Chapter 1

Adrian Mohr and I had been together for seven years. We'd tried to register our blood bond eight times and failed every single one.

The first time, his father said the Mohr clan's nighttime shipping routes had been targeted by vampire hunters, and Adrian needed to attend an emergency family meeting. The meeting ran from dusk until the following dawn. He never showed up before the registry closed.

The second time, my mother said she'd found hunters' silver markings outside our front door and insisted that leaving the house would expose the entire family. She blocked the doorway and even threatened that if I insisted on going, she would pull back the blackout curtains and step into the sunlight.

The third time, my best friend, Claire Donovan, called me in tears, saying hunters were following her and she was hiding in a bell tower, too afraid to come down alone. I rushed to her side, and by the time we confirmed the area was safe, the registry had already closed for the night.

...

The ninth time, we took care of everything ahead of schedule and got into a car with UV-tinted windows, heading to the registry through the underground tunnel.

We had barely crossed one intersection when a black sports car shot out from a side street and slammed into us. The side window shattered, and a sliver of silver-coated glass lodged in my left shoulder. For most vampires, a crash like that was nothing, but silver suppressed healing. The wound burned immediately, and the bleeding wouldn't stop.

Lillian Hart stumbled out of the sports car in a panic. She was my sister, a newly awakened vampire. She rushed to our car door, her face drained of color. "Oh God, I didn't mean to! Adrian, Eve, are you hurt?"

Adrian grabbed her wrist first, checking whether she'd touched any silver. Only after confirming she was completely unharmed did he turn back to me. "Eve, looks like we won't make it to the registry today either."

"Yeah. I guess not." I pressed my hand against my still-bleeding shoulder

Chapter 1

"Eve, I'm taking Lillian to the night hospital first. The silver shard in your shoulder isn't deep. Call a UV-shielded cab, go home, and pull it out yourself, okay?"

Adrian said this with one hand still resting on Lillian's shoulder. Lillian was slumped against him, her lips completely drained of color, her breathing ragged. "I'm so scared. Did I ruin the registration for you and Eve again? Did I mess things up again?"

"No, it's not your fault. Don't cry. You've only just awakened. It's perfectly normal to lose control of your breathing after a scare." Adrian ducked his head to comfort her, his voice so gentle you'd think she was the one with silver embedded in her flesh.

I stood beside the wrecked car. The silver in my shoulder kept burning, and blood had already soaked through half my blouse. Our kind healed faster than humans, but wounds touched by silver wouldn't close on their own. Adrian knew that perfectly well. He simply didn't look back.

"I'll go, then," I said.

He didn't even raise his head. "Be careful on the way. Use tweezers to get the silver out when you're home, and drink a bag of fresh plasma after."

I turned and walked a long way before I looked back one last time. He was bending down to buckle Lillian's seatbelt, then draping a UV-blocking wrap snugly over her lap, handling her as though she might shatter at any moment.

Back home, I pulled the silver shard out myself, cleaned the wound, and sat down on the living room sofa. Outside the window, dusk turned into deep night. No one came home.

At nine, Adrian walked in with a paper bag. "You haven't eaten, have you? Cinnamon apple pie from that place on South Street. I waited in line for an hour."

We could taste regular food; it just couldn't sustain us. He knew I loved apple and cinnamon, and he knew this was the one treat I'd accept as consolation whenever I'd been hurt.

He set the bag on the coffee table and pulled a velvet box from his pocket. "And this. You said you liked that moonstone necklace last time, so I had the store set it aside."

He wrapped his arms around me from behind, resting his chin on the uninjured side of my shoulder. "I'm sorry, Eve. We missed the registration again today. Next month, I'll take you for sure. No more accidents."

The scent of apple pie filled the room. His warmth seeped through his shirt and into my back, blending with countless warm nights over the past seven years.

I remembered how every time I worked a night shift at the hospital, he would slip a small vial of my favorite plasma into my coat pocket. I remembered him saying that Evelyn Hart was the only one he would ever choose in his long, immortal life.

I was about to speak when his phone rang. The name on the screen read "Lily."

"Who's that?" I asked.

"Just family business." He answered without a beat of hesitation.

The phone buzzed again. A message popped up on the screen: Adrian, I just finished my checkup. Every time I close my eyes, I see the crash. I can't stop the urge to bite. Can you come back and stay with me?

His body went rigid for a moment, then he let go of me. "The hospital says Lillian's blood work came back abnormal. I need to run back. I won't be long. Eat the pie while it's warm. Don't wait up."

He stroked my hair, then turned and left. The door closed softly, as if the quieter he made his exit, the less cruel the deception would be.

I cut a slice of apple pie and took a bite. Too much sugar. The sweetness was so cloying it made me nauseous.

I picked up my phone. A notification on my work profile showed that Claire had just posted. In the photo, Lillian lay in a hospital bed while Adrian sat on the edge, leaning down to wipe blood from her lips. Claire's caption read: Some people are born to be each other's cure for the bloodlust. A true blood bond can never be broken.

I switched to my personal account and opened Claire's profile. Her page came up blank. She had gone out of her way to block me, but she'd forgotten I still had a work account.

My mother, Helena Hart, had posted three hours earlier: Thank God, Lillian didn't lose control. In the photo, Lillian was smiling against the hospital pillows while my mother held her hand and Adrian stood nearby. My father, Edmund Hart, had commented below: Drive more carefully from now on. Stop making us and Adrian worry.

They looked like the real family.

I put my phone down. I didn't cry. I just sat there on the sofa, and it hit me that the past seven years had been a carefully staged play. Everyone around me had known their lines. I was the only one who'd believed the love they performed was real.

If it was all an act, then it was time for the curtain to fall.

I walked into the study to grab my documents, pack a bag, and leave. As I passed Adrian's desk, I noticed the bottom drawer wasn't fully closed. He always kept it locked, claiming it held confidential Mohr clan documents.

He'd probably forgotten to lock it in his rush to get to the hospital.

I pulled the drawer open. No clan documents inside. Just a deep crimson blood bond certificate.

The vampire registry recognized only one bonded partner at a time. Until the existing bond was dissolved, it was impossible to register with a second person. This was the real reason all nine of our attempts had failed.

I picked up the certificate and turned to the registration page. The date was fifteen months ago.

In the photo, Adrian wore a black suit, his expression tender. The person standing beside him wasn't me. It was Lillian.

Chapter 2

Adrian came home at two in the morning, carrying the mingled scent of hospital disinfectant and fresh plasma.

He tiptoed into the bedroom and, seeing the bedside lamp still on, asked softly, "You're still up?"

"Waiting for you."

He took off his coat, sat on the edge of the bed, and reached over to touch my face. "Your eyes are red. Didn't you get all the silver out? I'll take you in for a checkup tomorrow night."

I looked at his face and remembered a stormy night three years ago. Vampire hunters had cut the power to our building, trapping me in an elevator with a silver-plated lock. Adrian had gripped the lock barehanded and wrenched the door open. The silver burned clean through his palm, but the moment the door opened, he'd pulled me tight against him, buried his face in my neck, and said over and over, "You scared me to death. Eve, thank God you're okay."

His fear that night had been real. His deception now was real too. The two didn't contradict each other. He had loved me, and he had also spent over a year treating me like a fool for someone else.

"Adrian, it's been nine times. Tell me, why haven't we ever been able to register our blood bond?"

His eyelashes trembled almost imperceptibly before he smiled again. "Just bad luck. Nothing worth having comes easy. Next time, for sure."

"What if it never works?"

He took my hand, his thumb tracing my knuckles. The gesture was identical to the way he'd comforted Lillian earlier that day. "That won't happen. Eve, I always keep my promises. You're the only woman I'll ever call my wife."

I yanked my hand back, my stomach turning.

The only wife.

But that blood bond certificate had been sitting in his drawer for fifteen months. They had been hiding it from me for fifteen months. Maybe longer.

I thought about last year's winter solstice, when Lillian had come over for a dinner party. She'd poured Adrian a glass of vintage blood wine, and my mother had smiled. "Lillian is so thoughtful. Whoever bonds with her will be a lucky man."

Adrian had raised his glass, his gaze on Lillian. "She's right. Whoever bonds with Lillian will be a lucky man."

I'd thought it was just politeness. Now I realized they had been telling the truth right in front of everyone. I was the only one kept in the dark.

The next evening, I went back to my parents' house and held the photo of the certificate in front of Lillian. "What is this?"

Her face went white. The next second, she dropped to her knees in front of me, kneecaps cracking against the hardwood floor. "Eve, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

My mother rushed out of the kitchen and pulled Lillian to her feet, then whipped around and shouted at me. "Evelyn, you come home and the first thing you do is force her to her knees? What exactly are you trying to do?"

Lillian sobbed so hard she could barely breathe. "Mom, it's my fault. Eve already knows about the blood bond."

My father came out of the other room. When he saw me, there was no surprise on his face. Only reproach.

"Adrian and Lillian have already registered their blood bond. You all knew, didn't you?"

The living room went silent for a few seconds. My mother recovered quickly, her voice righteous. "When Lillian first awakened, she couldn't control her bloodlust. She was so afraid of hurting someone that she walked into the sunlight to end it all. The doctor said she needed a partner strong enough to serve as her blood anchor to survive the most dangerous years. That blood bond was just to stabilize her. Adrian's heart still belongs to you."

Lillian's face was streaked with tears. "Eve, the moment I can control myself, I'll dissolve the bond right away. I never meant to take him from you. Please don't blame Adrian."

"So all of you knew." I looked at the people in front of me, the people who claimed to love me. "You watched me get dressed up for the registry time after time, then watched your staged accidents turn me away. Did you think I looked ridiculous every time I believed you?"

"Evelyn!" My mother raised her voice. "Your sister almost died in the sun. She's unstable, physically and mentally. Can't you show her some compassion for once?"

"I've shown her compassion nine times, and I've shown all of you compassion for fifteen months."

I walked up to Lillian. She lifted her tear-streaked face, waiting for me to soften first, the way I always did. I raised my hand and slapped her across the face.

She was a newly awakened vampire. A slap couldn't hurt her, much less kill her. But my mother still screamed and threw herself over Lillian, shielding her. "Evelyn, have you lost your mind?"

The front door swung open. Adrian stood in the doorway, and the moment he saw Lillian crouched on the floor with her hands over her face, his expression changed.

He rushed forward, shoved me aside, and pulled Lillian into his arms. "Let me see. Did you bite your tongue? Does your chest hurt?"

I stumbled backward into the dining table. A piece of silver sat right at the edge, something my father had stripped from a hunter's trap to turn in to the night patrol. Even through my clothes, it seared my lower back. Adrian didn't steady me. He just fixed me with a cold stare. "She awakened less than two years ago. The slightest emotional disturbance can make her lose control. You know her condition. How can you not have an ounce of sympathy?"

Chapter 3

"Ms. Hart, the old silver fragment near your grandmother's heart has shifted and started corroding her blood vessels. She needs surgery immediately. Please come to the night hospital right away."

I had barely left my parents' house when the call came. The nurse's voice was urgent. I called a UV-shielded cab and rushed to the hospital, running through the underground corridors to the night ward.

When my grandmother was young, she had saved many vampires from hunters. A silver bullet had been lodged near her heart for decades. As she aged, her healing weakened, and the silver poisoning had begun to spread. No general surgeon would risk removing it. Only Dr. Victor Hale had ever performed that kind of operation.

A nurse stopped me outside the operating room. "Dr. Hale was just reassigned on short notice. No other doctor here is willing to perform this surgery."

"Reassigned where?"

"Mr. Mohr gave the order personally. He said there's a VIP upstairs whose blood has become unstable. He needs Dr. Hale for an emergency consultation."

A ringing erupted in my ears. I called Adrian immediately. In the background, I could hear Lillian crying in broken sobs.

"Eve? What do you need?"

"You pulled Dr. Hale? The silver near my grandmother's heart has shifted. She can't wait."

"Lillian has been refusing to eat since you slapped her, and her old silver wound is flaring up again. Dr. Hale is the best vascular surgeon in this hospital."

"Her vitals are normal, and a newly awakened vampire won't die after three days without feeding. The silver near my grandmother's heart could pierce it at any moment. Send the doctor back."

Silence on the other end for two seconds. Then Adrian lowered his voice. "Lillian feels guilty for causing you pain. She won't drink, won't let a doctor near her. She says she'd rather wait for the sun to come up and end it for good. Come apologize to her. Tell her to her face that you forgive her. Once she agrees to treatment, I'll send Dr. Hale back to the operating room."

My grip tightened on the phone, my knuckles whitening. "You're holding my grandmother's life hostage?"

"This is the consequence of that slap. All you have to do is come and apologize, and your grandmother gets her surgery. Eve, don't be stubborn about this. Not now."

The doors to the operating room were sealed shut. My grandmother was behind them, and every tiny movement of the silver could kill her.

In this family, everyone put Lillian first. My grandmother was the only one who had ever told me that I didn't have to give up everything I had, that I deserved to be chosen without hesitation.

Three minutes later, I stood at the door of the VIP room upstairs.

Lillian lay in bed with color in her cheeks, the monitors showing stable readings. My mother sat beside her, and Claire stood leaning against the window. Adrian stood at the foot of the bed, arms crossed, his face blank as he waited for me to submit.

The moment my mother saw me, she spoke. "Good, you're here. Hurry and tell Lillian you don't blame her. She won't drink, and if this drags on, she really will lose control."

Lillian spoke weakly. "Eve, if you won't forgive me, I'll refuse treatment. I deserved that slap. But I really can't control how I feel about Adrian. I've tried so hard to hold it back. I don't want to hurt you."

"Don't say that." My mother held her, crying harder than Lillian was.

My phone vibrated in my pocket. A critical condition alert from the hospital: the silver poisoning near my grandmother's heart was spreading rapidly. Family members were requested immediately.

I walked to the bed and dropped to my knees in front of everyone. My knees hit the cold tile, and I bowed my head. "I was wrong. I shouldn't have hit you. I forgive you. Please accept treatment and let Dr. Hale go back to save my grandmother."

The room went silent for a moment. My mother visibly relaxed. "See? Was that so hard? Family shouldn't have to fight like this."

Claire turned away, seemingly unable to look at me any longer. Lillian said through her tears, "Eve, get up. I'll send Dr. Hale back right now."

Adrian reached out to help me up. I didn't touch him. I got to my feet on my own and ran out of the room.

At the end of the corridor, the operating room light had just turned on. But I already knew Dr. Hale had come back too late.

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.