Vakerie snatched my wrist as she jumped up from her seat. The words that I had to say were lost against the look of worry that seized the features of her face. Into my ear, she spoke in a panicked whisper, "Be quiet, and follow me closely."

Vince patted my other arm, but I was barely able to catch a single glimpse of him. It was mere seconds before I felt his presence completely vanish.

My hand shook as my fingers fumbled to interlock with hers. Vakerie led me away from the room we were just drinking tea in, dragging me into the hallway and meeting a hurried Rhosyn at the staircase. Rhosyn's dark cinnamon eyes lit up at the sight of us as she scampered down the final steps, "Va-".

Vakerie held up her hand. She then grabbed onto my shoulders and lightly pushed me towards Rhosyn, who quickly grasped both of my hands. Vakerie breathed a command, "Take her to Lyonechka's bedroom. Now."

Rhosyn nodded and pulled me up onto the first step, supporting not only her weight but my own, before turning to face the same direction. "Come," she said quietly, "the others will distract them."

My feet moved on their own as I latched onto Rhosyn's side—so tight together that the ends of her coils tickled my jaw.

The next few minutes had faded into a blur. Rhosyn and I held onto one another as she tore through the second floor of the manor, the two of us disregarding the heels of our feet and sneaking across the wooden boards with the tips of our toes. The air around us felt decades old, but the reality of it was that we had only been racing to Lyonechka's room for roughly a minute. She had hurriedly maneuvered to keep a tense grasp on my back while she opened the French doors that would hopefully guide us towards refuge.

Once the double doors were successfully shut and locked behind us, the breath that I was holding had finally been released. Rhosyn wasted no time in taking us towards a hidden chamber and unlatching the entrance by deciphering a series of memorized codes. As she swiftly reacted to each puzzle that was made available, it was then quite eminent that she was faking being bad at chess.

The correct answers, the correct sequences—they were nothing but a jumble to me.

She let out a sigh of relief as the last code was completed and the cloaked door unfurled with a silent swing. She reached out her hand towards me, with an encouraging smile, and I gladly took it.

Rhosyn spun me into the room, securing the door with a strained seal. "It's okay, Emery, it's okay."

"What was that?" I asked.

"Do you know that feeling of when you realize that you're being watched or followed? That feeling of having someone, or something, staring at your back or standing too close?" Rhosyn took a step closer to me. "For those like me, that feeling is amplified. There has never been a time when I couldn't hear hikers wandering throughout the neighbouring trees, or hear the cars of Lyonechka's connections drive over the road as they deliver bags of blood, or hear the steps of every animal that passes through this property. The motion of someone getting up from bed, walking through the halls, scattering throughout the kitchen, sitting down in a chair, opening a door—everything that you do, I can hear it."

"Who-" I tried to swallow the growing lump that had lodged itself firmly in the back of my throat, but to no avail, "-Who is out there? Are they here?"

"Have you heard of Kovina before? Has Lyonechka, or even Morpheus, ever mentioned her to you?"

"Maybe." I racked my brain for that name until the term 'master' became a prominent symbol. The tumble of a ramble commenced. "Wait! A master. A vampire master. Master Kovina. But, Rhosyn, I only know so much. I don't know anything about this, or about her! I-I-"

She hushed me softly, gently placing her palm across my heaving chest and resting her fingers against both of my clavicle bones. "The world can be a confusing place—a frightening place. I have spent much of my lifetime, and then some, searching for answers, and yet, I am often left with even more questions. There is never a wrong time to just stop and take a breath. The answers that you need will someday reach you."

I nodded profusely, soaking in her words, but my teeth still clattered as my lips quivered. Rhosyn continued, "Masters, like Lyonechka and Kovina, are the original vampires created by the Sun Goddess, Áine. Isn't that a little ironic, Emery, for the sun to be both life and death for us vampires?"

"Yes," I agreed with a tremble of laughter.

She smiled again before speaking, "There are three masters that are currently alive, Kovina, Lyonechka, and a third—Ryuu. There were once six of them in total. They were siblings, brothers and sisters. A family. The deceased are Avyanna, Yophiel, and Bakkhos. These names will be important to you. They have always been important. They will never be unimportant."

The act of repeating their names caused her to nod approvingly at me, appreciating my luck at pronunciation, "Bakkhos, Yophiel, Avyanna-"

"Good. That's good." Strangely, Rhosyn's stance was crumbling with each word that she spoke. There was an urgency to her voice, a panic in her tone, which was something strong that I had recognized all too well. She was afraid. "There are vampires, like me, who were once human. We were just like you. We were solely controlled by humanity. However, there is a powerful urge to stick onto a master, whether it is to claim one as a parent, a lover, or a friend, but this devotion is not always meant to stay with the one who turned you. My master was Avyanna, but she was killed. Kovina had killed her. She had killed her only sister."

Rhosyn had cracked with a terrible sob.

My arms reached out to embrace her, and we cradled each other in an intimate moment of innate affinity. We had even managed to reach the stable comfort of the cold floor. She sunk her forehead into my shoulder as she shuddered. She admitted lowly, "I will never forget the sound of her footsteps. The tapping of her shoes. The hubris in her sneer. The clinking of her nails. There is nothing that could make me forget. Kovina made sure that her every move would be remembered. She will always be recognizable."

I stroked the thickness of her hair with a carefully patient tousle. And then, I had slowly leaned my head against hers. There was an understandable stillness that filtered the room. This, I thought with a bittersweet spirit, is what I needed.

And, what I will now give.

My conviction was, unfortunately, punctured.

There was a sudden force that had persuasively pushed into my body. Rhosyn's arm fell at her sides and her face nearly slipped onto the floor. I tried to catch her plummeting limbs, but her entire form was dropping violently at once. "Rhosyn!"

Her body had went limp in my arms.

Again, I cried, "Rhosyn!"

A petrified shriek was ripped from my throat, vibrating my lungs and blocking my heart from pumping. A hand had clamped itself around my chin and thrusted it to the side. The blood drained from my face as I stared in horror at the figure in front of me.

There were waves of long curls that were frantically emerging through the darkness of the room. There was a brightness that was quickly filling up corners, blending into forgotten dark spots, and illuminating the area. A pair of wide eyes with ample lashes were suddenly analyzing my every move—catching the fall of my chest, noting the shiver of my hands, observing the scrunch of my nose, and so on. A click of recognition echoed.

"You are my dear nephew's mate."

💕