I stared out at the dark horizon and counted the hours we had left.
Not enough. It was never enough.
Our shred of hope was that Vex didn’t know we were coming. If it wasn’t for Balthazar, we wouldn’t know where he was going. It was a big risk trusting him. Not that I did.
The bastard could be setting us up. We could be walking into a trap. But it was our only lead.
With each mile, the darkness softened. The black sky bled into deep violet, then pale gray, and I spotted land on the horizon—a dark, jagged line rising from the sea like the spine of some ancient beast. Europe.
Something loosened in my chest. Not relief—not yet—but the fragile thread of hope that we might actually make it.
Raven banked upward without warning, her powerful wings driving us higher until the clouds swallowed us whole. Cold, damp air enveloped my skin and visibility dropped to nothing. Smart. Dawn meant exposure, and a silver dragon with a wingspan wider than a city block, glinting in the morning light, wasn’t exactly inconspicuous. The clouds would give us cover until we reached Transylvania.
Selena shifted against me, still asleep. I pulled her closer and turned my eyes back to the horizon.
Almost there.
Then the mountains came.
They rose up out of nowhere—massive, jagged peaks that erupted from the farmland like the earth had split open and reached for the sky. Dense forest blanketed the slopes in every direction, pine and spruce so thick and dark it swallowed the light whole. Mist clung to the valleys, curling through the trees like something alive, filling the hollows with pale, shifting fog that never seemed to burn off.
The air changed too. Even at this altitude, I could feel it—heavier, colder, charged with something I couldn’t name. Something old. Something that seeped up from the earth itself and settled into your bones like a warning.
I’d never been to this part of the world. But something deep inside me—something ancient in my blood—recognized it. This was a land that belonged to vampires. This was where Dracula came from. The first vampire. The father of all of us—born and made vampires alike. I could feel it the way you feel a storm coming before the first crack of thunder.
I sniffed, searching for some trace of the castle—the scent Balthazar had promised would lead us to the right one. Nothing. Just pine and cold and damp earth.
Four castles. And the Solstice was tonight.
Balthazar was probably enjoying this. Sitting in whatever hellhole he called home, savoring the image of us stumbling through the Carpathians like rats in a maze. One of his sadistic games with a ticking clock and impossible odds.
Selena stirred against me, blinking awake. She looked down and her breath caught.
“We’re here,” she whispered.
Somewhere down there, hidden among the mist and ancient forest, Dracula’s castles were waiting. We just didn’t know which one. I expected to see the tops of turrets rising above the tree line—some glimpse of the legendary fortress that had haunted vampire mythology for millennia.
Nothing. Just endless forest and fog.
That was somehow worse. Castles you could see, you could plan for. Castles that were swallowed whole by the land itself? That meant it didn’t want to be found.
Raven tilted her wings and began her descent, spiraling down toward a dense stretch of forest below. The temperature plummeted as we dropped—the air turning bitter and sharp,each exhale leaving a cloud of white vapor hanging in front of my face. Selena shivered against me, and I pulled her closer.
No roads. No villages. No people. Just an endless expanse of ancient trees standing shoulder to shoulder, their dark branches interlocking overhead like a cathedral ceiling. The kind of place where things could hide and never be found.
Raven broke through the canopy and landed in a small clearing, her massive body touching down with a grace that seemed impossible for a creature her size. The ground trembled beneath the impact, sending birds scattering from the surrounding trees. She lowered herself onto her belly, her silver scales dulling in the pale light filtering through the branches.
Solid ground. My legs were stiff, my back ached, and every muscle in my body had been clenched for hours. But we’d made it. We were in Transylvania—Costin’s homeland, the birthplace of Dracula—and we were still alive.
For now, that was enough.
I slid off first, my boots sinking into soft, damp earth that smelled of moss and decay. Then I reached up and caught Selena by the waist, lifting her down. She gripped my shoulders, her cheeks flushed from the cold, her breath coming in quick white puffs.
The others followed—Rose climbing down carefully, Alice after her, Valentin dropping to the ground with practiced ease.
Once everyone had gotten off, Raven shifted back. I turned away, giving her privacy, and took in the forest around us—ancient oaks and towering spruce, their trunks thick with moss, the air heavy with the scent of damp earth and something wild I couldn’t name. This was Costin’s homeland. I could feel it in my bones.
“It’s freezing,” Raven said behind me.
