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“What does it entail?”

“You know that’s not how it works, but,” Noah tilted his head, “you still are the eldest. And for that, I will keep it simple. So, Christopher, what do you think—a question for a question?”

Silence was the only answer I offered.

“The clicker neutralizes our enemies, the very one’s humans created,” he noted. “Lycans.”

Lycans had gone extinct after the Cold War, utterly erased from media and memories alike until they were believed to be a myth. In our mother’s teachings, she’d mentioned them a handful of times, though they held no place in our vampiric scriptures since they were seen as unworthy of the past, present, and future.

I’ve read instances of when one’s reality overturned, how the world tilted and spun, reality suspending into a state of upheaval. Never had I felt such sensation. . .until now.

Every moment spent with Lorenzo caved, knotting and threading into a tight grip around my chest.

“Now, tell me, do you know of a lycan?”

A burrowing pit caved into my body—a body where its existence dangled further from a reality that seemingly thinned.

“I suppose so.”

Chapter 9

LORENZO DEVON

Danger was imminent as a guardian. Part of our lessons taught us how to navigate it, because one slip up not only reflected us, it reflected the CEG, the very one that granted us a chance in a world where our existence was looked down upon.

In a world where I shouldn’t exist.

The CEG gave me everything I had. The only payback I could afford was to protect it. But how could I strive to ensure its safety when homework was my fucking pitfall?

High standing guardians were expected to learn the ins and outs of politics, to keep track of everything going on between the Vampire Ministry, Bureau, CEG, and everything in between. It wasn’t an easy task. . .and that’s why I preferred listening to the important bits and pieces. But to study texts that clustered together and barely made any sense?

It was the fucking worst.

Lace typically gave me run downs. But here, in my cramped room which felt smaller by the second, I had no choice but to dive into new homework that no one could save me from: the notebook I’d tried to ignore ever since I found it.

Two nights going back and forth between what to do. Three twilights I spent locked in this room. Four fucking days with Christopher’s voice stuck in my mind like a broken record.

“Or I will make you suffer for yourdespicableactions.”

His anger echoed in my ears with a fiery cloud. No matter how many gym sessions, I couldn’t force it out. And the beast wasn’t helping with his persistent inkling that itched at my fingertips.

Look inside.

There was no need to when an internet search answered the question etched in my mind after Christopher caught me.

SS stood for Sophia Sephtis, the Premier’s wife and the Sephtis’ mom. But Sophia Sephtis wasn’t just that. Based on Lace, to guardians, she was the scientific—and societal—breakthrough that led to advancing half-humans. But to humans and vampires, she was the first human to marry into a Regal Vampire Family and successfully transition. But the last one to do both.

Right after her transition, the Interchange Act was passed. No more human and vampire marriages were allowed.

Temptation hovered over my thumbs as I glared at my phone screen. My gut twisted at the blurry picture of a sickly pale woman with sharp cheekbones and ash blonde hair who stared back at me. A mini version of her stood on her side, the very one I hadn’t stopped thinking about.

Even though her eyes were mid-blink, I recognized the way they slightly narrowed the same way Christopher’s did.

If this notebook was hers, why was it hidden away in that room? How had no one noticed it?

The answer is probably inside.

Fuck it.