I stood outside the window under moonlit waters, tears of blood streaming endlessly. The lake's surface shimmered with reflected stars, but all I could see was her silhouette through the glass—so close, yet impossibly far. I could sense it—just like Alma, she still held my vampiric nature against me. Why did fate grant us the miracle of meeting, yet deny us the chance to stay together?
"You're crying blood again," came Winans' quiet voice behind me. I wiped my face roughly. "Leave me."
In this world, there is nothing beyond my reach—including claiming her.
For her sake, I braved daylight, my skin blistering under the sun's cruel rays as I carried her unconscious form to safety. Driven by urgency to bring her into the baron's estate, only to make her friends turn on her with scorn and anger.
"You brought a human here?" one of them spat. "Have you lost your mind?"
Margie shrank back, her eyes wide with hurt. "I... I didn't ask for this."
