84

84

Sophia’s POV

I tried to move, but the ropes binding my wrists dug deeper into my skin. Panic clawed at my throat as I blinked through the haze clouding my vision. The forest around me had turned into a blur of dark shadows and faint moonlight, and all I could feel was the cold, hard ground beneath me and the burning pain in my limbs.

Where am I?

My thoughts were jumbled, a chaotic mess that refused to settle into any sort of coherence. The last thing I remembered was the sharp sting of the bullets—wooden bullets—tearing through my skin, and then everything had gone black. Now, I was here, tied up, completely helpless.

Helpless.

That word echoed in my mind, a cruel reminder of how powerless I was in this moment. The vampire strength that had become second nature to me, the abilities I had come to rely on—they were all gone, drained away by the vervain they kept injecting into me. I could feel it coursing through my veins, dulling my senses, sapping every ounce of energy from my body.

I tried to focus, tried to stay alert, but my mind kept slipping, losing itself in the fog of pain and fear. I had to stay conscious. I had to figure out where I was and who had taken me. But every time I tried to focus, the pain flared up again, pulling me back into the darkness.

“Don’t fight it,” a voice said, low and rough.

My head jerked up, and I squinted through the dim light, trying to make out the figure standing over me. I couldn’t see his face, just a dark silhouette against the faint glow of the moon.

“Who are you?” I croaked, my voice barely more than a whisper.

He didn’t answer, just crouched down in front of me, his cold eyes locking onto mine. “You should save your strength,” he said, almost mocking. “You’re going to need it.”

I felt a surge of anger, but it was quickly drowned out by the overwhelming weakness in my limbs. “Where are you taking me?” I demanded, though my voice was weak and trembling.

He ignored my question and grabbed my arm roughly, yanking me to my feet. I cried out as pain shot through my body, but he didn’t seem to care. With a swift motion, he lifted me up and threw me over his shoulder like I weighed nothing.

I struggled against him, but it was useless. The vervain had left me too weak to fight back, and every movement sent another wave of agony through my body.

I didn’t know how long we walked. Time seemed to blur together, and all I could do was focus on staying awake, on trying to make sense of what was happening. But eventually, the trees began to thin out, and the cold night air was replaced by the stifling warmth of an enclosed space.

A warehouse. I could smell the scent of rusted metal and old wood, hear the faint hum of machinery in the distance. The man carrying me dropped me onto the cold, hard floor, and I gasped as the impact jarred my already aching body. I tried to push myself up, but my arms gave out, and I collapsed back onto the floor.

The sound of footsteps echoed through the warehouse, and I forced my eyes open, trying to see who was there. More figures emerged from the shadows, their faces obscured by the dim light, but I could feel their eyes on me, watching, waiting.

“She’s awake,” one of them said, a woman’s voice this time. It was cold, emotionless.

“Good,” another voice replied. “We need her conscious.”

I shivered at the sound of that voice, the icy malice in it sending a chill down my spine. I wanted to speak, to demand answers, but my throat was too dry, my mouth too heavy. All I could do was lie there, helpless and vulnerable, as they circled around me like predators.

“Who are you?” I finally managed to whisper, though my voice was barely audible. “What do you want with me?”

The woman stepped forward, her face finally coming into view. She was tall and lean, with sharp features and a gaze that could freeze fire. Was she a witch? “You want to know who we are?” she asked, her voice dripping with contempt. “We’re the ones who will end your miserable existence.”

My heart pounded in my chest, fear mingling with confusion. “What are you talking about?”

She crouched down beside me, her lips curling into a cruel smile. “We’re vampire hunters, sweetheart. And you’re just the beginning.”

Vampire hunters. The words echoed in my mind, bringing a fresh wave of dread. I had heard of them, of course—humans who had dedicated their lives to hunting down and killing vampires. But I had never encountered any before, and I had always assumed they were more myth than reality. Now, as I looked into the eyes of this woman, I realized how wrong I had been.

“Why me?” I asked, though I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the answer.

“Why not you?” she replied with a sneer. “You’re a vampire, aren’t you? That’s reason enough.”

“But there are others,” I protested weakly. “Stronger vampires. Why take me?”

The man who had carried me stepped forward, a malicious grin on his face. “Because you’re connected to the king,” he said, his voice laced with venom. “You’re the one he turned to when he broke all the rules, the one he risked everything for. You’re the perfect bait.”

Ian. They were after Ian. A surge of panic flooded through me as I realized what they were planning. They had taken me to get to him, to use me against him. I couldn’t let that happen. I couldn’t be the reason he was put in danger.

“He won’t come for me,” I lied, trying to sound convincing. “He doesn’t care.”

The woman laughed, a harsh, bitter sound. “You really expect us to believe that? We know all about your little love story, vampire. He’ll come for you. And when he does, we’ll be ready.”

My heart sank as I realized there was no convincing them otherwise. They were determined to use me to lure Ian into a trap, and there was nothing I could do to stop them. The thought of Ian walking into their hands, of him being hurt because of me, made my blood run cold.

“You won’t get away with this,” I said, trying to sound braver than I felt. “He’ll destroy you.”

“Maybe,” the man said, shrugging nonchalantly. “But we’ll take you all down with us. That’s the beauty of it. Even if we don’t survive, neither will you.”

They were willing to die, to take us all down in their quest for vengeance. These people were dangerous, far more dangerous than I had realized. And I was completely at their mercy.

“Keep her dosed,” the woman ordered, straightening up. “We can’t have her getting any ideas.”

The man nodded and pulled a syringe from his pocket, filling it with a clear liquid that I recognized immediately—more vervain. He approached me slowly, the needle gleaming in the dim light.

I wanted to fight, to resist, but my body refused to obey. I was too weak, too drained, and as the needle plunged into my arm, I could feel the last remnants of my strength slipping away.

“Sleep tight, vampire,” the man whispered, his voice dripping with malice. “You’ll need your rest.”

The world around me started to fade, the edges of my vision blurring as the vervain took hold. I tried to stay conscious, tried to fight against the darkness, but it was nothing but a waste of time. The last thing I heard before everything went black was the sound of their laughter, echoing through the cold, empty warehouse.

And then, there was nothing.

When I woke again, I was still in the warehouse, but something had changed. The room was darker, the air colder, and I could feel the faint vibrations of footsteps reverberating through the floor. My arms were still bound, my body still too weak to move, but my mind was clearer now, sharper.

They had moved me to the center of the room, tying me to a metal chair with thick, heavy ropes that dug into my wrists and ankles. My mouth was dry, my head pounding, but I forced myself to focus, to stay alert. I had to figure out a way out of this, had to find a way to warn Ian before it was too late.

As I strained against the ropes, I heard the sound of a door creaking open, followed by the soft murmur of voices. My heart skipped a beat as I recognized the voices—one of them belonged to the woman from earlier, the leader of these hunters. The other was unfamiliar, deeper and rougher.

“What’s the plan?” the rough voice asked.

“We wait,” the woman replied. “He’ll come. And when he does, we’ll finish this.”

My stomach twisted with dread as I listened to their conversation. They were planning something, something that involved Ian. I couldn’t let them succeed. I had to find a way to escape, to warn him before he walked into their trap.

But as I tugged at the ropes, the realization hit me like a punch to the gut—I was too weak. The vervain had drained me completely, leaving me powerless and vulnerable. There was no way I could escape from here.