LIOR POV
I waited until moonrise to slip away.
Not to surrender—despite what my father's ultimatum demanded, I wasn't suicidal enough to walk into execution. But I couldn't just hide in Direhaven while everyone prepared for war because of me.
So I did what any reasonable vampire would do when guilt was eating them alive.
I went to scout the border. Alone. In the dark. Against every piece of common sense I possessed.
Lucian will kill me for this, I thought as I moved through the forest beyond Direhaven's walls. If the ambush doesn't get me first.
Because I knew there would be an ambush. Kaelen wasn't stupid—he'd have hunters watching the mountain, waiting for me to do exactly this. Waiting for the compromised prince to make a mistake.
I made it maybe a mile before they struck.
Five of them, emerging from shadow like nightmares given form. Vampire hunters in dark leathers, blades silver-bright in the moonlight. I recognized two from my father's elite guard.
