Zina didn’t scream.
She wanted to.
Every nerve in her body was telling her to run, but something stubborn kept her rooted to the spot.
The study was still dark.
“Who’s there?”
Nothing.
Her fingers tightened around the drawer handle.
Then the lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
They came back on.
Zina spun around.
The room was empty.
Her heart hammered against her ribs as she scanned every corner, every shadow, every doorway.
Nothing.
Then her eyes landed on the window.
It was open.
She was certain she’d closed it.
Zina approached it slowly.
The curtains swayed in the night breeze, but beyond them, the estate grounds were perfectly still.
No footsteps.
No figure.
No sign that anyone had been there.
She swallowed.
Maybe she’d imagined the voice.
Grief could do strange things to the mind.
She closed the window and locked it before turning back toward her father’s desk.
The red writing was still there.
When the blood moon rises, the daughter of the night will return.
Her gaze dropped to the second line.
Do not let them find her.
“Who is her?”
The question left her lips before she could stop it.
She stared at the handwriting, then at her father’s letter, and finally at the words Victor had thrown at her.
You don’t even know what you are.
A cold shiver ran through her.
For the first time since Chike Eze’s death, Zina wondered if she really knew her own family.
A knock sounded at the door.
She jumped.
“Miss Zina?”
It was Adewale, her father’s head of security.
“Come in.”
He entered immediately, his eyes moving around the room before settling on her.
“Are you alright?”
“I’m fine.”
His gaze shifted toward the window.
“Did someone come in here?”
Zina hesitated.
“I don’t know.”
Adewale’s hand instinctively moved beneath his jacket.
“What happened?”
“I heard someone.”
“What did you hear?”
Zina hesitated before answering.
“It said it found me.”
Adewale went pale.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Zina narrowed her eyes.
“You know something.”
It wasn’t a question.
Adewale looked away.
“Miss Zina…”
“You know something.”
“I don’t.”
“You’re lying.”
His jaw tightened.
Zina stepped closer.
“You’ve worked for my father since before I was born. You were the one who found me, weren’t you?”
Adewale froze.
Zina watched his face carefully.
“How did you…”
“I saw the old photographs.”
She hadn’t.
But he didn’t know that.
Adewale sighed.
“Your father made me promise never to tell you.”
“Tell me what?”
He stared at her for a long moment.
“You weren’t supposed to know about that night.”
Zina’s pulse quickened.
“What night?”
“The night you came here.”
Silence settled between them.
Adewale glanced toward the closed door.
“Not tonight.”
Zina’s temper flared.
“My father is dead.
Whatever promise you made to him died with him.”
“He made me swear.”
“And he’s not here to punish you.”
Adewale looked at her with something dangerously close to pity.
“You don’t understand.”
“Then explain it.”
Before he could answer, footsteps sounded in the hallway.
Slow.
Measured.
Adewale immediately straightened.
The door opened.
Damien Okoye walked in.
His gaze moved from Adewale to Zina.
“Leave us.”
Adewale frowned.
“Mr.
Okoye..”
“Now.”
There was something in Damien’s voice that made Adewale hesitate.
Then he left.
Zina folded her arms.
“Do you order everyone around?”
“Only when necessary.”
“I don’t like you.”
“I know.”
“You seem very comfortable with that.”
“I am.”
Zina almost smiled.
Almost.
Then she remembered why he was there.
“My father left me a ridiculous condition.”
Damien said nothing.
“Marriage.”
Still nothing.
“To you.”
“I know.”
She stared at him.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“And you didn’t think to mention it?”
“Your father wanted you to hear it from him.”
“He’s dead.”
Damien’s expression hardened.
“I know.”
Something in his voice made her pause.
He looked genuinely affected.
For the first time, Zina wondered if Damien had actually cared about Chike.
She pushed the thought away.
“Why you?”
Damien didn’t answer.
“Why did my father choose you?”
“He trusted me.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“It’s the only one you’re getting tonight.”
Zina stepped closer.
“You’re very annoying.”
“So I’ve been told.”
She stared at him.
He stared back.
There was something strange about his presence.
The room suddenly felt colder.
“Are you always this insufferable?”
“Only with you.”
“Good.”
She turned away.
“Then we’re going to get along terribly.”
“I doubt that.”
Zina looked back at him.
“What does that mean?”
Damien’s gaze dropped briefly to her lips before returning to her eyes.
“It means your father knew what he was doing.”
Zina’s stomach twisted.
“Thirty days.”
Damien nodded.
“Thirty days from today.”
“And if I refuse?”
“You lose the company.”
“That’s what the will says.”
“No.”
His voice was quiet.
“You lose more than the company.”
Zina’s expression changed.
“What does that mean?”
Damien stepped closer.
For the first time, she noticed just how tall he was.
“Your father didn’t leave that condition because he wanted you married.”
“Then why?”
“Because he knew what would happen if you weren’t.”
“What?”
Damien stared at her.
“You’d become vulnerable.”
“To who?”
He said nothing.
Zina’s frustration grew.
“You’re all hiding something from me.”
“Yes.”
She blinked.
The bluntness caught her off guard.
“At least you’re honest.”
“I’m always honest.”
“No. You’re selectively honest.”
A faint smile touched his lips.
“That’s different.”
“Not to me.”
She walked around the desk.
“Tell me about my mother.”
Damien’s face went completely still.
There.
She saw it.
That tiny shift.
The hesitation.
The recognition.
He knew.
“You know her.”
“No.”
“You’re lying.”
“Zina.”
“Don’t call me that like you know me.”
“I do know you.”
“Then tell me who my mother is.”
Silence.
Damien’s eyes darkened.
“You aren’t ready.”
“That’s not your decision.”
“It is now.”
She laughed bitterly.
“You’re supposed to be my lawyer, not my keeper.”
His expression hardened.
“Your father hired me to protect you.”
“I don’t need protection.”
“You do.”
“From what?”
Damien took one step toward her.
Then another.
Until only a few feet separated them.
His voice dropped.
“From everything you don’t know.”
Zina’s heart skipped.
Before she could respond, a sharp pain shot through her wrist.
She gasped.
“My hand.”
She grabbed her wrist.
A thin red mark had appeared across her skin.
It looked like a scratch, but the skin around it was burning.
Damien’s expression changed instantly.
“What happened?”
“I don’t know.”
He stared at the mark.
For the first time, Zina saw something that looked like genuine fear in his eyes.
“What?”
He didn’t answer.
“Damien.”
He grabbed her wrist.
His fingers were freezing.
Zina flinched.
“You’re cold.”
He released her immediately.
His eyes remained fixed on the mark.
“What is it”?
Damien’s jaw tightened.
“Nothing.”
“You’re lying again.”
He looked at her.
“Go upstairs.”
“What?”
“Go upstairs.
Lock your door.”
“Why?”
“Because I said so.”
Zina pulled her wrist away.
“You don’t give me orders.”
“Tonight, I do.”
She stared at him.
“Why?”
Damien looked toward the window.
His face became completely expressionless.
“Because someone just crossed your father’s boundary.”
A chill ran through her.
“What boundary?”
Damien didn’t answer.
Instead, he walked toward the door.
“Wait.”
He stopped.
Zina held up her wrist.
“This appeared the moment the lights went out.”
Damien stared at it.
Then something happened.
A faint red glow pulsed beneath her skin.
Once.
Twice.
Damien’s eyes widened.
He whispered something in a language she didn’t understand.
“What did you say?”
He looked at her.
For the first time since she’d met him, Damien looked genuinely afraid.
“I said…”
He swallowed.
“…the blood has awakened.”
Zina stared at him.
“What blood?”
Before he could answer, every light in the estate went out.
This time, the darkness was absolute.
Then came the sound of something striking the front gates.
BOOM.
Zina jumped.
Another impact shook the building.
BOOM.
Adewale’s voice echoed from somewhere downstairs.
“SECURITY! LOCK THE HOUSE DOWN!”
Damien moved toward Zina instantly.
She backed away.
“What is happening?”
He didn’t answer.
The third impact shook the entire building.
Glass shattered somewhere below.
Then came screaming.
Zina’s blood ran cold.
Damien grabbed her hand.
“Stay behind me.”
“Damien…”
“Zina.”
His voice wasn’t calm anymore.
It was a warning.
“Whatever you hear…”
His eyes flashed strangely in the darkness.
“…do not leave this room.”
Something moved outside the study door.
Slow footsteps.
One.
Two.
Three.
Then silence.
A low growl came from the hallway.
Zina stared at Damien.
He stared at the door.
Then she noticed something.
His breathing had stopped.
Completely.
Zina frowned.
“Damien?”
He didn’t answer.
His head tilted slightly, as though he was listening to something far beyond the walls.
Then he turned toward her.
His eyes were no longer the same.
They glowed faintly in the darkness.
Zina stumbled backward.
“What… what happened to your eyes?”
Damien said nothing.
And then she saw them.
His teeth.
Two sharp fangs had descended from his mouth.
Zina froze.
For one horrifying second, her mind refused to understand what she was seeing.
Then reality hit.
She screamed.
“What the hell are you?”
Damien’s expression changed.
“Zina..”
“Stay away from me!”
She backed into the desk, nearly knocking over the lamp.
Her hands were shaking.
“No. No, no, no…”
Damien took a step toward her.
She flinched violently.
“Don’t!”
He stopped.
Zina stared at him, tears threatening her eyes as she tried to catch her breath.
“You have fangs.”
Damien said nothing.
“You have fucking fangs!”
“Listen to me.”
“You’re not human.”
The words came out as a whisper.
Damien’s silence was answer enough.
Zina shook her head.
“This isn’t real.”
Another violent crash came from downstairs.
A scream followed.
Damien’s eyes shifted toward the door.
Zina saw the change in his face.
Whatever was outside wasn’t something he was afraid of.
He was preparing for it.
She pressed herself against the desk.
“What are you?”
Damien looked back at her.
His voice was low.
“Something your father spent twenty-six years trying to keep away from you.”
The study door suddenly shook.
Once.
Twice.
Zina screamed again.
Damien moved in front of her.
The door exploded inward.
And before Zina could even process what she was seeing, Damien vanished.
Not ran.
Not moved.
Vanished.
A blur crossed the room.
Something crashed into the hallway wall.
A monstrous growl filled the house.
Zina stood frozen, staring at the destruction in front of her.
Then Damien turned his head.
His fangs were still exposed.
His eyes burned red.
And for the first time, Zina understood why her father had been so afraid of the world finding her.
She wasn’t being hunted because she was Chike Eze’s daughter.
She was being hunted because of what was inside her blood.