Leaving to fetch drinks, I navigated through the sea of guests, my heart fluttering with a strange cocktail of excitement and dread. I had imagined this moment for weeks—what it would be like for the two people I loved most to finally meet. In my dreams, they laughed together, exchanged kind words, and saw in each other what I saw in them. But now, seeing them face to face, I realized how delicate this meeting truly was. Their approval of one another mattered more than I wanted to admit. My hands trembled slightly as I picked up two flutes of champagne. I wanted this to go well. I needed it to.
I returned to the dance floor, only to witness an unexpected sight. Draven and Vail were twirling, moving in perfect harmony with the music.
Confusion washed over me, and I quickly downed both glasses of champagne in disbelief. Draven and Vail, dancing together? Draven leaned in slightly and whispered in her ear. Her expression changed, and a smile blossomed across her face.
Frustration and jealousy surged within me, compelling me to grab another glass of champagne and flee the dance floor, desperate to clear my thoughts.
I hurried through the corridors, glancing at couples tucked away in corners, sharing intimate moments, groups of friends laughing, and people dancing around the estate. I finally reached a door at the end of the hallway and pushed it open.
My jaw dropped at the scene before me. Two women, adorned in flowing silk dresses, straddled a man who was sprawled across a couch, their sensual movements in synchrony with each other. Initial embarrassment flushed my cheeks at intruding on such an intimate scene, but a wave of horror washed over me, freezing my limbs in place. I clamped my hand over my mouth to stifle a scream as the reality of the scene became clear.
The two women were not riding the man. One of them delicately kissed the man’s lips, while the other greedily drank from a wound on his chest. His expression was twisted in perverse ecstasy.
The champagne glass slipped from my trembling fingers, shattering against the floor. Within a blink, the women were staring at me. Crimson trails running down the front of their chins. I turned, slamming the door shut behind me as I fled the scene. Every part of me screamed for an escape. My instincts urged me to find safety, to find Draven, and to flee this nightmare before it was too late.
Tears blurred my vision as I ran; the memories of that fateful night along the river rushed back to me. Colliding with Vail in the hallway, I rushed into her embrace, burying my face in her hair.
“Rosie, what had happened?” Vail asked, holding me and stroking my hair.
“There are Blood Hunters here. I saw them in that room.” I pointed toward where I had just fled.
“Rosie, you need to breathe.” Concern was evident in her voice as she gently wiped away my tears.
“Do you feel better?” she asked.
“A little.”
“Good.” Vail turned me around. “Which room was it?”
“Are you mad? We must find Draven and leave at once!” Panic rose within me.
“No, I must see if there are more Blood Hunters here. It is not safe for anyone.” She opened the door, and I flinched, expecting the Blood Hunters inside to pounce. But the room was empty.
“I swear, Vail, there were two of them here only a moment ago,” I insisted through my trembling voice.
“I believe you,” Vail reassured me, stepping into the room and scanning it. She pulled me inside and shut the door behind me. She made her way to the couch, and she placed her handbag on the table and retrieved bottles of what appeared to be dried herbs, along with vials containing dark liquids that I couldn’t identify through my tears.
“What are you doing?”
She retrieved a small handwritten book from her purse, and I recognized it from the occasional glimpses of her grandmother using it.
“I’m going to track the Blood Hunters.”
“That sounds like a horrible idea. I think we should find Draven.”
“Draven can handle himself. He is stronger than you believe him to be.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“He told me about his ailment,” Vail said, rubbing her hands together with dried herbs between them.
“He told you?” I was surprised, especially given how long it took him to share that with me.
“He told me because I asked him. I questioned him on why I had never seen him before,” Vail explained, her focus shifting back to her task. “If you could be quiet, I need to concentrate.”
Vail began muttering under her breath, repeating a chant in a language unknown to me. A glowing purple butterfly materialized and started fluttering around the room. It was the same butterfly that had guided me when I rescued the little girl from the fire.
“Let’s follow it,” Vail instructed before I could thank her.
