Chapter 3

Compensation?

He looked at me, guilt and reluctance in his eyes, but mostly helplessness.

What was he guilty about? Guilty for treating me as Eve's replacement? Guilty for not recognizing me for three years?

But he'd only ever loved Eve. That sentence said it all.

I laughed. "No need. I'm leaving."

I turned and walked out.

Behind me, Eve let out a soft laugh, so quiet only I could hear. "Get lost. Don't let me catch sight of you again."

I went back to my room and started packing.

Three years had passed, spanning more than a thousand days and nights.

He'd given his tenderness to "Eve" and his indifference to the real me.

The wardrobe was full of Eve's clothes in deep red, black, and purple, all her favorite colors. I flipped through them one by one until I reached the back and found a white dress.

I'd bought it myself.

It was the only piece of clothing that was mine.

Three years ago, when I first arrived, Arnold took me shopping. He told me to pick anything, but every piece the clerk handed me was dark because Eve liked dark colors.

I chose a white one.

Arnold glanced at me, hesitated, but bought it anyway.

That was the only time I'd defied his "expectations".

The white dress was folded neatly in the deepest corner of the wardrobe. I pulled it out and held it close, catching the faint lavender scent from the sachet I'd placed inside.

In three years, this was the only piece of clothing I owned.

I left the ruby necklace on the nightstand.

It was the only gift Arnold had ever given me. On our third anniversary, he'd fastened it around my neck himself. He'd said, "Eve, this is your favorite color."

He didn't remember I hated red.

I picked up my suitcase and walked to the door.

Arnold came after me. "Erin, where can you go on your own? You're human. There are werewolves out there."

I stopped but didn't turn around. "You've treated me like a human for three years, haven't you? A stand-in for Eve. Not even worth the Embrace."

The Embrace was the ritual through which vampires turned humans into their own kind.

In three years, he'd never once considered turning me. Because "Eve" was already a vampire. There was no need for the Embrace.

I was just a disposable human tool.

He said nothing.

The night wind swept through the corridor, making the candles flicker. I carried my suitcase down the stairs, one step at a time.

The suitcase was heavy. Inside was everything I'd saved over three years, including a few books, some spare clothes, and the white dress.

At the castle gates, I looked back.

Arnold stood at the end of the corridor, candlelight flickering across his face.

He didn't follow.

I pushed open the gates and walked into the night.

I didn't leave the castle.

I went to the third sublevel.

The stairwell was narrow, barely wide enough for one person. Cobwebs clung to the walls. The air reeked of mold and something else—a faint metallic tang that grew stronger with every step. By the time I reached the bottom, the smell of blood was suffocating.

Dust coated the steps. No one had been down here in years.

I steadied myself against the wall, descending one step at a time. The stone was slick. I nearly fell, my fingers scraping a white streak across the surface.

At the end of the corridor stood an iron door.

It was heavy. I shoved it open with my shoulder. The creak echoed through the empty space for what felt like forever.

Behind the door was the Progenitor Blood Pool.

Legend said that when the first vampire Progenitor fell, their blood became this pool. For a thousand years, no one had been able to awaken it because no one had enough bloodline power.

But now, the pool was dry.

Only a layer of dark red scabs remained at the bottom, cracked like a dried riverbed. The air was thick with rust. It made me want to gag.

I knelt at the edge.

My knees hit the stone hard.

The tears finally came.

Not even this last path was open to me...

I bit my finger and let a drop of blood fall into the pool.

The scabs began to dissolve.

First, tiny cracks appeared. Then they spread like a web across the entire bottom. The dried pool began to fill again, not with red but with gold.

Golden liquid surged from the cracks, rising higher and higher until it covered my ankles, my knees and my waist.

The liquid felt warm.

It was not blood but light.

An ancient voice echoed through the void: