By the time I reached my street, my chest was tight with exhaustion and fear, and my calves hurt from all th sprinting.
My house sat at the edge of the residential zone, near the warded boundary fence. The porch light was still on, flickering nervously in the breeze.
I knocked, too winded to fumble with my keys. A second later, the door was flung open.
"Zara!" my dad shouted, pulling me into his arms.
My mother appeared behind him, her eyes red-rimmed and brimming with tears. Relief crossed her face for a split second before it contorted in fury. Then—
SLAP.
My head snapped sideways, and the sting burned across my cheek.
Okay, I deserved that.
"What is wrong with you?! What were you doing out so late?! At a time like this! Do you think we can afford to lose another child? Do you?! Do I look like some sort of baby breeder?!" she screamed, her voice cracking.
"Do you think this is some kind of game, Zara? Answer me! You want to die? You want to disappear on the streets? Become a blood bag?! Zara Adams, answer me!"
I didn't answer. I didn't trust my voice not to break. So I just lowered my head, biting my lip so I wouldn't cry.
"Elaine," Dad said firmly, placing himself between us. "I know you're just worried, but that's enough."
She pressed a hand to her mouth, sobbing quietly now, but didn't look away from me.
"Go to your room, Zara. You'll explain yourself," Dad added, more gently.
I nodded and walked past them. The stairs groaned under my steps. My cheek throbbed, but I was more focused on the burning in my throat, the tears I was holding back with a vice grip.
Michael.
The name echoed in my head as I pushed open my door and shut it softly behind me.
Two years. Two years since my older brother had vanished.
One moment he was on a supply run, the next he was gone. No calls. No sightings. No trace. We knew. Everyone knew. He had been taken, like so many others, by the vampires. Whether it was to feed them or serve them, it didn't matter.
He was gone.
I sat on my bed, tugged my shoes off, and stared at my trembling hands.
The royal.
The ethereal, stunning vampire.
What had he smelled on me that made him recoil?
I didn't have an answer. But the question followed me as I lay down, still in my school clothes. And before I could overthink it, sleep pulled me under like a tide.
~
The next morning, school felt different.
Buzzing.
Not literally, though the hum of fluorescent lights didn't help. The halls were thick with whispers. Eyes slid to me when I walked past. Some students stepped away, and others stared too long.
I wasn't late. Miss Claire wasn't even here yet, she was always a few minutes behind schedule.
That woman could barely raise her voice above a whisper and flinched every time the bell rang. If teaching in a school full of bloodsuckers made her nervous, she had every reason.
This was Solhaven High, one of the few integrated schools in the city where humans and vampires "coexisted."
That was the word the media liked to use. As if seating undead predators next to teenagers with hormonal surges and anxiety disorders was a brilliant move.
When the vampires revealed themselves three years ago, everything stopped. And I mean everything.
No schools, no public gatherings, no late-night convenience runs for two whole years. The government scrambled to figure out what coexisting even meant when one species could rip the throat out of another in under a second.
Eventually, rules were drawn up. Feeding zones were established.
Schools like Solhaven were declared neutral ground, no bloodshed, no feeding, no fangs out.
Vampires had to register and wear enchanted markers, thin black cuffs on their wrists that glowed faintly when they were on school grounds. They couldn't remove them, not without alerting the warding system or getting themselves expelled. Or worse.
Alice caught up with me by the lockers. Her dark ponytail bounced as she walked, lips pursed in that pouty way that meant trouble.
"Toilet. Now," she hissed.
I barely had time to protest before she dragged me toward the girls' restroom. She checked under the stalls, locked the door, and turned to me.
"They can't find Miran," she said, arms crossed.
I swallowed.
"I'm not sure why that's supposed to be of concern to me."
"Some of them think you had something to do with it. Zara, they're planning to question you."
"I don't know what happened," I replied quickly, eyes on the sink.
She tilted her head. "You stabbed him yesterday."
"With a pencil," I said flatly. "He was trying to bite me."
"And then he follows you after school, and now he's missing."
I turned my back to her.
"You're lying," she said.
I spun. "I'm not!"
She sighed, clearly not convinced. "Fine. But be careful."
On the way back to class, we barely got three steps before the Giovanni twins blocked our path.
Moria and Moraine. Blonde, entitled, and cruel in the casual way that only rich people could be. Their parents were high-ranking blood suppliers to House Noctis, which gave them a sick sense of superiority.
Moria looked me up and down like I was dirt. "Heard you lost your little friend."
"Heard you got lucky," Moraine added with a smirk. "But not lucky enough. Miran would be here by now. What did you do to him?"
"I didn't do anything."
"Liar," Moraine said, flashing her fangs.
Moria stepped closer. "We can hear your heartbeat. It's racing."
"Of course it is," I snapped. "I'm surrounded by vampires threatening me."
"Or maybe you're just guilty," Moraine whispered.
Before I could say anything else, the intercom crackled overhead.
Bzzztttt.
"Zara Adams, your attention is needed in the principal's office."
The twins smiled in unison.
"Good luck," Moria said sweetly.
Alice squeezed my arm as I turned to walk. I didn't look back.