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CHAPTER THREE

ISOLDE

Tapping the mirror, I call Isaac.

“Right,” he states. “What is going on? Why are you here?”

“Beats me,” I say. “You saw. Dad demanded I pack, and here I am, after Mum shoved me through a portal.”

“A portal?”

I nod. “Behind the creepy tapestry.”

“The Hunting scene.”

“Seemed apt. They said someone had come for me. There was someone breaking in?”

“What?” he snaps. “How?”

I shrug. “Who knows? It all happened really quickly. I was told to act like your younger sister, they shoved me in Lower Class.” I pout at him when he snorts.

“So this was planned?” he asks with a frown, sobering up quickly.

“Looks that way. Or at least was a failsafe in case the castle was breached.”

“This is very…” He trails off, staring at me.

“Yeah.”

“Are you okay?”

“I’m in shock. I’ve never…” I look around.

“I know,” he says softly. “Where are you?”

“Across the courtyard from you.”

“Lower Class residence,” he murmurs.

“Shut up,” I growl.

He holds his hands up. “So we are keeping up the ruse, even now?” He knows the score. Well, he knows as much as I do that I’m the big Morvoren family secret. Although, not so secret now. “What are we supposed to tell everyone?”

“Well, what did you tell CJ?” I croak and look at his jacket spread out on my bed.

Isaac makes a noise that sounds like a feral about to attack. “Stay away from CJ.”

I shoot my gaze back to him. “Why? He seems nice.” Nice and fucking hot.

“He is not the vampire for you.”

“Do you have a say in it?” I ask heatedly, even though I know CJ would never consider going out with me. He is being kind to his best friend’s “younger” sister .

“I do. He is dangerous.”

I gulp. Why does that sound more like a tasty treat than the warning it’s supposed to be?

“Never mind that,” I say, brushing it off. “What did you tell him about me?”

“Just that you are my younger sister. No lies. You are.”

Narrowing my eyes at his smirk, I purse my lips. “That’s it? He didn’t ask for details?”

“Why would he?”

Good question. Of course he wouldn’t. He doesn’t give a shit.

“Right,” I mutter, a familiar pang of disappointment twisting in my gut. I’m just Isaac’s boring little sister, an unexpected addition to the scenery. “So, no one knows I’ve been locked away for two decades like some dark fairytale princess?”

“Nope. And it’s staying that way. You’re just late to the academic party. Understand?” His protectiveness, despite any lack of knowledge as to why, makes me smile. He always has my back.

“Crystal.” I sigh, running a hand through my still-damp hair. “What do you think was up with the moon? Red there, normal here. Dad said, ‘The Crimson Moon changes everything. They can find you now.’ Who are ‘they’?”

Isaac’s reflection grows grim, the usual playful light in his blue eyes dimming. “I don’t know, Issy. But it sounds bad. Really bad. Dad wouldn’t have sent you here, to SilverGate, of all places, unless the threat was serious. This place isn’t exactly a sanctuary.”

“No shit,” I say, glancing around my opulent, yet somehow still unnerving, new room. “So, I’m basically bait in a slightly more populated fishbowl?”

“Don’t say that.” His voice is sharp. “I’ll look out for you. We both will.”

“We?” My eyebrow arches. Is he including CJ in that? The thought sends a ridiculous little flutter through me, despite the grim circumstances.

“Just… be careful, Issy. Very careful.” He looks over his shoulder, then back at me. “I’ve got to go. Lie low. I’ll find you tomorrow.”

Before I can ask more, the connection breaks, leaving me staring at my own worried face in the mirror.

I shiver as the cold sets in from being damp, and I place the mirror down and turn to my suitcase. I unpack meticulously, hoping that I don’t have to repack everything up tomorrow to leave again. As terrifying as this is, I’m free. For the first time in my life, I’m actually free.

Whatever that means, I guess I’ll find out, but for now, I’m going to take a long, hot shower and wash away the cold, the fear and the confusion.

The bathroom is a study in gleaming black marble and silver fixtures. Steam billows around me as I step under the scalding spray, the water pressure strong enough to beat some of the tension from my shoulders. It’s a world away from the functional, cold bathroom in my tower. Here, even the soap smells decadent, like dark berries and something vaguely illicit.

As the water sluices over my skin, I can’t stop my mind from replaying the past few hours. The red moon, Dad’s fear, Mum’s desperate shove through the portal. And CJ. Always CJ. His jacket, still draped over the bed, feels like a brand. The memory of his breath on my neck, his fingers in my hair… I shiver despite the heat.

“Dangerous,” I murmur.

The word echoes in my mind. Why does the thought of danger, especially when associated with CJ, send a forbidden thrill through my veins instead of pure terror?

I lean my head against the cool marble tiles, letting the water pound down. I’m not just Isaac’s twin sister anymore, tucked away for safekeeping. I’m here, out in the world.

A sudden, fierce determination courses through me, washing away some of the lingering trepidation. Twenty-one years of shadows are enough. It’s time to step out. Even if it means facing monsters. Especially if one of them looks like Constantine Aquila Junior.

Turning off the shower and getting out, I towel off, feeling slightly warmer, I pick up CJ’s jacket and sniff it like some kind of weirdo, but it’s comforting, arousing. I drop the towel and put it on, letting it slide over my naked skin.

Sleep seems impossible. My mind is a whirlwind of anxiety and anticipation. Tomorrow, I face the unknown. Tomorrow, I walk into classes filled with strangers. Tomorrow, I might see CJ again. For the first time, my future isn’t a straight line confined by stone walls; it’s a dark, winding path, and I have no idea where it leads.