Chapter 2

The next morning, my adoptive father found me in the backyard of the apothecary, sharpening a blade.

He jumped.

"Vera, when did you wake up?"

I looked up at him.

Morwen looked just as I remembered—grey hair, old copper spectacles perched on his nose, his apron dusted with dried herbs.

In my past life, he died on my eighteenth birthday.

By the time I rushed back, all I found was my adoptive father nailed to the door.

I held his body and wept until dawn, while Lucien stood outside the ruins and said only:

"I'm sorry. I insisted you come celebrate your birthday with me at Rose Estate. That's why you didn't get to see your father one last time."

At the time, I'd thought it had nothing to do with him—that it was kind of him to even feel sorry.

Looking back now, I was a fool.

Perhaps Morwen's death had been his doing all along.

"Father." I set down the silver blade. "Let's leave Mistport."

Morwen froze.

"Why bring this up all of a sudden?"

"A vampire broke into the area last night. The Hunter's Guild will be searching the whole street soon," I said. "It's not safe here."

His expression shifted.

"You saw it?"

"Yes."

Morwen was quiet for a long time.

Then he closed the back door and lowered his voice:

"Vera, there are things I meant to tell you when you came of age."

I looked at him.

I already knew what he was going to say.

I was the last surviving descendant of the Silverthorn hunter family.

Sixteen years ago, the Silverthorns had been investigating a disappearance in the Vampire Court. They were betrayed—the entire family slaughtered in a single night.

Morwen had been my mother's second-in-command. He carried me out of the fire and brought me to Mistport to live in hiding.

In my past life, I didn't learn any of this until I found it among his belongings after his death.

By then, I'd already formed the Blood Bond with Lucien.

I took the Silverthorn crest to him and asked. He held me and said:

"Vera, the hatred of the past is over. You have me now."

I believed him.

Later I learned the truth: the one who betrayed the Silverthorn family was Lucien himself.

He'd used the hunter family to search the old Court archives for clues to the Blood Crown.

Once the Silverthorns found the truth, he leaked their location to the vampire elders and had every last one of them silenced.

My entire family died for his ambition.

And I had taken my parents' killer as my lover.

"Father." I cut Morwen off. "I know about the Silverthorns."

Morwen's head snapped up.

I continued, "I also know Mother's hunter crest is hidden beneath the third flagstone in the cellar."

The color drained from his face completely.

"Vera, how—"

"I had a very long dream."

I didn't say rebirth.

That would be too absurd—and too dangerous.

"In the dream, I lost everything."

Morwen stared at me, his shock slowly giving way to heartbreak.

He came over and gently pulled me into his arms.

I stiffened for a moment, then hugged him back.

In my past life, I'd lost too much.

In this life, I would protect what I still had.

"We're not running to the countryside," I said. "We're going to the Hunter's Guild."

Morwen released me.

"Are you out of your mind? The Guild isn't necessarily safe either."

"I know."

In my past life, the Hunter's Guild hadn't been clean either.

Some passed information to the vampires. Others cut deals with the Court.

But I had to get inside.

Because the old Silverthorn case files, the secrets of the Blood Crown, and Lucien's true weakness—they were all locked away in the Guild's archive tower.

Morwen frowned.

"You want to become a hunter?"

"It isn't about what I want."

I picked up the silver blade from the table.

Its edge caught the morning light in a cold flash.

"I have to."