The guardians surrounded me like a wall of living stone—stern, immovable sentinels guarding their sacred treasure. I'd been branded an intruder, a thief, a betrayer to my own bloodline.
And perhaps I was.
Damian's laughter echoed through the massive chamber, bouncing off the marble columns, mocking me. The Vampire King had found a new power source—my mother's blood—and was using it to control the very guardians meant to stop beings like him.
"Seems your own mother doesn't recognize you, little princess," he taunted, his voice deeper, more resonant with his newfound power. "What a shame."
I stared at the stone statue of my mother, her blank eyes fixed on me without recognition, without love—just the cold determination of a guardian ready to crush any threat to the Heart.
"Mom," I whispered, the word catching in my throat. "Please."
Nothing. Not even a flicker of hesitation.