Prologue

Country village

Athenas Region

“Nadine, remember when I told you that one day we would play hide-and-seek at any time by surprise?” My mom asked, and I nodded excitedly. “That moment came; do you remember the rules of the game?”

“Yes, Mom, there are three rules: I have to find the best hiding place; I have to be quiet; and the most important rule is that no matter what I hear, I don't come out until you tell me the code word,” I replied efficiently.

My mom smiled, and I felt proud for remembering it all; however, there was something sad in her look, and it made me frown.

Something didn't feel right.

“You're a very sweet and smart girl, Nadine,” Mom said before drawing a picture on my forehead and spraying me with a spray that had no scent. “What's the code word?”

“Chocolate,” I said before biting into the little chocolate bar she had given me minutes before.

Mom giggled in such a way that her eyes sparkled with mirth.

“What's the other rule?” Mom asked carefully.

“I must never reveal our secret,” I said very seriously.

Hiding our secret was the most important mission of all; my tongue would never reveal it.

“Okay, go hide, and no matter what, don't come out,” Mom ordered, and I nodded. “I love you, Nadine. Always remember that.”

Mom gave me a kiss on the cheek, and I gave her immaculate white hair one last caress before she began counting the numbers from 1 to 100 under her breath.

Ever since I could remember, my mom and I would play hide-and-seek. It was one of the most fun times of my life because I was excited to discover all the new places I could hide in each of the different houses we moved to.

Playing hide-and-seek served to get to know all the nooks and crannies of a home.

That's exactly why I excitedly ran to the new hiding place I had found a few days before in that house. It was a small space in the ventilation duct of the living room, a place where mom would not find me easily, and I smiled because this time I was going to win.

I carefully opened the vent grille and slipped inside, then put the grille back so Mom wouldn't notice me hiding in that spot and waited patiently for her to say the code word. Suddenly, the door to the house opened in an untimely manner, and I heard several people walking around the house.

“Nadia is here; I smell her scent,” one man said very confidently. “She's not going to escape this time, so make sure you hold her any way you can. The priority is the girl; the boss needs her intact.”

I frowned, not understanding anything that was going on.

It was the first time I had heard that voice, and so I didn't know the man speaking.

My mom didn't invite anyone to the houses we moved into; it was always her or me, so I followed the rules of the game as I listened to strangers check every nook and cranny of my new home. The only thing my innocent mind could think was that they were also playing hide-and-seek with us.

“The girl is nowhere to be seen,” one woman said after a few minutes. “Do you think Nadia left her somewhere else?”

“Nadia would never part with her daughter,” the man said firmly.

That was true; Mom and I never spent much time away from each other.

“Nadia would if she knew we were coming for them,” the woman replied immediately. “That she-wolf would rip her heart out to save her daughter.”

“Let's see how true that sentence is,” the man said before climbing the stairs that led to the rooms of the house.

I didn't like that, so I hoped Mom had a good hiding place too.

I waited patiently until I heard noises upstairs and then watched as the strangers began to search for me in every corner of the house. They rummaged through everything, broke furniture, and made a big mess until they finally left.

That scared me, but I followed the rules because I wanted to win.

The problem was that mom never called me, and my tummy was rumbling, a sign that it was time for dinner. I couldn't take it anymore and came out of hiding because I was so hungry.

I saw the damage the strangers had done to the house and immediately went upstairs to look for Mom. However, when I approached her room, I had to stop when I saw the blood coming out from under the door.

A shiver ran through my body, and my skin bristled in response.

I reached over and carefully opened the door.

I should never have done that.

My mom's body was lying on the floor with her throat slit; she was face up with her eyes open and a lifeless look.

My mind didn't process what was happening until a gasp of horror rose in my throat as I realized Mom wasn't breathing. 

“Mom! Mom!” I began to scream over and over as I sat down next to her and shook her body.

I didn't know how long I was crying next to the corpse, but I watched as Serena, Mom's friend, came into the room and gasped as she saw the scene. She immediately came over to me and hugged me tenderly to comfort me.

“I'm so sorry, Nadine,” Serena said painfully, and she began to cry.

Seeing a woman like Serena, with a strong, warrior-like build and an indecipherable expression, cry felt like a horrible reality check. She loved my mother very much; that's why she always offered her help.

Serena tried to separate me from my mother's body, and just at that moment the people who had entered the house untimely returned. That was how I saw the face of the man who had spoken in the living room. He was a tall, blond, strong, middle-aged man. The most striking feature of his face was a long scar running across his face.

“I knew there was a chance someone might come, but I didn't think I'd be lucky enough to find the girl here,” the blond man said with a sinister smile.

“You will not take the girl, over my dead body,” said Serena, who got up at once and stood in front of me by way of a shield. “Stay away, Alister.”

“I was able to kill Nadia in a couple of moves; killing you will be very easy,” the man said in a mocking tone of voice.

Serena saw me, and I noticed that her shorn hair had grown, her eyes had turned golden, and her nails had become sharp claws. 

She was going to transform into a she-wolf, so I was afraid.

“Run!” shouted Serena in panic.

I was slow to react and watched as Serena attacked the blond man without hesitation. She was aggressive, and the man growled, then his eyes turned red, and that only meant he was a vampire.

The blood drained from my face, and I stood up quickly.

I didn't hesitate to run; I ran down the stairs, and when I was about to go out the door, arms held me tightly. I started screaming in fear and was unaware that my screams made the light bulbs in the house flicker.

“Let go of me!” I shouted.

“The little beast has a temper,” said the woman I had heard earlier; she was a beautiful redhead, and they also had red eyes. “Get a tranquilizer, or the little beast will be a nightmare during the transfer.”

As one of the men approached with a syringe, I felt a current of power begin to form inside me, and as he prepared to inject me, I screamed in a different way than I had screamed before.

I released a power I did not know, a power that tried to consume me with force, and suddenly the house began to shake, and people near me fell to the ground. I didn't know what had happened, but as I got closer, I saw that all the strangers were bleeding from their noses and ears.

“Run, Nadine!” shouted Serena from the stairs, and I saw her bleeding from her nose before she fell hard down the stairs.

I knew that whatever I had done, it had affected everyone equally.

I heeded Serena, took my advantage, and ran so fast I didn't look back.