Chapter 2

I lay in my sickbed for three days.

For those three days, Valerius didn't visit me once.

Every servant in the castle knew that the Lord was keeping vigil at Genevieve's bedside day and night, even going so far as to use his own blood to cleanse the residual smoke from her lungs.

Meanwhile, I—a wife who had just lost her child and suffered shattered ribs—was left to rot in my room, relying on my weakened vampiric healing just to barely cling to life.

By the twilight of the fourth day, I could finally get out of bed.

Dragging my frail body, I made my way toward the castle's subterranean library. That was where the ancient tomes detailing the forbidden art of severing the Blood Pact were kept.

To my luck, Genevieve was walking right toward me.

Though her face was still somewhat pale, she couldn't hide the arrogant triumph dancing in her eyes. Seeing me, she stopped, a smug smile curling her lips.

"I heard you lost the baby. What a pity," she mocked. "But really, what would it matter even if it were born? Valerius doesn't love you at all. That little mutt would have only been an unwanted burden."

"Are you done?" My voice was entirely flat. "If you're done, get out of my way."

Genevieve hadn't expected me to be so calm. Gritting her teeth, she suddenly pulled a small vial from her pocket and, without hesitation, downed the green liquid inside.

She then shoved the empty vial into my hand and threw herself backward, crashing heavily onto the stone floor.

"Help! It hurts so much!"

She clutched her stomach, writhing in agony on the ground as black blood seeped from the corners of her mouth.

Almost instantly, Valerius rushed in, sweeping Genevieve into his arms.

"What happened?!" Panic laced his voice.

"Valerius... she... she hates me..." Genevieve pointed weakly at the empty vial in my hand, heavy tears streaming down her pale cheeks. "She forced me to drink poison... it hurts..."

Valerius snapped his head up, his eyes ablaze with raw fury.

"Audelia!" he roared through gritted teeth, looking as though he wanted to tear me limb from limb.

I looked down at the vial in my hand and suddenly found it incredibly laughable. It was such a cheap, clumsy frame-up—if he just used his brain for one second, he would see the truth.

I met his furious gaze with dead calm. "Since you've already convicted me in your mind, is there any point in me explaining?"

"You still dare to make excuses!" My indifference completely pushed him over the edge. Handing Genevieve over to the rushing medics, he advanced on me.

"Just because you lost a child that shouldn't even have existed, you took your jealousy out on Genevieve and tried to kill her!" He violently seized me by the throat. "Audelia, how could you be so vicious?!"

This was the man I had loved for so many years. He was blind in his eyes, but even blinder in his heart.

"Me? Vicious?" I struggled to pull my lips into a mocking smile. "Valerius, you're pathetic. You treat a lying slut as your greatest treasure..."

"Shut up!" He tightened his grip sharply, cutting me off. "Back then, to save me from the silver stakes, she suffered grave injuries! I swore to protect her for the rest of my life. And you? Aside from using this Blood Pact to disgust me, what else have you ever done?"

I froze.

The one who saved him from the silver stakes back then... was me.

The deep, bone-baring scar on the back of my neck was left precisely from shielding him from a fatal blow.

But now, I didn't even have the desire to tell him the truth.

Because he wouldn't believe it. It was that simple. He would never believe me.

"Since you love her so much, then kill me." I closed my eyes.

Valerius's fingers went rigid. Then, with a cold sneer, he released his grip.

I slid down the wall, collapsing to the floor as I broke into a violent coughing fit.

"Kill you? That would be letting you off too easy." His eyes were horrifyingly cruel. "Guards! Bring a chest of silver shards and scatter them across the corridor."

To vampires, silver is like red-hot branding iron. Any contact with the skin causes agony that burns straight to the soul.

"Take off your shoes and walk across it," Valerius commanded. "Walk all the way to Genevieve's room, get on your knees, and beg for her forgiveness."

I looked at him and suddenly laughed.

Barefoot, I stepped onto that road of silver.

The moment the silver made contact with my skin, the sound of sizzling, burning flesh accompanied a piercing agony that shot straight to my brain.

Valerius stood to the side, a flicker of panic flashing through his eyes—something even he didn't realize he felt.

"Do you think putting on this stubborn act will make me spare you?" he gritted out.

I ignored him and kept walking forward.

Finally, I reached the door to Genevieve's room. My feet were completely ruined, stripped down to the bone and dripping with blood.

I didn't kneel. Instead, I turned around and looked at Valerius, who had been following behind me.

"I finished walking," I said. "But I will not apologize to her, because I didn't do it."

"You have a death wish!" Valerius violently grabbed my wrists. "You refuse to admit you're wrong, is that it?"

"Crush all ten of her fingers," he ordered his men coldly. "Make her remember."

The guards hesitated briefly, but were forced to step forward by his terrifying glare.

The sickening crunch of snapping bones echoed continuously. The fingers are linked directly to the heart; the shattering of every single digit brought an insufferable wave of torture.

I let out blood-curdling screams, thrashing in pure agony.

The moment my final finger bone was broken, the extreme pain completely drained me. I couldn't hold on any longer and collapsed into a pool of my own blood.

"You brought this upon yourself." Valerius threw the words over his shoulder and walked away.

Looking at my disfigured hands and ruined feet, a tragic, bloody smile curled at the corners of my mouth.

Torture me all you want, Valerius.

Because as long as I can endure until the next full moon, I will use that forbidden art to sever our Blood Pact. And I will make sure you never find me again.