Chapter 2

The cold street wind bites at my cheeks. I stare blankly at the text message from Lucius on my phone screen.

After a moment, I hit the lock button, and the screen goes black.

There are exactly ten days left until my flight to Rome.

These ten days are the final preparation period for the Primordial coronation. They are also the timeout Alexander gave me. He is dead set on the idea that on the full moon ten days from now, I will come crawling back to him like a dog begging for a new bond.

I should just find a hotel and hide out. But my legs move on their own, taking me in the exact opposite direction of the city.

A hundred years of feelings do not just vanish into thin air.

Even though I just drove a dagger through my palm in his study to sever our bond, the agonizing backlash is already fading. What replaces it is a pathetic, shameful sense of longing. I just want to go back for my ID, and maybe look at him one last time.

I avoid the main gate and slip back into the castle through the servant's entrance. I know the route by heart.

I push open the door to my basement room, and the smell of mildew hits my face. I drag my suitcase out from under the bed and start blindly tossing in what little clothes I own.

When I open the bottom drawer of the closet, my fingers brush against a piece of stiff, dried-out fabric.

It is a scratchy maid's uniform with a ripped collar.

The seventh scar under my collarbone, freshly torn open from breaking the bond, suddenly throbs with sharp pain along with the older scars.

It was from the second time Alexander forcibly broke our blood bond.

Back then, I hadn't seen him for three whole months. I missed him so much I couldn't sleep for nights on end.

So I put on that maid's uniform and snuck into the castle's banquet. I carried a tray with his favorite O-negative blood wine. I even secretly mixed in some of my own freshly drawn pureblood, just so I could get close to him while pouring his drink.

I foolishly thought that seeing me might actually soften his heart a little.

But when I pushed open the side door to the banquet hall, I saw Lilith straddling his lap. Her arms were wrapped around his neck, and they were kissing like there was no tomorrow.

The tray slipped from my hands. The wine glass shattered against the marble floor, splashing crimson liquid everywhere.

The music stopped dead. Every pureblood aristocrat in the room turned to glare at me in the corner.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Alexander shoved Lilith aside, his face turning livid.

"You promised. You said you'd come see me as soon as she woke up." My eyes were red. I lunged forward like a madwoman, trying to grab Lilith. "You lied to me!"

My hand didn't even brush the hem of her dress.

Smack.

Alexander slapped me hard across the face.

I hit the floor heavily.

Lilith's voice trembled. "Alexander, why is she acting crazy? She's scaring me."

"It's okay." Alexander rubbed her back to soothe her.

Then he marched right up to me. Just to prove a point to Lilith and the rest of his clan, he grabbed me by the collar and yanked hard.

Rip.

The cheap maid's uniform tore open.

Right under my collarbone, the ugly scar from our second broken bond was still oozing black blood. It was completely exposed under the bright lights.

"Take a good look, everyone," Alexander said, his voice ice-cold. "She is just my ex-wife. Actually, she doesn't even deserve that title. She's just a walking blood bag who refuses to leave."

The air in the room froze. Then came the snickers and disgusted whispers, drowning me like a tidal wave.

I kneeled on the floor, shaking uncontrollably, digging my nails into the ground. I reached out to pick up the shattered Nightfall crest. Glass shards cut into my fingers, and my blood dripped onto the pure white tiles.

The sharp pain pulls me back.

The fresh wound in my palm throbs, snapping me back to the present.

I look down. I am gripping that torn uniform so tightly my knuckles are white. Tears are already falling onto the back of my hand.

A hundred years. I let him walk all over me like a monster with no sense of pain, all because he saved me from a hunter's silver stake back then. I thought my blood and my unconditional love would eventually warm his cold heart.

But today makes the seventh time he drained me, the seventh time he broke our bond. What on earth am I still hoping for?

I slam the uniform into the trash can. I wipe my tears hard and shove my passport and the last of my clothes into the suitcase.

It is time to go.

I walk to the main gates. I stop and look back up at the master bedroom on the highest floor of the castle, one last time.

Lilith's slender silhouette shows through the curtains. Alexander's tall frame wraps around her from behind. His head is lowered, like he is kissing her neck.

My heart tightens and aches against my will.

I bite down on my lip so hard I taste blood.

I hate myself. I hate that he throws me away like a dirty rag, yet I still pathetically crawl back. I hate that seeing him kiss someone else actually breaks my heart.

"Hold it."

The guards cross their halberds, blocking my path. One looks at me with pure disgust. "The Lord just gave a new order. Lady Lilith needs a ton of blood for her recovery. The blood bag is not allowed to leave the grounds. Go back to your basement."

Blood bag.

With shaking hands, I slowly unpin the silver crest from my chest, the mark that proves I am property of the Nightfall clan. It hits the ground at the guard's feet with a quiet clink.

The guard blinks, then lets out a scoff. "This again? Cut the act. You threw your pin away last time too, and you still came crying back begging the Lord to feed on you. Get back inside."

He is right. Even a lowly guard knows how pathetic I am.

I grab my suitcase and run, stumbling past the iron gates that have trapped me for a century.

I have no idea how long I wander the early morning streets of New York, until I stop in front of my best friend Chloe's apartment.

The moment the door opens, the brave face I put on the whole way completely shatters.

"Serena? Jesus, what happened to your hand? Did he drain you again?"

Before Chloe can finish her sentence, my legs give out. I collapse onto her entryway rug.

"Ten days." I grip the hem of Chloe's shirt like my life depends on it. The tears finally pour down my face. "Just let me hide here for ten days. After the full moon, I am going to Rome. I am never going back."