••{RHIANNON’S POV}••
"YOU MONSTER!" I scream so hard my throat burns.
Anger consumes every part of me, boiling like fire in my veins.
My gaze drops to my father’s sword lying beside me. Before I can think twice, my fingers wrap around the hilt.
"Anna, no!" Jesenya screams. "Please drop it, you’ll get yourself killed!"
I ignore her completely.
With a cry of pure rage, I hurl myself at the vampire, swinging my sword with every ounce of strength I have. He moves so fast that my eyes can barely track him, sidestepping my attacks so easily that it enrages me even more.
On my seventh strike, I slash to the left. The moment he moves to avoid it, I swing right at the last second, slicing across his palm.
His gaze drops to the blood on his hand, then returns to me. But instead of anger, a look of amusement dances in his eyes.
"Hm... a warrior bride," he murmurs, his lips slowly curling into a smile. "How unexpected."
Without taking his eyes off me, he holds out one hand. A dead guard’s sword flies across the cathedral, landing in his palm.
Our swords collide and I fight relentlessly, throwing everything I have into each swing.
He deflects. He blocks. But he never strikes to kill. I realize he’s holding back, almost as if he doesn’t want to hurt me.
For the first time, his guard slips. I seize the moment, plunging my sword deep into his chest.
A wave of gasps sweeps through the cathedral.
I stumble backward as blood spills from his mouth, splattering onto the marble floor. Then he sways for a heartbeat before dropping to his knees.
My chest rises and falls with ragged breaths as I stare at him.
I can hardly believe I actually brought him to his knees.
For the first time since the cathedral doors burst open, hope blooms inside me.
Maybe... it’s over.
Maybe this nightmare is finally over.
But that hope dies the moment he starts rising to his feet.
Slowly, he wraps one hand around the hilt buried in his chest and pulls the sword free without so much as a wince. Blood pours from the wound for only a heartbeat before the flesh begins knitting itself back together. Then he flings the sword aside like it were nothing more than an inconvenience.
My eyes widen.
"No..." I whisper, slowly backing away.
Before I can escape, he closes the distance between us and slips an arm around my waist, pulling me against his chest. His golden eyes blaze like twin suns as they lock onto mine, then he crashes his lips against mine in a kiss that steals the air from my lungs.
For one stunned moment, my body forgets how to react.
He forces his tongue past my lips, and the moment the metallic taste of his blood floods my mouth, my stomach twists with rage and disgust.
All I can see is Cyrus’s heart beating in this monster’s hand.
His blood spilling across the marble.
His lifeless body collapsing to the cathedral floor.
With all my strength, I shove him hard in the chest and break free of his embrace. Then I stagger backward, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand.
"How dare you put those filthy lips on me!" I scream. "You killed him! You murdered the man I love!"
"Princess," he says, his voice deep and calm. "I don’t care if you love me or loathe me. But from today onwards, you are mine. That truth will sink into your heart soon enough."
"Never," I reply, glaring daggers at him. "I’d rather die than belong to you."
A huff escapes him, and his lips pull into a faint smirk as his eyes trail over me from head to toe.
"Keep that fire," he says quietly. "You’ll need it where we’re going."
"I’m not going anywhere with you," I growl.
The smirk vanishes from his face and he tilts his head slightly, narrowing his eyes. "You misunderstand, Princess. I wasn’t asking."
Before another word can leave my lips, he grabs my wrist and starts dragging me toward the cathedral doors.
"Let me go!" I scream, twisting and clawing at his hand, but his hold is too strong. "Do you hear me? I said let me go!"
My screams echo throughout the cathedral, but he ignores me and keeps walking.
"Wait!" I cry out in a last, desperate attempt.
He finally stops and turns to face me.
I sink down onto my knees. My entire body trembles as I burst into sobs, and the pain in my chest is so unbearable it feels like my heart is being ripped apart.
I look up at him through tear-filled eyes, my voice nothing more than a broken whisper.
"Why? Why are you doing this to me?"
The words that come out next are sharper, louder, and filled with pain.
"This was supposed to be the happiest day of my life!" I cry. "I was supposed to marry Cyrus but you took him away from me!"
I turn to look at his lifeless body lying on the floor.
"I didn’t even get to say I do," I whisper. Then I turn back to the vampire. "So why?"
He remains silent for a moment.
"You’re special, Rhiannon," he says finally, his voice quiet and almost gentle. "I’m doing this to protect you."
My brows furrow as confusion clouds my grief. "...What?"
He studies me for a few heartbeats before he says, "So you truly don’t know what you really are, do you?"
I open my mouth but I can’t even muster up words.
"I’ve been looking for you for centuries," he continues. "Tracing bloodlines, crossing seas, searching kingdoms—all to find you. And now... I have."
His grip on my wrist tightens. "This is for your own good."
"For my own good?" I ask, letting out a bitter laugh. "You’re taking me against my will. You’ve torn me from everyone I love. And that’s for my own good?!"
"You won’t understand now," he says gently. "But you will when you come home with me."
My frown deepens. "Home?"
I gesture to the ruined cathedral, the dead guards, and the pools of blood on the floor.
"This is my home!" I scream, my voice trembling with each word. "Astragarde is my home!" I point to Jesenya, Rayn, and Darren crouched around our father. "And they are my family. So, no. I am not going anywhere with you!"
The vampire lets out a sigh.
It’s not impatient or angry. Just... weary, as if he expected this.
And to my utter surprise, he lets go of my wrist.
"Alright," he says.
I rub at my wrist as I rise to my feet. But just as I’m about to feel relieved, he says,
"You leave me no choice."
He slowly raises his hands and the blood soaking the floor from Cyrus and dozens of guards ripples, then it rises into the air, curling and twisting toward me in streams.
I spin around, scared and confused. "W–what’s happening? What are you doing?"
The blood coils around my wrists and ankles, forming chains as they harden.
"No," I gasp, fighting to free myself. "No, no, no!"
The vampire turns away from me and raises his hand again. This time, a dark red light glows from a ring on his finger. It grows brighter and brighter until the air around it distorts, trembling as if reality itself is recoiling.
Then suddenly—a jagged tear rips open in the space before the cathedral doors.
The edges churn and writhe like something alive, dripping strands of dark red energy that hiss as they touch the ground. Inside it isn’t darkness, but a violent, shifting storm of red.
Like blood caught in a never-ending current.
The light from it floods the cathedral, painting everything red.
"What..." I swallow. "What is that?" I ask, my voice trembling.
With a wave of his hand, his soldiers step forward and seize the chains binding me.
"Stop!" I scream, jerking back. "Please—please don’t do this!" I clasp my hands together as if in prayer. "Let me go, I beg you. I’ll do anything. Please."
He doesn’t spare me another glance.
He just turns and starts walking toward the tear.
"No!" I cry so hard my throat hurts as the soldiers begin to drag me forwar. "Please, I beg you!"
I look to the nobles. My father’s bannermen. The court. The people who swore to protect me.
Yet not even one of them lifts so much as a finger. All of them hide their faces, refusing to look at me.
"Help me!" I sob. "Somebody, please!"
"Anna!" Rayn shouts.
I turn around just in time to see him running toward me with a sword.
"No, don’t!" I cry out, but he doesn’t listen.
As soon as he reaches me, he swings the blade at one of the soldiers. But a single blow to the stomach sends him flying several feet away.
My heart stops as he hits the floor. And for one terrifying moment, I think I’ve lost him too.
But then he groans, pushing weakly against the floor. He lifts his head and looks at me for a heartbeat before he collapses again.
"Rayn!" I cry, struggling to reach for him but the chains keep pulling me back.
I fall to the ground, clawing at the stones, stretch my hands out to try and grab onto something.
"Anna!" my sister screams as she rushes toward me with Darren clinging to her hand.
She falls to her knees in front of me, grabbing my hands with both of hers. Darren wraps his little arms around me, crying into my wedding gown.
"I won’t let you go!" Jesenya cries, desperately holding on. "I won’t let them take you, Anna. I swear it!"
The chains pull harder, dragging me inch by inch even as she holds on.
"Jes... Jes, please!" I sob, gripping her tighter. "Don’t let them take me!"
"I won’t let them take you, Anna!" Jesenya cries, gripping my hands until her knuckles turn white. "I won’t!’
But no matter how hard we hold on to each other, my fingers start slipping one by one.
For a heartbeat, I glance over my shoulder to see the red-haired vampire looking at us.
His face betrays nothing.
No pity.
No emotion.
Just a cold, unreadable expression.
He turns away again and keeps walking.
"Anna!" Jesenya screams, the sound of her splitting my soul.
Then our fingers finally separate and she falls onto the floor, clutching our little brother against her as they both scream my name.
"No!" I cry, twisting and thrashing with all my strength. Digging my nails into the ground.
But the soldiers grab me and pull me up, dragging me along with them.
I stretch my hands toward my siblings as their figures blur behind my tears, screaming at the top of my lungs until my throat turns sore.
My chest tightens so much that I can’t breathe. Then my vision tunnels, spinning until it feels like the world is tilting beneath my feet.
And then the darkness takes me.