Velra's smile lingered for only a heartbeat.
A fragile, trembling thing.
She knew—deep down—that she was lying to herself.
Time was not plentiful.
Not now.
Not with her strength leaking out of her like water through cracked glass.
Not with her mana nearly burned dry from the offspring contract.
And certainly not with—
Footsteps.
Voices.
Human voices.
Closing in fast.
Velra's breath hitched.
She forced herself upright, but her legs wobbled beneath her.
"Alice! Hurry, this way!"
That familiar voice—sharp, commanding—echoed across the shattered snowfield.
Amelia.
Velra's stomach twisted.
And right behind her—
"Where is it? Where is that vampire demon who ran away?"
Velra's throat tightened.
Alice Draken.
The one who had nearly cut her down.
The one she dismissed—foolishly—thinking she was nothing compared to a noble vampire.
But Velra was wrong.
She realized that now with a bitter stab of regret.
The girl was no mere human.
