tried to crawl back. "Who are you?"
How do you know kael? I shouted angrily
His smile didn't reach his eyes. "I'm the man he betrayed. The one who bled for him in the old wars. The one he left to rot."
His fingers tightened around my throat not enough to choke, but enough to warn.
"He took what was mine. Now I'll take what's his."
My body trembled. I couldn't move. Couldn't scream.
You're not ready for what's coming, little flame," he whispered against my ear. "But you will be.
The last thing I saw was his smile and the stars spinning overhead.
Then, darkness
The blackness had swallowed me whole.
Time lost meaning. I didn't know how long I drifted in the void, conscious but like my soul floated just beyond reach of my body.
Then
A sharp sting pierced my neck.
My eyes snapped open, breath jerking into my lungs like I'd been drowning.
I gasped, back arching, as I found myself strapped to a cold marble altar beneath a vaulted ceiling that dripped with candlelight. Chains laced my wrists and ankles, not heavy but enchanted, biting against my skin with a coldness that numbed.
Above me was the same vampire who had taken me. His crimson gaze glowed brighter now, illuminated by the ring of runes circling the altar. His name is still unknown. His power is unmistakable.
"You're awake," he said calmly, as if this were a conversation over tea, not blood and shackles. "Good. I want you to feel this."
"What the hell do you want?" I growled, panic edging my voice despite my effort to be strong.
"To remind Kael that power never forgets betrayal. And that even gods can bleed through the ones they love."
He traced a clawed fingertip down my collarbone. I flinched.
"I won't hurt you unless he forces me to." His smile didn't reach his eyes. "This isn't personal. Yet."
He stepped back, lifting a blood-stained chalice. "But your blood it sings. You're not just a fragile human, are you?"
The room tilted.
My heart pounded so loudly I couldn't hear anything else but only my heartbeat. The air was thick with old magic, blood, and the scent of death.
Whatever this place was, it wasn't just a prison.
It was a message.
And Kael would hear it soon.
Kael POV
The taste of her blood still lingered on my tongue sweet, familiar, with that addictive warmth that grounded me.
But something was wrong.
I hadn't felt her through the bond in over five minutes. No heartbeat. No emotion. No thoughts brushing against mine. Just silence.
Then the fear hit me like a blade to the gut.
I was already moving out the window, onto the roof, a blur of shadows and wind tearing through the night. I followed her scent, fresh and wild and laced with hints of jasmine and rain.
It led to the alley behind the club.
And then it ended.
As if someone had carved the world around her clean.
"Seraphina," I whispered, scanning the darkness with glowing eyes, tasting the air. Nothing. No blood. No struggle. Just absence.
The type of disappearance only one kind of vampire could orchestrate.
Him.
Only him can do this. not Lilith
My blood boiled with anger.
He was supposed to be buried in ash. I saw him burn. I felt his life unravel when I crushed his spine centuries ago.
But the bastard always had a talent for surviving.
And now he had her.
A sound escaped me. A growl. Low, inhuman. Something ancient unfurling inside my chest. My hands curled into claws. Shadows rippled along my skin.
"Wrong move, brother,I hissed. You touched the one thing keeping me sane.
The moon above turned blood-red.
And I gave in to the darkness.