Chapter 1

My lover, Lucas Valentine, fell in love with a human girl.

It was absurd. I couldn't understand why a vampire would fall in love with food.

But he did, and he loved her with a passion that burned bright and wild.

His love was so deep that when she died of a failed Embrace, Lucas was ready to die with her.

"I'm sorry, Maeve. I can't imagine an eternity without her," he said, cradling the girl's body in his arms. Ignoring my pleas, he walked straight into the sunlight.

Our life-and-death pact was triggered, and in an instant, flames swept over me. I turned to ashes with him.

When I woke up again, I was back at the moment for the Embrace with Lucas.

He groveled at my feet, kissing the tip of my shoe. His ice-blue eyes brimmed with devotion. "Ms. Maeve Lothian, please grant me eternal life so I can love you forever."

This time, instead of sinking my fangs into his neck as I did in my previous life, I kicked him away and said, "Scram."

*****

Lucas shot through the air, slamming into a cold pillar and struggling to get up.

"Ms. Maeve Lothian." He looked up at me, stunned. His eyes were filled with disbelief.

I stared at the pool of blood he'd coughed up, and for the first time, I felt sickened by the sight of my previous food.

Lucas was my blood servant.

In my previous life, he groveled at my feet, kissed the tip of my shoe, and confessed his love to me with words sweeter than honey.

He was hopelessly in love with me, so much that he would lay down his life for me. He believed a human's fleeting lifespan could never contain the depth of his love for me.

So I made him a vampire.

For the first hundred years, we were the happiest vampire couple in the world.

Lucas would join me for candlelit dinners, gracefully invite me to dance at parties, and snuggle up with me in a coffin as we enjoyed starry nights.

Until one day, a girl knocked on the castle gates.

She was shaking with fear, but stubbornly insisted on being our blood servant, as long as we gave her some money and valuables.

She planned to send it back to her village, so her mother and little sister wouldn't go hungry.

Lucas agreed. That was when my nightmare began.

The girl was called Lia Lane. She stole my lover right out from under me.

Lucas couldn't take his eyes off that fragile girl, and he was captivated by her. He broke the promise he'd made to me.

He even went out during the day, bundled up in layers, to take Lia to visit her family in the human village.

For vampires, even a hint of sunlight meant instant death.

*****

On our hundredth anniversary, I went all out to win him back by setting up a lavish feast, with music, candlelight, blood, and more.

But Lucas stood me up. He was attending a human celebration with Lia.

When I finally found them, they were snuggled up together, watching the fireworks light up the sky.

Lia didn't look the least bit ashamed. Instead, she stood her ground, her voice steady and unapologetic. "Ms. Maeve Lothian, please let Lucas go. We're the ones who truly love each other."

Seriously? They called that true love? So what was my hundred years with Lucas?

I was so furious and lunged at Lia, ready to tear her apart.

Lucas blocked my attack and struck me so hard that I was left seriously wounded.

"I'm sorry, Maeve," Lucas said, taking Lia's hand and standing over me. His sapphire-blue eyes brimmed with sadness. "I don't want to hurt you, but I can't let you hurt her."

I forced a tragic smile, blood streaming down.

Later on, Lucas tried to turn Lia into a vampire, hoping she'd be with him forever.

But his bloodline was too diluted.

Lia drank his blood, but instead of turning into a vampire, she died in terrible pain.

"No—" Lucas lost it, grabbing her body and rushing straight toward the sunlight.

I used every ounce of strength I had to hold him back. "Lucas, don't forget that we've made a life-and-death pact.

"If you die, I'll die too. Can't you stop being so selfish?"

Lucas stared at me, his eyes empty and lost. He muttered, "Maeve, this is all your fault.

"If you hadn't turned me into a vampire, I wouldn't have spent a hundred years unable to eat human food or unable to walk hand in hand with Lia under the sun."

As soon as he finished speaking, his resolve to die with Lia grew stronger.

I groveled at his feet, begging him to spare me.

Lucas shoved me aside. "I'm sorry, Maeve. I can't imagine an eternity without her."

The moment he stepped into the blazing sunlight, I was also on fire all over.

I let out a piercing scream as a drop of bloody tear slid from my eye.

As I turned to ash, the bloody tear hit the ground and instantly vaporized into a ghostly white mist.