Chapter 2

My fingers swipe across the virtual interface. I drag Carly's energy signature straight into the blacklist, severing every link to him.

I don't want to hear that name ever again.

But that doesn't mean the trouble stops here.

Two hours later, my magistrate, Silas, bursts through my study doors. He doesn't even bother to bow before slamming a recording stone onto my desk.

"My lady, you need to see this." Silas is pale.

The stone flares to life, projecting a doctored magical recording against the wall.

The background is the apartment we used to share.

In the projection, my eyes glow crimson and my fangs are fully extended. I use my pureblood aura to pin Carly down.

Carly kneels on the floor in agony. Next to him, Lym cries out in despair, trying to pull him from my demonic grasp.

A glaring headline crawls across the bottom of the screen: The Arrogance and Tyranny of High Vampires: How an Immortal Monster Imprisons a Human Genius and Tears True Love Apart.

The poster is Lym.

I stare dead at the projection, my breath catching for a second.

This isn't just some cheap illusion.

The base footage is a real memory of Carly and me practicing energy resistance in our apartment. That was a private moment between just the two of us. Lym is a complete failure who couldn't even pass the basic trials. There is no way she pulled off a high-level manipulation spell like this, let alone got her hands on these old memories.

Unless Carly handed our memories over to her himself.

I clench my fists.

"Ridiculous." I grit my teeth. "Just to get back at me for not putting out a statement, they actually resorted to forbidden magic."

"This video is already blowing up all over the spirit forums," Silas says, pulling up a data panel. "The cross-species backlash is out of control. Humans are losing it. They paint you as some monster using your bloodline to terrorize them. Now all that anger is pointed straight at you and your land."

As if on cue, a deafening explosion echoes from outside the window.

The border ward alarms tear through the night sky.

I shove my chair back and stride over to the balcony.

Just outside the magical barrier at the edge of my territory, hundreds of human radicals crowd together with torches. They scream in anger, hurling cursed weapons soaked in garlic juice and silver dust at the ward.

"Burn the vampire!"

"Hand Carly over! Stop torturing him!"

"Crawl back into the dark, you freak!"

The weapons explode against the transparent barrier, bursting into clouds of pungent acid. The surface of the shield sizzles, leaving scorched black marks as the defensive arrays hum under the strain.

I stand on the balcony, looking down coldly at this mob of fanatics.

This is the race I drained my own magic to protect in secret for five years. These are the people from the villages along the trade routes that keep Carly's family business alive. And now, because of one pathetic lie, they show up with torches to burn my home to the ground.

Fury burns through my veins. My fangs lengthen uncontrollably, and my pureblood aura ripples through the air.

"My lady!" The captain of the guard drops to one knee behind me, his hand already gripping the hilt of his sword. A bloodthirsty gleam flashes in his eyes. "Give the order to strike back. Just say the word, and we'll ride out and tear these human scumbags to pieces!"

I close my eyes, take a deep breath, and swallow the taste of blood in my mouth.

Slaughtering them all would be too easy. But that plays right into Lym and Carly's hands. They want to push me until I snap and turn into a mindless beast, proving the lie in that video right.

I open my eyes. My pupils fade back to a calm, dark red.

"Put your sword away." I turn around. "Hold the barrier. No one steps a foot outside this territory. Let them throw their trash. Let them scream."

"But my lady..."

"Do it!" I snap. The captain flinches, lowers his head, and backs away.

I look at Silas, walk over to the desk, and toss the recording stone straight into his chest.

"Go to the legal department." I stare right into his eyes, rattling off the orders. "Lock down every single post, every share, every lying comment on those forums. Extract the magical signature of the manipulation spell used in this video, and get a top-tier appraiser to certify it."

"You want to sue them?" Silas catches on immediately.

"Slandering a high vampire, stealing and tampering with magical memories." I let out a cold laugh. "I'm going to nail every piece of evidence onto a vampire court docket."

The next day, I head to the sanctuary to handle my withdrawal paperwork like usual.

The atmosphere in the hallways is freezing. Everywhere I walk, the crowds part like I have the plague.

"That's her. That psycho vampire."

"She acts so devoted, but she does sick stuff behind his back."

"Poor Carly. Getting stalked by a freak like that."

Malicious glares stab at me from every direction. An orc student even bumps my shoulder on purpose and spits hard at my feet.

I stop walking.

The orc stares at me in defiance, waiting for me to snap. The students around us freeze and pull out their recording crystals, aiming them right at me, ready to catch the exact moment I lose control.

I feel a wave of ridiculous pity. But I don't say a word.

I just stare quietly at the orc. A few seconds later, he caves under the silent pressure. He looks away in embarrassment and scurries back into the crowd.

I step right over the spit, keep my back straight, and walk straight into the records room.

Trying to explain myself to these idiots is completely pointless.

The truth isn't something you prove with words. You prove it with the law, and you make them pay the price.

Back at the estate, I strip off the cheap linen robes I only wore to please Carly. I toss them into the fireplace and watch them burn to ashes.

I open my sealed wardrobe and pull out the dark, embroidered coat that marks my status as a pureblood lord. I slide the ruby ring of my family's power back onto my index finger.

The woman staring back at me in the mirror has sharp eyes. The pathetic, submissive girl from the last five years is entirely gone.

If Carly and Lym really want a vampire lord who abuses her power to crush them.

Then I give them exactly what they want.

I button my collar tight and push the bedroom doors open.

"Get the car ready," I tell Silas. "We're going to that mortal town. Let's go meet true love in person."