Chapter 46 VAMPIRES
Lilian — POV
When the door slammed shut behind me.
The sound didn’t just echo.. it settled, thick and heavy, like it fused into the walls.
I turned slowly and I saw something shift in the darkness ahead.
“Jesus…” slipped out of my mouth before I could stop it. I huffed under my breath, the irony was bitter. Funny how a vampire could still call God’s name. Never mind. Shit happens. And when it does, it never asks for permission.
My hands started shaking.
Not subtle tremors actually it was full-on, violent shaking.
I curled my fingers into fists, nails biting into my palms, trying to anchor myself. The air felt wrong in here. Too dense in a way like it was pressing back against my lungs every time I tried to breathe.
Lord… please, I prayed silently, lips barely moving. Just this once. I swear I won’t…
A sharp snort cut through the room right behind me.
I noticed warm breath brushed the side of my neck.
Every muscle in my body locked instantly.
I didn’t scream or jump or even bother to move.
Slowly—slow enough that my joints ached when I turned my eyes shot wide open.
There were four figures stooding there watching me more like studying me.
Completely uninterested in the fact that my heart was trying to beat its way out of my ribcage.
One of them sat in a massive chair carved from something dark and twisted, the armrests shaped like clawed hands frozen mid-grab. The others stood spaced apart, relaxed, almost bored, like they’d seen this exact scene play out a thousand times before.
The one in the chair threw her head back and cackled.
The sound was sharp, delighted.
“Well, well,” she said, eyes glinting as they dragged over me. “Funny how the young fella didn’t scream.”
Her lips curled upward. “She’s different. I like her.”
The elder at the far end gave a single nod. Nothing more.
My stomach twisted hard.
If Mia faced people like this…
How the hell did she survive?
My vision blurred for a second. I lifted a hand to my forehead, fingers pressing there as if I could physically shove the panic back into my skull. Maybe I was overwhelmed. Maybe it was anger bubbling up. Maybe it was just the weight of standing in front of beings who didn’t see me as a person at all.
Then she stood, the female elder and my breath caught.
Her clothes weren’t moving with her.
They were floating… not swaying or fluttering, it was full time loating.
And her feet, they weren’t touching the floor.
Cold fear punched straight through my chest as she glided toward me, her presence heavy, crushing, like invisible hands pressing down on my shoulders. The air thickened with every inch she closed between us.
She stopped so close I could see the faint shimmer in her eyes.
Her fingers reached out and slid into my hair.
I went completely still.
Every instinct screamed at me to fight, to shove her away, to do something—but my body refused to listen. My lungs burned. I was pretty sure I wasn’t breathing at all.
She tilted her head, examining me.
Then she hummed.
“I like her,” she said again.
With a lazy flick of her hand, she drifted back to her chair and settled into it as if gravity suddenly remembered she existed.
“Lilian,” she said smoothly, voice slicing through the silence. “I’m sure your guardian.. Seraphine, was it? has already told you why you’re here.”
I shook my head slowly.
No words came out.
The elder laughed softly. “Funny how you can’t talk now,” she mused. “Yet calling us selfish bitches in your house earlier seemed quite easy.”
My mouth fell open.
“What the fuck,” I breathed. “You’re stalking my own damn house now?”
She arched a brow. “Now that you can talk. Good.”
Her tone sharpened. “To cut it short, you’ve been selected as one of the six who will work for us from now on.”
The room felt smaller and the shadows thicker.
I said nothing so she continued, unbothered.
“You’ll undergo specialized training alongside the other candidates. Not immediately.” She waved a dismissive hand. “Next month. You’ll have time to settle whatever insignificant attachments you still cling to.”
Her eyes locked onto mine. “You’re dismissed.”
Something inside me snapped.
The fear didn’t disappear but the anger surged forward, hot and reckless, flooding my veins. My hands clenched into fists, nails biting hard into my skin.
“Who the fuck do you think you are,” I snapped, voice shaking, “to tell me what to do?”
A sharp sound cut through the room.
“Uh-uh.”
The second elder stepped forward slightly, eyes narrowing. “Kid. Watch your mouth.”
I let out a short, humorless laugh and flung my hands into the air. “You hear the shit you’re saying?” My chest rose and fell fast. “I’m not interested. Try picking another person. Anyone else. I don’t fucking care.”
Frustration clawed at me. I dragged a hand through my hair, pacing a step. “Ugh!”
The temperature dropped instantly.
The first elder stood.
The shadows bent toward her.
She turned and started walking toward the door, clearly done with the conversation. But just before leaving, she paused.
She looked back at me and smiled.
“Kid,” she said softly, eyes gleaming with something ancient and cruel, “it’s best if you put your anger to good use…”
Her voice lowered, the warning sharp and final.
“…than challenge the elder’s..!”