CHAPTER 265: QUEEN’S PARTY VI

MAYA

The night air in the forest was cold enough to bite, but I barely felt it. My own thoughts were gnawing at me far worse.

"Idiot," I muttered under my breath, pacing along the narrow path between the trees. "Utter, reckless idiot." No other name would have fit me at that point. I had made a stupid mistake. An idiotic one.

I should’ve walked away the moment Noah’s lips touched mine. I should’ve shoved him back, thrown a sharp word in his face, and left him standing there to puzzle over my absence. But no—I’d stayed.

And for what?

Because he’d smiled that lazy, knowing smile and said my face reminded him of Aerya Lune from The Star of Thranor—a heroine I’d adored since childhood? Because I couldn’t resist correcting him when he got the plot wrong, and before I knew it, we were trading lines and theories like two old friends in a library instead of... whatever mess we’d just made?

I didn’t even know why I’d lingered. I just knew it had been a mistake. A stupid mistake that had painted a lousy image of me to other people; that had made it seem like Noah and I were friends, and not the complicated sort of rivals we were.

Especially when Daniel had walked up and seen us laughing. Who had informed him? Who had seen us kissing and had made the report?

If I should take a guess, it would be Claire. I had seen her venomous face when Adam had been separating his brothers’ fight over me, when I told him I was an innocent in the whole mess.

But who I cared for most was Naomi.

I let out a soft exhale. The memory of her expression—blank but burning, tight at the edges—made my stomach twist all over again.

Naomi loved Noah. She always had. And I had just... stood there. Talking about books.

Pathetic. Why didn’t I remember that?

I could easily say that I didn’t know we were being watched, but I should have known better. The triplets were rarely alone. Either their clique or fans were always lurking around them.

I pulled my cloak tighter–or rather Laura’s, which I had taken before leaving the hall–the fabric whispering against my arms. My fingers itched to send another apology to my old friend, so I pulled out my phone, the screen’s glow ghostly in the shadows.

My thumbs moved quickly. I’m sorry, Naomi. I wasn’t thinking. I should’ve walked away. Please forgive me.

The reply came quicker than I deserved.

It’s okay. Noah’s a playboy. Don’t take him seriously.

I stared at the words until my vision stung. Relief slid through me, warm and shaky, but it didn’t erase the ache totally. However, I put the phone away. I wasn’t in the mood to talk anymore—not to her, not to anyone.

But that’s when I realized just how far I’d wandered.

The forest pressed close on all sides, a vast and breathing thing. The trees were so tall they looked like pillars holding up the sky. The canopy broke in places, spilling shards of moonlight onto the leaf-littered ground. My breath clouded faintly in front of me.

I could hear everything. The skitter of something small under the brush. The slow creak of a branch shifting overhead. Farther away, the ripple of water over stones. My hearing stretched out and gathered it all in, the way my sight caught the faintest gleam of moss against bark, the shimmer of a spiderweb swaying between two low branches.

It should have been beautiful.

But the longer I stood still, the more the air seemed... wrong.

At first it was just a prickle at the back of my neck. Then it was a pressure, like eyes boring into me from somewhere unseen.

A bad watching.

It slithered under my skin, raising goosebumps along my arms. My stomach went tight, every instinct suddenly alert.

I turned sharply, scanning the darkness between the trees. Nothing moved except a moth fluttering lazily past.

"El?" I called silently.

Nothing.

"El," I tried again, sharper this time.

Still nothing.

My jaw tightened. "Perfect... didn’t know you wanted me at the mercy of whatever is watching me..." I muttered under my breath, and began walking faster. The forest floor muffled my steps, but my heartbeat sounded like a drum in my ears.

I was just about to break through the last line of trees when a shape detached itself from the shadows ahead.

Tall. Still. Wrapped in black so completely it seemed more absence than presence.

The watching slammed into me full force. This, whoever this was, had been the one watching me all this while.

I froze. My skin crawled, my muscles knotted.

The stench hit me next—rot, like something dead had been left to fester under the sun, only sharper. It coiled into my nose, burned, then seemed to let go, as if testing how much I could stand.

I flicked my nose twice to hasten its departure.

The figure laughed. A dry, broken sound, like brittle leaves being crushed underfoot.

"I could kill you where you stand," the voice said, low and venomous. "For being disrespectful."

Every nerve in my body screamed to run.

"El!" I called, louder now, every ounce of desperation I owned pushed into that name.

A long pause.

Then, finally, her voice, smooth and unimpressed: I thought you wanted to be on your own.

"I was wrong," I whispered—barely a sound, but my lips moved anyway.

I swallowed hard and forced my voice out. "Who are you?"

The figure didn’t answer right away. Even though it was only a few feet away, the faint moonlight couldn’t touch its features. The realization made my skin go cold. It wasn’t just shadow.

He had clothed himself in darkness.

"What do you think I am?" the figure asked at last.

Vampire, El’s voice cut into my thoughts like a blade.

I went still. Too still.

You can’t fight him and win, she warned. Find a way to escape.

The figure stepped closer. "You’re lucky it’s not your time to die," he said. "It would have been a pleasure, drinking your powerful blood."

The sound that followed made bile rise in my throat—a wet, revolting swipe of tongue over lips.

And then the darkness peeled away.

I screamed before I even realized the sound was mine.

His face was a nightmare. Black fangs jutting where teeth should have been. Breath so foul I could taste it. Skin grey and thin, pocked with small holes like decay had eaten through it, and from one of those holes, a slick black beetle crawled, vanished, then emerged again.

I bolted. Or maybe I flew—I couldn’t tell. The ground fell away, the trees blurred, El’s voice in my head telling me to move, move, move.

The laughter followed me, bouncing off the trunks like something alive.

When I broke free of the forest, I realized my feet weren’t on the ground at all. I was running in the air.

I landed hard, knees trembling, breath coming fast. My eyes stung.

"Are you okay?"

The voice came from behind me—smooth, velvet, like music.

I turned.

The man standing there was beautiful in a way that hurt to look at—tall, midnight-black hair falling loose to his shoulders, pale skin almost luminous in the moonlight. He wore nothing but a plain white shirt and trousers, but it suited him as if it were fine silk.

"Follow me," he said.

The words wrapped around me like invisible threads, silky and strong, tugging gently at my will. I could feel them, winding around my thoughts, coaxing me forward.

I took a step back. The threads stretched, resisted, then loosened.

The man’s lips curved into a smile. And then—

He cackled.

The sound twisted the air. His face rippled, shifted—becoming the same rotting visage I’d just seen in the forest.

I opened my mouth to scream, but nothing came out. He had shut down my voice!

A blink later, the handsome face was back. He winked at me, turned, and strolled toward the trees as if we’d just shared a joke.

My heart slammed against my ribs. What was a vampire doing here? And who would he hunt next?

I didn’t wait to find out. I ran to the hall.

Inside, the music and laughter from the party still filled the air, but it felt thinner now, fragile. My parents were near the edge of the crowd, and the moment they saw me, they came toward me quickly.

The words spilled out of me in broken pieces—forest, darkness, vampire. My father’s face went hard; my mother’s eyes flickered with fear.

They didn’t hesitate. My father leaned close to one of the Queen’s officials, murmuring rapidly. The man’s brows shot up, and he crossed the floor with quick, purposeful steps.

He whispered into the Queen’s ear.

Her gaze found mine instantly. It was sharp and assessing, and for one breath, I thought she might laugh it off.

Instead, she rose from her throne-like seat and lifted a hand. The music stopped mid-note.

"My lords, my ladies," she said, voice carrying through the hall like the toll of a bell. "This evening’s festivities will end early. Something strange has been seen in the forest. For your safety, return to your homes in groups, and avoid walking alone until further notice."

Murmurs broke out. People glanced toward the doors, toward the windows, toward the dark world beyond them...

...While I stood silently, the vampire’s dry laugh still echoing in my mind.