Chapter 6: Bloodlines and Betrayals
The mark on Adarsh's chest pulsed like a second heartbeat.
Every time it throbbed, it felt like something old was waking inside him — a voice he didn't recognize, a memory that wasn't his.
He stood in silence as Darian pulled him aside from the others in the ruins.
"Now you carry the Crest," Darian said, his tone low. "The blood mark of the Highblood Royal Line."
"Royal line?" Adarsh blinked. "I don't come from royalty."
Darian looked at him — truly looked — as if seeing the boy for the first time.
"Your father was once the heir to the Vampire Throne. Your mother… the daughter of the Alpha Prime. Their love was forbidden. Their union was treason. But from that betrayal came something powerful: you."
Adarsh felt dizzy. "Then why… why didn't they raise me?"
Darian's jaw tightened. "Because they were hunted. They were betrayed. And they died protecting you from the very world you now walk into."
Meanwhile...
Back in the hospital, Priya, Adarsh's sister, stirred for the first time in days.
Monitors beeped erratically. Her fingers twitched. Her eyes opened — glowing faintly blue.
The nurse called for help, but Priya sat upright, staring at nothing — and everything.
A symbol had appeared on her palm — an ancient rune.
The Rune of the Moonbinding.
From the shadows of the room, a woman in dark robes stepped forward. Her face was hidden, but her voice echoed in Priya's mind:
"You carry the seal of the first Seer. The blood of the Moonwhisper line runs through you. The time has come to awaken."
And with a whisper, the woman vanished.
Priya fell back to the bed, unconscious — but changed.
Back to Adarsh...
They were miles from the ruins now — at a hidden safehouse in the Himalayan ranges, guarded by ancient glyphs and frozen winds.
Liliane, Ragnar, and Kaelara gathered in the war room as Adarsh tried to process everything.
"So I'm some royal mix-breed freak with a death mark and a crown I don't want," he muttered. "And now everyone either wants to kill me or kneel to me."
"Not kneel," Kaelara said softly. "Some want to control you."
"And some," Liliane said with a cold smirk, "want to mate with you."
Ragnar growled. "He's still a boy."
Adarsh ignored them all. "I need to see my sister."
"You can't," Darian said sharply. "Not yet. She's not safe — and neither are you."
"But she's all I have."
Kaelara stepped forward, placing a scroll in his hands.
"This came from the Keepers of Balance. It's encoded. Only your blood can unlock it."
Adarsh pressed his thumb to the seal — and the scroll unfurled with a burst of silver fire.
Inside was a map… and a single line written in glowing ink:
"The truth of your blood lies beyond the Hollow Gate."
Liliane stepped back. "That place is cursed. Even we don't go near it."
"Then it's exactly where we need to go," Adarsh said.
Far away...
In the heart of the Shadow Realm, an ancient being stirred.
Claws scraped against stone.
Eyes like bottomless pits opened.
It hissed, "The Hybrid Prince walks the Hollow Path. I smell the scent of the Highblood. I remember that blood. I drank it once."
The being rose — part smoke, part bone, all death.
"Let the Council prepare. Let the war begin. We shall see if the boy is heir… or merely meat."