ch dressed in white, faces ghostly in the cold silver light of the Blood Moon. Their dresses fluttered like trapped spirits, silent witnesses to what the village elders called tradition and w

able: power. His hair gleamed like frost. His eyes, when they met hers, were crimson flames. And his presence sharp, ancient, dangerous. Her breath caught. So this was the Vampire Prince. He dismounted without a word. The air shimmered around him, thick with cold magic. Even the elders bowed low, their knees shaking. But he looked only at her. "You are the one," he said. Aria swallowed. "The one what?" He took one step closer. "The one with fire in her blood." A murmur rippled through the villagers. Elder Mareen looked pale. "I don't know what you mean," Aria said, fighting the tremor in her voice. He tilted his head slightly. "You will." Then, before she could move, he reached for her and touched her cheek with gloved fingers. The contact burned, not with heat, but with something older, deeper. Magic. She tried to recoil, but her legs wouldn't move. Her body betrayed her. "You fight it," he murmured, voice like midnight. "Even now." "You came to take a girl," Aria snapped. "Take one of them. I'm not a willing offering." He laughed soft and low. "Willingness has nothing to do with it." And in the next instant, he was gone from where he stood and behind her, lips grazing her neck. "No" she gasped, jerking away. Too late. Fangs sank into her skin. The world vanished. She fell. Not physically she still stood but her mind was pulled somewhere else. Like falling through time. Flashes. A burning castle. A boy with silver hair screaming in chains. A woman with Aria's eyes whispering, "She is the key." A symbol glowing on a scroll. A curse. What is this? her mind screamed. What am I seeing? She couldn't breathe. Then darkness. When Aria awoke, she was in a carriage. It was midnight still, but not the same kind. This darkness was velvet-lined and perfumed. The curtains were drawn shut, but she could sense movement. They were traveling. Her neck throbbed where he bit her.