Chapter 121

Chapter 121
Riley’s P.O.V
The first thing I tasted when I woke was blood.
Not mine.
It was in the air—thick and metallic—clinging to the back of my throat like a film I couldn’t scrub away. I jolted upright with a strangled gasp, the chain at my ankle clinking loudly in the silence of the stone room.
I wasn’t dreaming.
I was still here.
Still trapped.
The shadows that filled the room pulsed with something unnatural. The walls shimmered faintly with runes I couldn’t read, but instinct told me they weren’t for decoration. They pulsed every time I moved—sealing me in.
I was in the vampire kingdom.
The one my parents warned us about since we were little.
The one that wasn’t supposed to exist anymore.
Footsteps passed my door often. Soft. Silent. Graceful. Not human. Their scents told me that much. The hunger in them told me more.
And I was the lone wolf girl in a place where blood wasn’t sacred—it was dinner.
I rose to my feet slowly, pressing my palm to the wall to steady myself. My head ached. My body ached. But the worst pain was inside—festering in the hollow part of my chest where Rhys used to live.
He lied.
They all did.
And now I was here, locked away, because I had trusted the wrong people with my heart.
I moved to the small, barred window, trying not to gag from the distant scent of blood—fresh, old, mixed. It coated everything in this place. The walls. The air. The people. And yet, they moved like royalty. Cloaked in velvet and silence. Their world looked pristine—glistening floors, rich candles, flowing silk. But underneath it all… death.
It was beautiful, in the most terrifying way.
And I didn’t belong here.
I had to get out.
But before I could think past escape, a clang echoed in the hall, followed by hushed voices. One of them was louder, commanding. I stepped back, heart racing. Then the door creaked open.
Not Sabrina.
Not Rhys.
Not Zoey.
A vampire guard entered, pale as bone, his red eyes trained on me. “She is to be moved,” he said, voice devoid of emotion.
“Where?” I demanded, though my voice came out raw, cracked.
He didn’t answer. Just yanked my chain free from the hook and pulled me forward. I stumbled, catching myself. My pride refused to let me fall.
The hallways were wider here, lined with arches and flickering torches. Behind closed doors, I could hear laughter—delicate, chilling laughter—and moans of pleasure… or pain. I wasn’t sure which. Vampires passed us, elegant and uninterested. Like I was no more than a stray animal being led through a ballroom.
And then we stopped.
The door ahead was tall. Intricately carved. Golden veins lined the frame.
He pushed it open.
And what I saw made my blood run cold.
It was a grand room. A gathering hall, maybe. Filled with vampires lounging on chaise chairs, sipping from glass goblets filled with red. A few fed directly from humans knelt at their feet, willingly—eyes glazed, smiles soft and sedated. A sick version of a court.
And in the center of it all—standing tall, dressed in black, his hair a little too long and his features heartbreakingly familiar—was Kyle.
I almost called his name. Almost ran to him.
But something stopped me.
His eyes.
Kyle’s eyes were golden. Always had been. Warm, mischievous, a little too cocky.
This boy… this man had eyes like winter ice. Unfeeling. Distant.
He didn’t look shocked to see me. He didn’t move.
And then I realized.
This wasn’t Kyle.
This was Kieran.
My knees buckled, and I stumbled forward with a gasp. “Kieran?” I whispered.
He blinked once. No flicker of recognition. No warmth.
I moved toward him, ignoring the guards that tried to stop me. “Kieran, it’s me. Riley. Your sister.”
His jaw tightened slightly, but his body remained still. “I don’t have a sister.”
The words punched the air out of my lungs.
“Kieran, no. That’s not true. You do. We’ve been looking for you for years—Mom cried for you every night. Kyle—he never stopped believing. We thought you were dead.” My voice cracked. “We hoped you weren’t. Please, look at me.
He turned away, motioning to a guard. “Take her back.”
“No!” I shouted, grabbing his arm. “Kieran, you don’t belong here! They’ve done something to you—made you forget.
He pulled his arm away like my touch burned him.
“I belong here now,” he said coldly. “Leave me alone.”
And just like that… he walked away.
I collapsed to my knees.
Tears streamed down my face, hot and unstoppable. I clutched my chest like I could hold my heart together with my fingers, but it didn’t work.
He didn’t remember.
Or worse—he remembered and didn’t care.
My brother.
My flesh and blood.
Gone.
“I came to save you,” I sobbed, rocking slightly. “We never gave up on you. How can you give up on us?”
No one answered.
The vampires watched me with mild amusement, like a tragedy unfolding in a play they’d seen before. Some even laughed softly, sipping their blood like it was wine.
I didn’t care.
I let myself cry. I let it all pour out—the betrayal, the heartbreak, the sheer horror of seeing my brother alive but not himself. I cried until my throat was raw, until the tears stopped falling, and I just knelt there, empty.
But even in my pain… something stirred inside me.
Something ancient. Primal.
My wolf.
She didn’t cry.
She didn’t break.
She rose, slowly, pacing beneath my skin like a storm gathering force.
They took my trust. They shattered my heart.
But they would not take my soul.
And they would not keep Kieran.
Not forever.
I stood, shaky but stronger than I’d ever been.
“Tell Sabrina,” I said to the guard quietly, “if she thinks this ends with me begging, she’s wrong.”
My voice was steel now.
“She took the wrong girl hostage.”
“Because I’m not just Riley—the heartbroken girl.”
“I’m Riley. Alpha-born. And I will burn this kingdom down to get my brother back.”