The underground train hissed to a stop, steam billowing through cracked stone tunnels. The air in Noctara reeked of old blood, rust, and secrets—buried beneath centuries of dust and magic.
Aria stepped off the platform with Elias Thorn at her side, his trench coat flaring behind him, silver daggers strapped across his back.
"Welcome to the city the vampires don't speak of," Elias muttered, adjusting his gloves. "Home of the exiled, the broken, and the forgotten."
Noctara was built inside an ancient ravine, hidden beneath Eastern Europe. Faint, eerie lanterns lit the narrow stone paths that spiraled downward into its dark, thriving heart.
Aria's throat tightened.
She wasn't just here for answers—she was here for the girl.
And she was ready to kill for her.
❖
They entered a crumbling temple that once served as a House of Peace. Now, it was home to smugglers and black-market blood dealers.
Inside, a hunched man with half a face beckoned them forward. His name was Gregor, an informant Elias trusted only slightly more than poison.
"You're lookin' for the blood-born, huh?" Gregor rasped. "You're too late."
Aria stepped forward. "Where is she?"
Gregor grinned, showing brown teeth. "The Revenant Queen's taken her into the Bone Crypts. Deep, deep underground. She's preparing the ritual."
"What ritual?" Elias demanded.
"The one to end all bloodlines," Gregor said, licking his lips. "She plans to drain the girl at midnight and absorb her essence. Make herself a god."
Aria's breath hitched.
Midnight.
They had less than 24 hours.
"Take us to the Bone Crypts," she said.
Gregor cackled. "Oh, I don't go down there. No one does. Not unless they're mad or suicidal."
Aria's voice was steel. "Good thing we're both."
❖
Back at the cottage, Dorian stood before the broken mirror.
His eyes were sunken. His reflection—barely visible.
He could feel the old hunger rising.
The truth had shattered everything. The child wasn't just a prophecy. She was made—engineered—from his stolen blood and someone else's fate.
Aria had left. And for the first time in centuries…
he feared she wouldn't return.
But he wasn't going to let her walk into death alone.
He turned to the wall safe, pressing his thumb against the lock.
Inside was a blade. One forged from obsidian and phoenix ash.
The only weapon strong enough to kill the Revenant Queen.
Dorian whispered to the shadows, "If I die, so does she."
Then he vanished into the wind.
❖
At the edge of Noctara's abyss, Aria and Elias stood before the Gate of Teeth—a crumbling arch of stone carved from fang and bone.
Elias ran a hand across its surface. "Once we go in, there's no turning back."
Aria stepped through without hesitation.
"Good," she said. "I'm done running."
And behind them, cloaked in shadows…
A pair of glowing red eyes followed.