Chapter 20 Blackwater's Shadow
Lyra's POV
"You want me to help you kill vampires?" I stare at the Thornkeeper leader. "Including the one I'm bonded to?"
"Especially him." Her gray eyes are ice. "The bond makes you the perfect weapon. You can get close to any vampire, anywhere. They'll trust a hybrid. And then you strike."
Through the bond, I feel Kaelen's horror from his hiding place in the shadows. He can't help me—daylight would kill him in seconds.
"I won't do it," I say.
"Then your sister dies." The woman nods. Ten crossbows train on Stella.
"Wait!" I step in front of Stella. "Just—give me a second to think—"
"There's nothing to think about." The Thornkeeper steps closer. "You're abomination. Half vampire, half human. You don't belong in either world. But you can earn your place in ours by helping eliminate the parasites that have enslaved humanity for millennia."
"Not all vampires are evil—"
"All vampires are predators." Her voice is absolute. "They feed on humans. Kill us. Treat us like livestock. Your own mother was murdered by one of them. How can you defend that?"
The words hit hard because she's not completely wrong. Thaddeus did murder my mother. The Council does treat humans as prey. I've spent three years being degraded as a blood donor.
But Kaelen isn't Thaddeus. His grandmother isn't the Council. Not all vampires are monsters.
Are they?
Through the bond, I feel Kaelen's desperation. He's not afraid for himself—he's terrified they'll hurt Stella. That I'll be forced to choose between my sister and my mate.
"I need time," I say. "To consider—"
"You have ten seconds." The woman raises her hand. "After that, the girl dies and we take you by force."
Stella grabs my arm. "Lyra, don't. Don't let them make you into a killer—"
"Quiet, vampire-touched." The woman's gaze is cold. "Ten. Nine. Eight."
My mind races. If I agree, they'll use me as a weapon against vampires—including Kaelen. If I refuse, they kill Stella.
There's no good choice.
"Seven. Six. Five."
Through the bond, Kaelen makes a decision. I feel it crystallize—reckless, desperate, suicidal.
No, I think at him. Don't you dare—
He bursts from the shadows.
Daylight hits him like napalm. His skin begins smoking immediately, burning. He screams but doesn't stop, throwing himself at the nearest Thornkeeper with dying strength.
"Kaelen!" I scream.
The hunters spin, surprised. In that second of distraction, I move.
My hybrid speed lets me cross the distance before they can react. I grab Stella and run—straight into the forest, away from the hunters and the burning vampire I love.
Crossbow bolts whistle past us. One grazes my shoulder. I don't stop.
Behind us, Kaelen's screams cut off abruptly.
Through the bond, I feel—
Nothing.
The connection goes silent. Empty.
No. No, he can't be—
Pain explodes through my chest as the bond tears. Not completely broken—he's not dead. But severed. Cut off. Like he's blocking me out deliberately.
Or dying too slowly for the bond to snap immediately.
"Lyra!" Stella gasps. "Where are we going?"
"Away!" I don't know where. Just away from the Thornkeepers. Away from Kaelen burning in the sunlight.
We run until my legs give out. Collapse in a clearing miles from where we started. The sun is fully up now, bright and merciless.
Stella is crying. I'm crying. We're both covered in dirt and blood and exhaustion.
"Is he dead?" Stella whispers.
I press my hand to my chest, searching for any hint of the bond. There's something—a faint pulse, barely there. Like a heartbeat from miles away.
"He's alive." Barely. "But hurt. Really hurt."
"We have to go back—"
"We can't." I'm already scanning our surroundings, looking for threats. "The Thornkeepers will be hunting us. And Thaddeus's vampires will be hunting us after dark. We're alone."
The reality crashes down. We're two fugitives—a hybrid and a child—with nowhere to go. No allies. No plan.
Just survival.
Stella takes my hand. "What do we do?"
"We find the safe house Kaelen's grandmother mentioned. Three hours north." I pull her up. "We rest there. Figure out our next move."
"And Kaelen?"
Through the bond, I feel that faint pulse—steady but weak. Wherever he is, whatever happened, he's surviving.
"He'll find us," I say, hoping it's true. "The bond works both ways. When night falls, he'll feel where I am."
If he lives that long.
We walk north through endless forest. The sun climbs higher. My hybrid body doesn't tire as quickly as human would, but Stella is exhausted. I end up carrying her the last hour.
We find the church as the sun begins its descent. Abandoned, half-collapsed, hidden in trees. Perfect.
Inside, there's evidence someone lived here once—blankets, canned food, a working water pump. Kaelen's grandmother prepared this place.
Stella collapses on a blanket, asleep within seconds.
I sit by the broken window, watching the sun set. Waiting for the bond to strengthen as night approaches.
Please be alive. Please—
The bond flares suddenly. Strong. Closer than expected.
I spin around.
Kaelen stands in the church doorway.
He's a nightmare. Burns cover half his body—deep, charred flesh where daylight caught him. One eye is swollen shut. He's barely standing.
But he's here.
"You're alive," I breathe.
"Barely." His voice is raw. "The Thornkeepers left me for dead. Didn't realize vampires can survive daylight exposure. If it's brief enough. Painful enough." He staggers inside, collapsing. "But I made it. Had to. You're not safe."
I'm at his side immediately, checking his wounds. They're healing slowly—too slowly. "You need blood. To heal properly—"
"Later." He grabs my hand with what little strength remains. "Listen. The Thornkeepers—they're not just random hunters. They're organized. Funded. Connected."
"What do you mean?"
"I heard them talking before I passed out. They've been watching you for weeks. Since before the marking." His mercury eyes meet mine. "They knew about your mother's moonblood. About Stella. About me."
Horror creeps through me. "How?"
"Because someone told them." His jaw clenches. "Someone in the vampire Council is feeding information to vampire hunters. Working with them to eliminate threats to vampire authority."
"That's insane. Why would vampires help vampire hunters—"
"Control." He coughs, and blood appears on his lips. "Think about it. The Council can't openly eliminate hybrids or moonblood carriers without looking tyrannical. But if human hunters do it for them? They stay blameless. Maintain their image. While removing anyone who threatens their power."
The pieces fall into place. "Thaddeus."
"Probably." Kaelen's eye closes. "He's been eliminating moonblood carriers for decades. Using the Thornkeepers to do his dirty work while maintaining plausible deniability."
"So we're being hunted by vampires and humans working together?"
"Welcome to politics." His bitter laugh becomes another cough. "The enemy of my enemy is my enemy who's pretending to be my friend."
Stella stirs in her sleep. I lower my voice. "What do we do?"
"We expose them." Kaelen's determination burns through his exhaustion. "We prove the Council is collaborating with vampire hunters. Turn their own people against them."
"How?"
"By finding evidence. Documents. Communications. Proof that connects Thaddeus to the Thornkeepers." He meets my eyes. "And I know where to find it."
"Where?"
"Blackwater estate. Where your mother died." His expression darkens. "Thaddeus keeps records of everything. If we can break in, access his private archives—"
"That's suicide. The estate will be guarded—"
"By vampires who won't expect a hybrid." He grabs my hand tighter. "You can get in. They've never encountered someone like you. They won't know how to defend against your abilities."
"I can't leave Stella alone—"
"She won't be alone." A new voice speaks from the doorway.
Kaelen's grandmother steps inside, moving silently as death. "I'll protect the girl. You two retrieve the evidence we need."
"Evidence of what?" I ask.
She pulls out a folded paper—old, yellowed. "This. I took it from the First City archives before we fled. A letter your mother wrote before she died. Hidden in case something happened to her."
With shaking hands, I unfold it. My mother's handwriting fills the page:
If you're reading this, I'm dead. Thaddeus Blackwater discovered my pregnancy—my third child, who would have been born with true moonblood, undiluted by human genetics. He demanded I terminate. I refused. He said he'd kill me and both my daughters if I didn't comply. But I know him. He'll kill us anyway. The Council can't allow moonblood to strengthen. So I'm hiding this letter with the First City keepers. If my daughters survive, if anyone finds this—know the truth. Thaddeus Blackwater has been systematically eliminating moonblood carriers for forty years. And he's not working alone. He has human allies called Thornkeepers. Together, they maintain the status quo—vampires in control, humans as prey, no hybrid bridges to threaten their power structure. Stop them. Please. Before they kill everyone like me.
My hands shake so hard the paper crumples.
My mother knew. She knew everything. And she died trying to protect a truth that could destroy the Council.
"Blackwater estate," I say. "When do we leave?"