ADRIAN'S POV
How dare he.
The glass in my hand shattered.
Blood trickled from my palm, but I barely noticed. The pain meant nothing.
I had made a promise.
A promise I had failed to keep.
Andy was gone.
Again.
And this time, she was in Dawson's hands.
Something dark stirred inside me.
Six years of hatred.
Six years of waiting.
Six years of imagining the day I would finally have my revenge.
If Dawson hurt her—
If he so much as laid a hand on her—
I would tear his kingdom apart, stone by stone.
Because I remembered.
I remembered everything.
SIX YEARS AGO
Washington.
The memory was carved into my mind so deeply that even after six centuries, I could still hear her scream.
I had been moving through the forest when the sound reached me.
A scream.
Not one of anger.
Not one of rage.
Fear.
Pure, desperate terror.
The kind that turned your blood cold.
The kind you never forgot.
I followed the sound until a castle emerged beyond the trees, its towering walls rising against the night.
Then I heard her again.
Begging.
Crying.
Pleading for someone to save her.
Every instinct in me screamed to storm the gates.
Instead, I returned home and gathered the others.
Elisa was the first to speak.
"What happened?"
"We need to save someone."
Mike frowned.
"Who?"
"A girl."
My jaw tightened.
"She's trapped inside Dawson's castle."
The room fell silent.
Then came the answer I hated.
"No."
My fists clenched.
"He's going to kill her."
"We can't interfere."
"He'll destroy her!"
Still, they refused.
I slammed my hand against the table.
"Then what are we waiting for?"
Mike's expression hardened.
"Adrian, Dawson is not someone you can simply—"
"I don't care."
My voice cut through his.
"If nobody is going to help her, I'll go alone."
I turned and stormed out before anyone could stop me.
Hours later, I crouched beyond the castle walls, watching.
Waiting.
Planning.
Then footsteps sounded behind me.
I spun around.
Mike.
Drek.
Elisa.
George.
Justin.
Harry.
A slow grin spread across my face.
"I thought you weren't coming."
Mike rolled his eyes.
"Don't make me regret it."
Minutes later, the attack began.
Steel collided with steel.
Shouts erupted through the night.
The castle descended into chaos.
"Go!" Elisa shouted. "We'll handle this!"
I didn't need to be told twice.
I ran.
Through corridor after corridor.
Past room after room.
Nothing.
No sign of her.
Then—
A sound.
Soft.
Weak.
Almost impossible to hear.
I stopped.
It had come from beneath me.
I tore the carpet aside.
A hidden trapdoor.
Without hesitation, I pulled it open and descended.
The darkness below was suffocating.
The smell hit me first.
Rot.
Decay.
Despair.
Then I saw her.
Curled into the corner.
Broken.
Terrified.
Alone.
For a moment, I couldn't breathe.
No one should ever have to look that afraid.
I lowered myself beside her.
"Hey."
She flinched violently.
"P-Please… don't hurt me."
The words shattered something inside me.
I softened my voice.
"I'm not going to hurt you."
Slowly, I extended my hand.
"I'm here to take you home."
She stared at my hand as though she couldn't believe it was real.
Then something inside her broke.
Tears streamed down her face as she threw herself into my arms.
I held her tightly.
Carefully.
As though the slightest wrong movement might break what remained of her.
When we finally emerged from the castle, Drek was waiting.
"The king escaped."
I barely heard him.
Andy suddenly gripped my shirt.
Her eyes were filled with pure terror.
"He'll come back."
Her voice trembled.
"He always comes back."
I looked directly into those frightened eyes.
And made a promise.
"If he comes for you…"
My voice dropped to ice.
"I'll kill him."
For the first time, something flickered behind her eyes.
Hope.
Tiny.
Fragile.
But alive.
Later, after Andy was safe, I sat outside her room.
For a long time, she said nothing.
Then, finally—
"My name is Andy."
Her voice was barely more than a whisper.
"I had a normal life once."
She stared at her hands.
"I had a family. A home. I was in college."
A sad smile touched her lips.
"They loved me."
The smile disappeared.
"Then one day, while I was leaving college, I accidentally bumped into someone."
Her fingers tightened around the blanket.
"I apologized and walked away."
A bitter laugh escaped her.
"I didn't know that one mistake would destroy everything."
After that, she began to feel watched.
Followed.
Observed.
At first, she ignored it.
Then she met Dustin.
And for the first time since the nightmare began, something softened in her expression.
"He was kind."
A tear slipped down her cheek.
"He listened to me. He protected me. He loved me."
Slowly, they fell in love.
For a while, life felt normal again.
Until one afternoon.
"I was leaving college when a man suddenly dropped to one knee in front of everyone."
Her breathing became uneven.
"It was Dawson."
My jaw tightened.
"He proposed to me in front of the entire campus."
She looked away.
"I told him I was sorry."
Her voice cracked.
"I told him I loved someone else."
She closed her eyes.
"I didn't know one rejection would cost me everything."
That night, she told Dustin what had happened.
He told her not to worry.
To forget about Dawson.
But Dawson didn't forget.
He never did.
Late that night, Andy went downstairs to get some water.
Then—
A hand seized her from behind.
She froze.
"He whispered in my ear."
Her entire body trembled.
"'You thought you could leave me?'"
Tears streamed down her face.
"'I really love you.'"
She swallowed hard.
"Then he pointed toward my house."
Her voice broke.
"The next second…"
She couldn't finish.
She didn't need to.
I already knew.
Her family was gone.
Everything she loved.
Gone.
Then Dawson brought Dustin before her.
Beaten.
Broken.
Yet still trying to protect her.
"I tried to reach him."
Andy sobbed.
"But I couldn't."
My hands curled into fists.
"He wiped my tears away and told me nobody would ever come between us again."
The room seemed to grow colder.
Darker.
Then came the part that had haunted her most.
"He took everything from me."
Her voice had gone frighteningly empty.
"My family."
"Dustin."
"My future."
"My life."
She stared at the floor.
"And then he took me to that castle."
Silence settled between us.
Heavy.
Crushing.
"I died there."
The words were barely audible.
"And the thing that came back…"
A tear slipped down her cheek.
"...wasn't the same girl."
She looked at me.
Lost.
Broken.
Alone.
And in that moment, I made another promise.
Not as a vampire.
Not as a warrior.
But as family.
No matter what it cost me—
I would never let anyone hurt her again.
PRESENT
My eyes opened.
The memory disappeared.
The rage remained.
Six years ago, I had promised to protect her.
Now she was gone.
Again.
And this time, I would not fail.
A violent knock shook the door.
Drek burst inside, his chest heaving.
His eyes burned with urgency.
"We found him."
Silence.
Deadly silence.
I slowly rose from my chair.
At last, the darkness inside me had a target.
Dawson.
A predator's smile touched my lips.
Cold.
Merciless.
Lethal.
"Good."
One word.
A death sentence.
I grabbed my coat and headed for the door.
Every instinct inside me screamed for blood.
For vengeance.
For justice.
Andy.
Hold on.
Just a little longer.
Because this time…
I wasn't coming merely to rescue you.
I was coming to end him.