(Brielle’s POV)Levana slowed down, almost reaching us. When she walked past us, she murmured a chant and touched the ground. Nature took its course. The vines, roots, and weeds moved on their own, covering and changing the path we passed through.“This is an illusion, but temporary,” Levana said when I came back and stood beside her. She turned to me. “Gertrude and I have to return.”Cole stopped running and walked back toward us, panting as he stopped. “What? No?”Grandma tapped his shoulder, asking him to put her down. “We have to go back, Nicolas. Besides, no one knows I’m with you.”“You can’t be sure of that, Grandma,” I muttered worriedly, glancing over my shoulder and seeing our company stop running.They must be wondering what happened as they all headed to us, except for Ichiro, who lay on the grass to catch his breath.“Why are we stopping?” Lucilla asked. “What now?”“I’ll meet you in three days in Mount Grace,” Levana said calmly, glancing at Kione. “Find and cross the st
(Cole’s POV)“What’s with you?” Lucilla muttered angrily at me, panting from her walk. “I can’t believe you’re letting me do this alone, Cole.”We had been walking for hours, and Ichiro begged us to slow down because our walk was like a run to him already. He pleaded for a human pace kind of walk.I sighed, glancing at Brielle. “You know I can’t take her blood.”“She’s your mate!” She gritted her teeth. “She’s willing to give you her blood; only you didn’t.”“Do you hear yourself, Lucilla?” I snarled. “She’s engaged.”“Engaged? To whom? To that stupid hunter? Once we survive this, I’ll explain to him… No,” she shook her head. “I will shove the truth into his haywire brain that you’re his mate, and no one can change that. Where is that stupid stream?” she hissed in annoyance.“Wait!” Brielle raised her hand, tilting her head and closing her eyes. She smiled, opening her eyes and pointing her index finger in the west direction in the woods. “This way.”We followed her footsteps carefull
(Cole’s POV)Gen yelped, covering her mouth from screaming. She blinked as she was the only one who panicked. I could hear her heartbeat speeding up, afraid I might attack his brother. I turned to Brielle again; her eyes were closed, still in the cloud of euphoria of my feeding.“Brielle, are you feeling okay?” I asked, worried that Bryce might be right.She opened her eyes, smiling gently at me, nodding, and tilting her head to look at Bryce.“Yeah, just a little dizzy. Is something wrong?” Brielle asked, lifting her hand to her neck.I sighed, realizing I had taken much blood from her. Her fiancé hissed, walking toward her and grabbing her hand from her neck. His eyebrows knitted, narrowing his eyes, seeing the punctured wound from my fangs fade like the bite didn’t happen.“Can you walk?” Bryce asked. “I can carry you,” he muttered worriedly.“I’m fine, Bryce.” When he didn’t move, she grunted. “I’m really okay. I’ll tell you if I’m not and let you carry me if I’m not.”I gritted m
(Cole’s POV)“I grew up on this island and knew the place like the back of my hand.” We heard Giles say. I could imagine him pacing outside the cave, probably looking for it.“Perhaps we’re wrong.” It was Adam.Giles sighed. “This could take another day. There’s no report of seeing them crossing the water.” He heaved a deep sigh this time. “I believe they didn’t kidnap Bryce. He probably went on his own. It’s wise of him to give us clues.”Lucilla turned her head to Bryce, and if it weren’t dark, he would see she was glaring at him. If looks could kill right now, he would not make it even before we could move deeper into the cave.“There are… how many? There are, maybe, ten caves here, Giles,” another voice said. “It’s all connected. If you really think they’re hiding there, we can send more people to find them.”There was a long pause. I closed my eyes, focusing on the sound outside. Although it was a challenge that Lucilla and I could not read their thoughts, I could still hear thei
(Cole’s POV)“Can we… stop for a while?” Ichiro stopped running, panting heavily as he sat on the ground, almost tossing the bag he was carrying. “Human here,” he reminded me.Bryce joined Ichiro, catching his breath and taking the water bottle but hissed when he realized it was empty. He returned it to the bag and sighed, looking at Brielle. Like everyone else, she was out of breath.“Water?” she asked, panting.Bryce shook his head. “Empty. Hungry?” he asked worriedly.She shook her head and turned in my direction. Grinning mischievously, she narrowed her eyes at me like she was weighing something on her mind.“I’m thirsty,” she informed me as if I could offer something to drink.“You’re not drinking my blood if that’s what you’re thinking,” I scoffed, walking past them.“You really can’t hear my thoughts,” Brielle chuckled. “I was hoping to ask if you could hear even the slightest sound of water. That’ll somehow give us hope we will not die in this escape in thirst and hunger.”I p
(Brielle’s POV)I hit the ground gracefully but didn’t have time to admire myself because I had to run. Run? It was more like to escape… but from whom?I narrowed my eyes, listening carefully to the faint swoosh sound behind me. I gasped, wincing at the intense pain of the wound from an arrow, even though it missed my arm. I ran toward the tree and pulled the shaft from the tree’s body.The familiar design of the fletching and the silver bullet point made my heart hammer as I recognized who owned it. It used to be my grandfather’s and was given to Dad. I was twelve when my father gave me this handmade arrow as a gift.“Argh!” I hissed, tilting my head to check the wound. The slight cut caused a tingling pain and was getting worse.The noises from a distance proved to me that I was being chased. My ears twitched, recognizing their voices.“Giles!” I snarled, running again but halting abruptly and blinking when my vision blurred; the woods became foggy and fuzzy.Taking a deep breath, I
(Brielle’s POV)It was the longest two minutes of my life, Bryce and me in the corner of the room, hiding like terrified ordinary humans from a vampire’s threat. Whenever we tried to advance in Kione’s direction, attempting to snatch Gen, she would scream in a high-pitched sound, gripping her neck harder.“Don’t stop me, Brielle. That’s my sister,” Bryce gritted his teeth, grabbing my arm firmly.Only then I realized I was not hiding but blocking him from attacking Kione. I was using my body, preventing him from hurting Cole’s sister.“What’s happening here?” Xian entered the room.We hardly notice the door opening. When I glanced in her direction, she was standing in the doorway; her arms were crossed over her chest while her eyebrows were raised, watching us curiously as if there was no threat inside the room.Kione hissed angrily, but her sister ignored her. Xian picked up the white warding tray on the floor and hummed happily as she entered the room.“Oh, please, Kione, enough wit
(Brielle’s POV)“An experiment.”It was Kione who answered. She murmured her answer and straightened up, lowering her gaze. The look on her face told me she was not proud of it.“What?” Bryce gasped; horror flowed in his eyes.“Newborn vampires will always be hungry for blood and confused for a long time. Sometimes, they forget who they are,” Kione added.Blood escaped Bryce’s face, then a surge of it went to his head, making his skin red in rage. When he understood what Kione meant, he looked at Xian and glowered at her.“You made us your bait?” He growled, gripping the edge of the bar table.If the table wasn’t attached to the wall, he might have thrown it to the person sitting across from him. Kione smiled and continued to eat, ignoring Bryce.I pressed my lips together, glancing at Cole, but like Xian, he was quiet. Aarush walked toward his sister, blocking his body before Bryce could jump and strangle his sister.“Oh, please, Bryce. We were watching you. Just in case, we want you