The graveyard was quiet, the kind of quiet that didn't feel peaceful, just heavy. Cyrus flicked his cigarette away, watching the tiny ember die out in the grass. Luca's words echoed in his mind—"Then we find Calista. Before she finds her." It was a reminder of something Cyrus had tried to bury for too long.
He closed his eyes, letting the present slip away as memories pulled him back.
The library used to be a warm place. Candles flickered in the corners, casting soft shadows on rows of dusty old books. Back then, Calista spent hours at the long oak table, her head bent over pages full of symbols and strange writing. Her dark hair always fell into her face, and she'd tuck it behind her ear without looking up.
Cyrus leaned on the doorway, arms crossed. "Still trying to solve all the world's problems with magic?"
She looked up with a grin. Her eyes were different then—bright and curious, not cold like they'd become. "You know me. If there's a secret in this house, I want to uncover it."
He walked in, pulled out the chair beside her, and sat down. "Maybe not every secret is meant to be found."
Calista smiled as she slid her hand into his. "Maybe not. But I want to make things better for us—for the whole Valois line. Imagine if we didn't have to hide, if we were stronger than ever."
"You mean with blood magic?" he asked, tilting his head.
"I know everyone thinks it's dangerous, but it's only dangerous when it's used wrong. If I study hard enough, we could make the Valois family unstoppable."
Cyrus hesitated. "You're talking about rewriting the rules."
"I'm talking about protecting what we love," she said, her fingers tightening around his. "Wouldn't you want that?"
He kissed her slowly and while the kiss grew more passionate. He laid her on the study table and joined himself to her. She moaned softly.
"Oh Cyrus.."
He continued until her vagina dripped and bit into her neck, tasting her blood like they always did after making love.
Calista smiled in approval.
As time passed, Calista's thirst for knowledge grew insatiable. She began experimenting, pushing boundaries that had long been respected by their kind.
One fateful night, the manor was awakened by a surge of energy that rattled its very foundations.
The night it happened, the sky outside was stormy. Calista had found a ritual she believed would make the Valois bloodline stronger. She called it The Red Bond—a ceremony that involved binding their family power together using ancient blood magic.
She insisted it would work.
But when she performed it, the energy twisted. Instead of strengthening them, it turned violent. The magic turned inward, fighting against their bodies like poison. Cyrus remembered the way his blood burned, how he collapsed, unable to breathe.
Screams echoed through the manor. The walls cracked with the pressure of it. Luca barely managed to stop the house from tearing apart.
And then Seraphine arrived.
Luca's mother was fierce, her presence loud even when she said nothing. Her long silver hair flew behind her like a whip. When she entered the library, she didn't speak right away. Her eyes—usually calm—flashed with fury.
"What did you do?" Seraphine demanded.
Calista, crouched in the middle of the chaos, her hands covered in blood, looked up. "I was trying to help."
Seraphine raised her arm. Magic glowed at her fingertips—wild, untamed, and deadly. "You endangered every life in this house. You don't deserve to live."
"Mother, no!" Cyrus stepped in front of her.
"She almost killed us all," Seraphine snapped.
"Mother," Luca said, stepping beside Cyrus. "Stop."
Seraphine looked at him. "You would protect her? After this?"
"I'm not protecting her. I'm stopping you from making it worse," Luca said. "She has to go. That's it."
Seraphine's eyes narrowed. Her hand fell slowly to her side. "Then she leaves. Tonight. And she never comes back."
The expulsion spell was powerful. Luca and Seraphine stood together, their voices speaking the words that would strip Calista of her place in the Valois. The magic wrapped around her, lifting her off the floor. She screamed loudly.
"I loved you," she whispered to Cyrus as the spell carried her away. "I would've done anything for you. Is this how you repay me?"
And then she vanished.
Cyrus turned his face away and transformed into a bat, flapping his wings quickly and leaving the room.
***
Back in the present, Cyrus stood in the graveyard with Luca. His throat felt dry. "She's not the same. The girl I loved… she's gone."
Luca looked out into the darkness. "She was always chasing something more. Now she's chasing revenge."
Cyrus looked at him. "You think she'll come for Emilia?"
"I think she already has."
Just then, a cry rang out—not a loud one, but sharp and full of fear. Both men snapped to attention.
"That came from the manor," Luca said, already running.
They reached the courtyard in seconds. The sight stopped them both.
Bats—Vivienne's loyal creatures—lay scattered across the stones, some of them twitching weakly, others unmoving. And in the middle of them stood Emilia, frozen in shock, her hands trembling.
In one of her hands, she clutched a long, dark feather.
Cyrus knelt beside one of the bats and touched it gently. It blinked up at him before closing its eyes again.
"She's testing us," he said. "She's not finished."