Helena's POV
"Interesting," someone drawled behind me.
It was Christian.
He stepped lightly into the corridor, his boots crunching faintly on the edges of vampire ash. The smirk on his face made my skin crawl.
"Very interesting," he said again. "You're intriguing, Miss Helena. Now I want to have you all to myself."
He crouched low, fingers swirling idly in the pile of ash beside me. "Here I was, about to swoop in and save you. But clearly… you didn't need it."
He looked up at me with a flash of teeth. "I told you not to leave your room. And yet… here we are. If it weren't for that pesky little detail where your blood kills my kind, I might've punished you myself."
He grinned. I didn't smile back. Without a sound, Keon appeared beside him. I hadn't even sensed his presence. One second I was standing there, the next, his cold hands were under my arms, lifting me off the floor like I weighed nothing.
"Let's get you cleaned up before your big debut," Christian said.
As Keon dragged me away, I could feel Christian's eyes on my back the entire time.
When did hunter blood become something that could kill a vampire?
What the hell am I?
Keon threw me back into the red room — the false freedom chamber — with a little less force than usual, like he was being careful now. Scared, even.
"I wouldn't try to escape again," Keon said regarding me carefully. "The Alpha King arrives today. I'm sure he won't take kindly to damaged merchandise."
Then he was gone. He didn't bother locking the door like he knew I would not step out due to fear of meeting another fledgling. But I locked it from my side.
And then I stood there, just staring at it, blood drying sticky on my neck. I sat on the bed, gripping the sheets in my fists.
What am I?
What kind of blood turns a vampire to ash with just a taste? Was it a fluke? A mutation? Some secret I wasn't told about?
A dozen theories swirled in my mind, but none made sense. My mother was human. A hunter. So was my father — drunk, pathetic, fully mortal.
Unless…
Unless there was something they'd kept from me. My heart hammered in my chest, but there was no time to dwell on it. The door creaked open.I shot to my feet.
Keon stood there with a strange look on his face. Apprehension?
'You need to get yourself cleaned up. He is here.' He said. I didn't know I had spent so much time thinking about what happened. I hurriedly got myself cleaned.
"Come," he said, and I followed.
We walked down the winding halls of Christian's lair, deeper into the torch-lit stone corridors. The air grew colder the farther we went, like the very walls were holding their breath. I was led into a high-ceilinged chamber with carved pillars and a black marble floor that gleamed like still water. Christian stood at the center of the room. And beside him… four figures.
I stopped walking. My breath caught. He was nothing like I expected, the Alpha King—he wore a crown on his head, so I knew he was the one.
Tall. Powerful. Ridiculously handsome. Not old, not bloated, and not cruel-looking like the rumors say. Young, early thirties at most. With sharp features, raven-black hair, and piercing eyes like gold lit from within. He wore dark, sleek armor with no crest, and his presence filled the room with unspoken command.
Three men flanked him who I believed were his enforcers. But it was the Alpha King who made the air feel thin. His eyes landed on me and did not leave. Christian's voice broke the silence.
"I believe we had a deal."
He gestured toward a black velvet-covered box that sat on a pedestal between them.
'Beta Cain, hand it over to him.' And one of the men who flanked the Alpha King, who looked calm and calculating, with a watchful gaze that scanned everything, stepped forward and removed the cloth, revealing a crystal-like orb the size of a fist — glowing faintly gold, like sunlight trapped in glass.
The vampires in the room shifted with excitement. Christian reached for it with a reverence I'd never seen before. "The Daylight Stone," he whispered.
A relic said to allow vampires to walk in daylight without burning. A mythical artifact. The kind of thing that could shift power between species forever.
And it was being traded. For me?
"You'd give that up," I said, my voice cracking, "for a hunter? Why?"
The Alpha King didn't answer. Christian smiled. "An excellent question."
He turned to me, stepping far too close, his breath brushing my cheek.
"Why would the most powerful Alpha in the kingdom trade the only known Daylight Stone for a girl? Not a noble. Not a wolf. Not even a true supernatural."
His eyes narrowed.
"Unless you're something else."
I didn't flinch, though I wanted to. Christian ran his fingers through a lock of my hair and looked at the Alpha King, whose expression remained neutral. I smacked his hand away, but he only chuckled.
"If he tires of you, you can always come back to me," he said, low and smooth. "I promise I'd appreciate you more properly."
"I'd rather die," I hissed.
"Careful," he warned, still smiling. "Death is not off the table."
I turned to the Alpha King — anything to break the stare. "Do I get my things back?"
He didn't respond, but Christian raised a brow. "Of course, darling, anything for my special guest. What are you after?"
"My mother's knife," I said.
Christian's grin vanished for just a second. Then, with a nod, he gestured toward Keon. The vampire disappeared into the shadows. Moments later, he returned with my small bag — and from it, Christian drew the silver-hilted blade. He held it up, admiring the engraving.
He handed it to me hilt-first.
"For the girl," he said, "with venom in her blood."
I took it without a word and tucked it into my boot. Then the Alpha King stepped forward, silent and unreadable. He held out his hand, I stared at it. A hunter traded for the Daylight Stone. I should have felt valuable. Wanted.
But I only felt owned. I didn't take his hand, So he took my wrist instead. His grip was firm, not cruel, but there was no question of resistance.
"Let's go," he said.
His voice was low, deep, smooth as obsidian — and final.
He turned without another word, dragging me gently but without hesitation. His men followed, silent shadows on his heels.
Christian's voice echoed behind us.
"Remember, Alpha. If you ever decide she's not worth the price—" he smiled, "I'll be right here."
I didn't look back. I had a feeling I'd see Christian again.
But first, I had to survive the Alpha King.