“Every shadow hides a threat. Every heartbeat could be my last. And yet… some dangers call me closer instead of driving me away.”
*****
I used to be nobody. Just a weird little girl with no name, trapped and used for a power I didn't understand.
Until I ran away—and begged the scariest man I’d ever met to take me with him. Duke Dorian Valdemar, a pureblooded vampire noble feared by emperors, adopted me as his daughter. He gave me a name and for the first time, I belonged somewhere.
But peace doesn’t come so easily. My adoptive brother, Aimes, looks at me like I’m a fragile nuisance. He doesn’t hate me…but he doesn’t trust me either. And I can’t blame him. How could he, when I’m hiding what I really am?
And then there’s the cursed blueblooded vampire Theon—charming and dangerous in his own way. He smiles like a friend, always showing up even when I didn't know I needed him, but every step closer feels like a test. Can I trust him…or will he be the reason I lose everything?
Because the man I escaped from isn’t finished with me. He wants me back, no matter what it takes. If he finds me, the world I’m starting to love, the family I’m desperate to keep....will all be torn away.
So I have to be clever. I have to be brave. And maybe, just maybe, I can make Aimes see me as his sister before the past catches up.
After all, I’m not just fighting for myself anymore. I’m fighting for the home I never thought I’d have.
*****
“Stay behind me.” Aimes’s voice was sharp and cold, but his arm stretched out in front of me like a shield. His crimson eyes never left the enemy, glowing with quiet fury.
“But—” I whispered, clutching my chest where the strange warmth pulsed, begging to be used.
“If you move,” he snapped, “you’ll die.”
I wanted to believe him. I wanted to stay still, to let him fight for me. But then he appeared—Theon, stepping out from the shadows with that unreadable smile and cynical look on face that made me shudder.
“Anwen,” he said softly, like he was speaking only to me. “Do you trust him…or me?”
The world tilted. My heart pounded. And in that moment, I realized...my choice could shatter everything.