Prologue

It was a moonless sky on the night Lady Ravenwood lay in her bed, riddled with aches and pains from labour. She looked at the heavens and pleaded her child would not be born this night—it was a bad omen, she thought, even more so with everything currently happening.

She could feel the child trying to get out of her womb, and she clenched her lower body to prevent the birth.

“Has my husband returned yet, Agatha?” Lady Ravenwood called her servant maid.

The maid—Agatha, came over to the bed and changed the soiled sheet under her mistress.

“I’m afraid not, my lady. I’ll ask William when he comes up. The master should be back soon. Please hold on.”

Lady Ravenwood sighed and scrunched the sheets under her fists. Her toes curled from the pain, and sweat poured down her neck and back, soaking the bedsheets.

Lady Ravenwood was in hiding and stayed in a safe house outside the city limits. It looked like a small country house, far away from prying eyes. She knew her husband had spared no expense in making her feel at home and protected there, more so when they learned they were expecting a child. But she couldn’t shake the feeling that something terrible would happen.

“Ah! Please, can you bring me some water?”

The small maid bowed and hurried out of the room to get a glass for her mistress. She spotted William, the master’s butler, on her way down the stairs. He was speaking with another man, someone the maid did not recognize.

When William noticed her, the man dismissed the visitor and took the maid’s arm to lead her inside the dimmed kitchen.

“The master has not yet returned, and there have been sightings of hunters. He should have been back by now! How is the lady faring?”

Agatha shook her head and knotted her fingers together.

“She’s losing too much blood and refuses the child to be born without her husband. If this keeps up, we’ll lose them both!”

William nodded and let go of the maid.

“Keep her comfortable so long as it’s safe, but I fear we cannot delay much longer. The master has given us specific instructions if he does not return.”

The maid tilted her head and rushed to get her mistress water, then climbed up the stairs and carefully placed the glass in the lady’s hands.

The lady had paled considerably since the night began. Her brown hair was plastered over her forehead, and deep shadows made her eyes sunken. It was a horrible sight, especially knowing how beautiful the mistress was in good health.

Agatha moved her lady’s legs and changed the towels again. The blood kept dripping down, and she could see how frail and weak she had become.

“Mistress, we cannot wait any longer. You need to push! If you don’t, your baby will die.”

Lady Ravenwood inhaled sharply as another burst of pain erupted in her lower back. She extended her hand, and the maid took it quickly, caressing it gently as the lady pushed. She cried out and sank onto the bed once the contraction had passed.

A gush of water and blood accumulated under her, and she pushed again when she felt another sharp stab of pain. Agatha went between her legs and cupped the baby’s crowning head.

“One last push, my lady. I’ll be able to pull the baby out after that.”

Lady Ravenwood howled and screamed as she contracted her belly muscles and pushed the child out.

It was eerily quiet while the maid cleaned and wrapped the babe.

“Congratulations! It’s a beautiful girl,” Agatha said with a comforting smile. She handed the baby to the lady but didn’t have the energy to hold her child.

Lady Ravenwood looked at her newborn sweetly and lifted her gaze to her maid. “I don’t think I’ll make it. I waited too long. If Eddy’s dead and I won’t be here to protect her, you must keep her safe. Please ask William to come with the documents. I must sign them before I can no longer do so.”

The maid bowed her head and left the baby close to the lady. She hurried down the stairs to find the master’s butler.

William was talking with another man; this time, the butler’s face was grave with deep sadness. Agatha didn’t wait for the two men to finish their conversation when she interrupted.

“The child lives, and the lady has requested you, William. It doesn’t look good. Can you bring the documents? I think Lady Ravenwood will have you change a few things.”

“I have bad news as well. Hunters have killed the master. I don’t know how they knew his whereabouts, but someone must have tipped them off.”

William moved to the main parlour and opened a trapdoor on the floor. There was a safe which contained the documents the lady requested. The papers were the deed to the Ravenwood’s wealth.

The butler closed the trapdoor and hurried Agatha to their mistress’s bedroom. When they both entered, all was silent, and they half feared Lady Ravenwood had died.

When the new mother saw her husband’s butler, she slowly removed her ring and gave it to him. The maid noticed her mistress’s lips had turned purple-blue, and her heart pinched, thinking Lady Ravenwood would not make it past the early morning.

“Her name is Maxime Seraphine Ravenwood. After my passing, she will be the heiress to the Ravenwood title and wealth.”

The butler scribbled on the parchments and sealed everything with the Ravenwood crest on the ring the lady had given him. William then turned to the lady, pricked her finger and the babe’s, and pressed their droplets of blood on the document.

“It’s done, mistress. What is to become of the child?”

“Hide her until she is ready. It’s best to grow up knowing nothing of this world and what she is. She’ll be alone but safe. This pains me more than words can express. However, it’s necessary as she can pass as a human. I wish things could be different. You’ll keep an eye on her, won’t you, William? Agatha? Make sure no one discovers she’s a half-blood.”

The butler took the lady’s hand in his and vowed to watch the girl closely. After all, this baby was now his mistress.

Blood and oath bound him and Agatha to be the child’s humble servants until the day someone put a stake through their vampire hearts.