I used to be Oliver’s cherished little canary, a delicate human he kept like a prized jewel in his sprawling vampire castle, locked away high above the world. Until the day he brought another girl home, Laura.
She was human too, but her bloodline was different. She’s dangerous. Her parents were elite vampire hunters.
I remembered the moment clearly, when he gently stroked my hair, his touch tender, but his words sharp and cruel.}
“Train her. Make her the lowest of servants.”
Out of pity, I spared her the humiliation he intended. I gave Laura nothing more than simple chores like serving tea and sweeping hallways.
But that wasn’t enough. He took the golden key from around my neck, the symbol of my status as the castle’s mistress and slipped it into his pocket.
“Can’t you handle that yourself?” he asked with a chilling smile. “Lazy kitten. You need to be taught a lesson.“”
On my birthday, he promised me nine surprises. I waited alone in a cold and empty room until dawn. But what I received instead were Laura’s moans of pleasure echoing through the halls.
Nine times.
The next day, emboldened by his favor, Laura dared to trespass into the vampire forbidden grounds. I thought he would finally be angry with her. But it was me who bore the consequences.§
He summoned the entire vampire court for a grand banquet.
The punishment? A game of hide–and–seek.§
But the prey wasn’t Laura. It was me.
-B
I remembered how he held Laura so gently on his lap and then his gaze shifted, finding me across the ballroom. That gaze was like winter, unforgiving and cold.
“Serena,” he said, voice like frost, “who gave you the right to send her into the forbidden grounds?”
I stared at him in disbelief. “She went of her own will. Oliver, I didn’t-”
He cut me off with a single cruel laugh.§
“I’ve warned you before. The forbidden grounds are sacred, guarded by statues of the vampire Ancestor. Any human who steps foot there uninvited becomes a blood slave. Their fate is sealed the moment they cross that threshold. drained dry by the noble sentinels.“} “You really think Laura would march to her death by herself?” His lips twisted. “Such a pathetic lie. And you dare speak it aloud?“} My vision blurred as I looked at him, this cruel and cold man. This prince I had once loved.
I remembered the day he knelt before me, his pride stripped away, sincerity in every line of his face. He had placed the golden key into my palm, his fingers trembling like it meant everything. “Serena,” he had whispered, “I’ve had all the riches in this world. But only your heart makes me feel alive.”}
He was the one who had handed Laura over to me. The one who ordered me to make her a servant.
But when I showed her mercy, he only narrowed his eyes.
“Can’t do it yourself? Lazy kitten. You need to be punished.“>
And so, he stripped away everything. My key, my title, my place at his side.
Now I sat behind cold iron bars in a beast cage, surrounded by nobles who once bowed to me. Their red eyes gleamed in the darkness, not with reverence but hunger.
“Serena has such a rare scent,” one of them sneered, licking his lips. “If the prince hadn’t kept her so close, I’d have tasted her long ago… both her blood and her body.“}
“I’ve been drunk on her scent for ages,” another murmured. “And now the hunt begins. Every vampire for themselves.“}
“When I catch her,” a third growled, “I’ll tear straight into her carotid. Closest to the heart. That’s where the blood’s sweetest.“)
Their words wrapped around me like chains. My hands trembled. My heart pounded like a war drum.
Oliver didn’t even look at me.
He simply raised his wine glass, a cruel smile curling on his lips.
“Let the hunt begin,” he said. “Enjoy the game.”
As the ancient clock struck three, the iron cage creaked open.
