Mia's POVSol and I sat in comfortable silence for a while. Sol tapped away at his laptop, and I had busied myself with preparing my dinner. The silence wasn't broken until I stopped sorting out the minced meat and turned around to face Sol."Do you think there will be more hunters?" I asked him cautiously. I noticed Sol staring at his screen for a moment before looking at me. The look in my eyes must have given him some hints to how I felt because the next thing he did was power down his screen and put down the device."Are you worried?" he asked, and I nodded my head. "It just seemed like..." I shook my head since I tried to wrap my thoughts around the situation. "He just came out of nowhere, you know?"When I turned my head to meet Sol's gaze, I realized he didn't have the same thought as I did."Honestly, I knew his presence before he showed up." I was shocked by his words. He sighed and stood up. "I didn't know that man in particular, but I was aware the local orga
Mia's POVI could hear my own screaming even through my dreams. Inside of my dreams, I was being plunged into freezing water. Outside of them, I felt my body being shaken awake in the real world.When I was released from the grip sleep had on me, I saw green eyes staring down at me. Worry and fear were dancing in them together. Fear? Did purebloods feel fear? What sort of thing did they feel fearful about? I thought they might be the most powerful creature at night. I felt Sol lift me by my arms. His cold hand on my chest made me realize that he wasn't breathing, and neither was II took in a deep, shuddering breath and ran my hand through my hair. It was then that I realized a slight sweat had broken out on my forehead. I moved to wipe it away.Sol was still looking at me as if to assess something. "I thought you were being attacked," he said softly. He gently helped push away the hair on my face.I breathed out a humorless laugh. "In some way, I was being attacked."
Mia's POV"You should leave," I whispered to Sol as I eyed the clock on my nightstand. The two of us were still laying entangled in my bed. It had been about an hour after he had come. "Five more minutes," Sol grumbled as he tightened his grip around my waist. "I remembered you have some business things to deal with. When?" I asked him when he didn't respond to me. He only grunted in response. When I pinched his side, he rolled over slightly and answered."I can move my plan to later or even tomorrow," he told me immediately. I felt his arms tighten around me. I huffed a laugh at his antics. I felt the way he brought his nose to my neck and listened to the pulse beating there. "You have to go," I told him as I pushed his head away. "You can't ignore your responsibilities." "I think it would be irresponsible of me to leave you alone, you know, in your stricken state," Sol said softly. I only rolled my eyes at him."My stricken state?" I mocked his answer by repeating i
Mia's POV"Sh*t." I heard Serin swear from his position in front of Sol. I moved closer to them with Sarah at my side."What's wrong?" I asked the two of them, concerned if that brother did something to make them unhappy, though I hadn't had the opportunity to be shocked about the fact Sol had a sibling. They didn't answer my question and seemed to hesitate to tell me something about the brother. I looked at Sol. My mind went back to the moment when we were heading to the company. His face had turned stoic after reading his messages on his phone. Were the messages from his brother? After he exited the meeting room, he seemed to be very tired. His body remained rigid. What happened in that meeting that made him so tense suddenly? What was wrong between Sol and his brother? I heard Sol sigh. He then pulled me to the side."Are you all right?" I lowered my voice when I asked him. He nodded a bit. "It looks like you're a bit stressed." I raised my eyebrow at him and tilte
Mia's POVThe front of the club was loud and boisterous. Several people were lined up outside the club, either smoking or drinking. They were waiting to get in. A large man sat in front of the door.The bright neon lights flashed loudly against the dark sky. I sighed deeply after surveying the situation. There was no way I was getting to Kaya in time if I had to stand in that line. Gritting my teeth together, I passed the people along the wall and got into the alleyway on the side of the club. I touched the walls to look for any side door or something else to help me get inside without being noticed.A winner's smile crossed my face as I spotted a window. It was wide enough for me to fit through, so that's exactly what I did. Lifting one leg onto the large crates placed under it, I threw myself through the window and landed safely.I sent a silent prayer in thanks that I made the smart decision to wear pants that night and not a skirt. I froze when I stood up and saw thre
Mia's POV"Woah," Kaya breathed out as she walked into my room, "this is really fancy.""Yeah." I laughed as I looked around the room. Sol had taken us both to his mansion without asking any questions about the incident at the club. I turned to the opening door and saw him glancing at me before walking out of the door."Um, hey, Kaya?" I caught my friend's attention from the decorative piece on my nightstand to me. "Can I take a look at your neck?"She put the porcelain pig down and gave me a strange look. "My neck? Why?" I walked toward her as she pulled her hair back and showed her neck to me.I shook my head dismissively and waved my hand in the air. "Just to make sure that creepy guy or someone else at the club didn't do anything weird. I saw a lot of needles on the ground on my way there."The lie came easily as I scanned her exposed skin for two identical puncture wounds. A loud breath left me when I noticed her smooth skin was otherwise unmarked besides a small bruis
Mia's POV"So what's the deal with you and that guy anyway?" Kaya asked me once we had gotten out of class and into the car Sol had lent me."Sol?" I asked as I buckled myself in and pulled out of the parking lot. "Nothing's going on. Why?" The woman scoffed beside me and shot me a sideways glance. I laughed and looked at her funny. "What?" I stressed as she only shook her head."Oh, come on, Mia! Even you can't be that blind. He offers you a job with a very, very decent salary from what I've heard. He gives you a room in his gorgeous mansion plus a car to use as you please, just because you are his old family friend?"I bit my bottom lip as I turned at the sight of the green light. From our new position on the road, I could see the light of the setting sun. I pulled the visor down to protect my eyes. "He's a really good old family friend." Kaya groaned at my weak reply. "Sure, really good family friends give you cars and comfortable rooms in their mansions. Seriously, he
Mia's POVWe both turned our heads at the sound of feet coming toward us and saw that it was Kaya. She held her phone in one hand and her bag in the other as she waved at us descending from the stairs."Hey, so um…" I walked toward her when she began speaking. "I just went ahead and called a taxi."I crossed my brows together in confusion. "You didn't need to do that. I could have taken you home.""Yeah, thank you, I know you offered, but…" She waved me off. "It's late, and I'm sure you're both tired. Plus, I have to hand in this report." She waved a flash drive in front of me. "I was supposed to take it in last night, but I ended up going into that club instead."Sol stepped forward and asked her something I was shocked by. "Do you still not remember how you got to the club or who took you there last night?" He was standing directly next to me now. I tried not to think about the way his arm was brushing mine.Kaya shrugged as she placed her phone and drove inside of her pu
Sol's POVOnce I knocked down the heavy iron door of the room, I came face to face with a frightening sight. Mia was sitting in a chair in the middle of the room, bound by her ankles and wrists. What set an enraged feeling throughout my body was the sight of Kyrin on his knees before her. His teeth were sunk into her neck. Her blood dripped down from her neck and spilled from his mouth."Kyrin!" I roared at him as I sped toward where he was sitting. Just as I thought he perhaps did not hear me or was too slow to react, he turned around just in time. I had to stop myself from barreling into Mia.Kyrin appeared from behind me and landed a kick to my back, sending me flying. A fight ensued, as it always did. I felt an enraged roar rip through me as I lunged myself at Kyrin. His mouth was dripping with Mia's blood. That fact only urged me to move forward even harder. I felt the crack of his skull beneath my first and his entire body shake and tremble as I got on top of him a
Mia's POVI awoke to chains around me—no, not chains, rope. Harsh, thick rope rubbed against my wrists' soft skin. They felt raw and bruised from the way they had been tied. I blinked my eyes open. The light of the bright lamp beside me lit up the entire area and cast an eerie shadow at the same time. There was no one around me. I could hear the faint dripping of leaking pipes, but no other sound was heard. Suddenly, footsteps echoed across the hard concrete of the floors. I was bound by my wrists and ankles. I was unable to see who was approaching me from behind, but I didn't have to wait long to figure it out.Kyrin Montgomery's face appeared in front of mine. His expression was wide and cynical. Speaking of all the evil things that were to come, he stared at me with eyes red and blazing. A gasp left me as I tried to look away. I tried to break free, but I couldn't. "Now, now," he purred as he rested his hands on either arm of my chair. "There's no need to act like that.
Sol's POV"Did you know?" Those were the first words my father spoke to me on the phone call that changed everything. Of course, at that time, no, I didn't know. Nor would I have known unless he had told me in the coming moments of what he had learned. There was a rage in my father's voice, the likes of which I had never heard of before. It was like when he would scold Kyrin or me when either of us had done something particularly disgraceful, in his eyes, to the family name. I wasn't aware of how spot-on I was with that prediction then, but I was sure to find out. "Good evening, Father," I greeted him. "Know what?""Don't play coy with me, boy." Irritation quickly began to grow in me. Mia was missing from her own home with signs of struggle very evident at the scene where she was last found. I had no time to play games with my father or try to understand his twisted way of getting around things. "I assure you," I knew he realized I didn't by the way I spoke to him
Sol's POVSerin, Sarah, and I all made out way back inside the house. It was a lot colder than what we were used to. Despite the air not having a physical effect on me, I still moved to light the fire, knowing Sarah and Mia would appreciate the warmth. The night was colder than usual. The season was colder than it had been in the previous months. "Are you good?" I heard Serin ask his wife and watched as he draped a blanket over her shoulders. She was shivering slightly from the cold outside she had been in for so long. A part of me wanted to go back to Mia and bring her inside, but I knew she wouldn't want to leave her friend's side so quickly and for the last time. "I'll make some tea," I offered the human woman in front of me. She gave me a thankful smile. Her eyes were bloodshot and teary. She was Kaya's friend too. I supposed it was never easy for humans to lose someone they loved. For vampires, it was less… emotional. For us, it was just another stage in our life. We
Mia's POVSol's strong arms were wrapped around me as I watched Bristol flee. I growled from frustration and sank my teeth into him in my enraged state, trying to do anything to make him let me go and chase after my father. When my sharp teeth broke the skin on his neck, he only tightened his arms around me. His rich blood rushed into my mouth and invaded my senses, overwhelming my blood that I had taken in earlier and consuming me. I felt every single droplet of his blood that rushed down my throat as I swallowed it down in gulps. I could not stop as I drank from him and felt my mind slowly begin to soften and calm down. A particular type of haziness enveloped me, and I felt my body grow weak in his arms. My hands clutched onto the thickness of his arms, dragging him closer to me so that I could get a better taste of him. "Sh, sh," I heard Sol's voice hum as he stroked my hair. "It's okay, it's okay." He let me drink from him for as long as I pleased. Only after some mor
Mia's POVIt was a harrowing thing, fighting off the teeth and claws of someone who once was your best friend. I saw the look in Kaya's eyes just before she attacked me, swirling red with a bloodlust that even I could not manage. I knew my blood had the same effect on her as it did all other vampires. It was a sort of primal desire to just feast. Although my blood didn't smell like that to me, if the evidence of the events throughout my life said anything, it was that. Her jaws made a loud snapping sound as she shut them just inches from the skin of my neck. I managed to kick my leg up in time to catch her in the torso. She was knocked back for a moment, a wheezing breath leaving her before she realized she no longer needed air to breathe. It was insane. Watching Kaya come to terms with being a vampire and having her attack me as though she had been one all her life was something I found hard to comprehend. Just as I turned to run, Kaya grabbed at my arm and sunk her claw
Mia's POVEverything seemed hopeless at that point. Kaya's face was contorted into something different, something ravaged and savage all at once. Dark lines decorated her once the clear face. Her eyes were a searing red, something that bore into me wholly and completed. She stared at me, but it was like she was staring through me rather than at me. I remembered calling out to her, whispering her name in a shocking sort of trance, "Kaya, Kaya, Kaya," like a lament of some sort. But she couldn't hear me. She was too far gone from me now, in the thrall of a man who had enslaved me for the first half of my life. Like me then, like her now. "What did you do to her?" I ground out. A rage enveloped me where grief first made home, and the two danced inside of me to a beautiful anthem. The anthem's name was revenge. I wanted to hurt him in all the brutal and honest ways I knew how to."Can't you see for yourself?" He patted the top of Kaya's hair. The strawberry blonde locks loo
Mia's POV"What do you mean she's missing?" I managed to choke out through the ringing in my ears. The police officer was telling me something, something important, but I couldn't hear him. It was like a buzzing and a haze was covering my senses all at once. I couldn't get myself to fully understand the situation in front of me. Sol was the first one to notice this change. He was in front of me in a split second, knees bent in the same position I was on the floor. When did I get to the floor? Either way, I was here now. My legs felt too weak to stand up. I gripped onto Sol's hand as I forced my brain to fight through the muddled haze it was in. I came just in time to hear the police tell me they had found her phone on the corner side, just where she was supposed to get the candles. It wasn't even twenty minutes away from us. "Okay," I said once the officer had completed his rundown. "Is there anything else you can tell me?""Unfortunately, not. Due to the cases of mi
Mia's POVLaughs filled the air as the doorbell rang, indicating the last of the guests had finally arrived. Kaya was the first one here, apart from Sol and I, who had already been at my new house since the night before. He had taken a keen interest in sleeping in my new bedroom. In his words, he was making sure everything went smoothly for my first day. The house itself was surprisingly light-tight, shocking both Sol and me. But he quickly explained that it must have been because many of the houses in this part of the town were allocated to old vampire families. My family must have purchased it from one ages ago. It was a miracle in and of itself that the technology seemed to hold and gave me no little amount of anxiety for Sol's safety during the day. But all seemed well by the time the following night followed. I opened the door to see Serin and Sarah there, wide smiles and love-struck eyes as they stared at me. I engulfed them both, happy that they made it and were sa