"Watch your mouth, Ezra!" Grace clicked her tongue, unable to accept Ezra's accusation that she was a prostitute.
"Then what else can you call a woman who gives her body to men for free other than a prostitute? Prostitutes get paid, Grace! You're even lower than them."
Grace remained silent for a long time. She knew Ezra was quick to anger and always spoke harshly. But after years of knowing Ezra, the words she had just heard were the most painful she had ever heard.
Not a single word could come out of her mouth because her throat felt blocked.
If only Ezra had asked Grace to admit that she was stupid, it wouldn't have hurt her so much. Ezra had never hit her, but his words felt like thousands of needles piercing every inch of her skin, penetrating straight to her heart.
"Don't you realize that Lucas is deceiving you?!" Ezra still couldn't believe Grace's thoughts.
"He was bleeding, Ezra. A lot, and his blood—"
"Just because you saw him in pain, you became his whore?"
"Can you stop calling me a whore?"
"No. You didn't mind giving your body to Lucas, so I guess you must like that name."
Grace didn't expect to argue with Ezra like that. She thought that by telling Ezra about it, he would offer her some advice, or perhaps, if he didn't like it, he could say it more nicely.
Ezra's harsh words destroyed her. Grace chose to leave feeling disappointed. She didn't want to continue the argument. Because surely, there would be more words that would hurt her even more.
"Grace, I care about you so much that I'm this angry." Ezra grabbed Grace's hand.
"Fine, then hit me." Grace turned back to Ezra.
"Why should I hit you?"
"Because the pain will go away tomorrow. But your words, even if there is a second life, I might still remember them," Grace said with a trembling voice.
Her throat felt like it was being choked tightly, making it hard for her to speak. Not only her voice, but her entire body was trembling weakly because of Ezra's harsh words.
Ezra finally realized that his anger had gone too far. Deep down, he knew that Grace was innocent, and there were many things she didn't know. Grace didn't even know that she was the heir to the sacred bloodline.
"I'm sorry," Ezra gently gripped Grace's shoulders.
There was still anger and frustration knowing that Grace had truly given herself to Lucas. He admitted he was wrong—it should have been Lucas he punished, not Grace.
Lucas had deceived her and seemed to be trying to unite himself with Grace to take advantage of the opportunity to drag Grace into the world of darkness for the benefit of all vampires.
"Please... stay away from Lucas." Ezra grabbed Grace's cold hand and held it tightly.
"Why?"
"I can't tell you why. But I don't want anything to happen to you."
Grace understood what Ezra was talking about. "Because Lucas is a vampire?"
Instantly, Ezra's eyes flashed, ready to attack. Lucas had even revealed his true identity to Grace in an attempt to gain her sympathy.
"You already knew that?" Ezra muttered, releasing her hand.
"Yes. Lucas told her."
"And you, still got close to him with your foolishness?"
Grace, knowing that Ezra was about to say something else hurtful, turned and left him. She didn't want to hear any more of Ezra's insults. Even though he had apologized, Ezra would probably repeat his bad words amidst his apologies.
However, Ezra no longer held Grace back. Instead, he stared at Lucas's residence with a low, wolf-like growl, his sharp claws beginning to emerge from his paws.
Like magic, the half-moon's glow gave him even more strength. It fueled his desire to tear apart the vampire, said to be an immortal creature.
"I will end that immortality!" Ezra declared confidently.
With his strength and speed, he crawled along the walls of the building toward Lucas's residence.
Before Ezra could press the doorbell, Lucas opened the door, staring at Ezra without expression, as if he already knew he was coming.
Just seeing Lucas made Ezra want to scratch his face.
"Bastard!" Ezra swung his hand to attack, but Lucas quickly stopped him.
"I don't want to fight. Tell me, what do you want?" Lucas said, opening the door a little wider to let Ezra in.
Regardless, Lucas didn't want to cause a commotion that would disturb the neighbors. There was a sense that he was entitled to follow the rules of human life since he lived among them.
Reluctantly, Ezra entered Lucas's house. Everything looked normal, as if he were a single man living alone.
"Sit down." Lucas gestured for him to sit while he prepared a drink for his guest.
"You trapped Grace to drag her into your world, didn't you?" Ezra refused to sit and immediately got to the point seriously.
Lucas turned and shook his head slowly. "No," he replied.
"You made her your prostitute!"
"Grace isn't a prostitute."
"You slept with her for your gain. You were after her blood; you put her in the most dangerous situation."
Ezra couldn't hold back his anger anymore, imagining what had happened between Grace and Lucas and what Grace would go through in her life. He felt unprepared for it.
It was as if he had no heart, no satisfying reaction from Lucas. He remained silent for a moment, not taking his eyes off Ezra, his expression unchanged, not moving at all.
"Say something, you bastard!" Ezra snapped angrily.
"We didn't sleep together," Lucas finally replied, but there was still no emotion visible on his face or in his voice.
"I wasn't after her blood, and I didn't want to drag her into danger," Lucas continued, handing Ezra a drink.
Instead of taking it, Ezra swatted it away, causing the glass to shatter and scatter across the floor.
He hated seeing how Lucas acted as if nothing had happened. As if Lucas had forgotten that he had smiled so terrifyingly while licking Ezra's blood during their fight. His calmness was making Ezra sick!
And when Lucas was distracted by staring at the broken glass, Ezra immediately used his claws to slash Lucas's neck so deeply that Lucas groaned and collapsed instantly on the floor.
Ezra then stepped on Lucas's chest and bent down to stare at the man's face menacingly, showing that his anger this time was no joke.
"Ugh, I never thought this immortal creature was so weak," Ezra mocked.
His claws pressed into Lucas's chest as if trying to pierce through it to rip out Lucas's heart and shatter it into pieces.
It was Ezra who attacked ruthlessly. Not Lucas.