"Tell me you're joking," Liam muttered, staring at the cracked road vanishing into the mist. “This isSangville?”  

“No,” Selene replied. “This is the path to it. Sangville is beneath.”  

“Beneath what?”  She pointed. “That.”  The fog parted just enough to reveal a warped forest. Trees twisted like claws. Branches bled sap. The sky above it pulsed gray like a dying heart.  Liam’s eyes narrowed. “This doesn’t feel like a cursed land. It feels possessed.”  

“Same thing,” Selene said, stepping ahead. “Keep your claws out.”  They moved through silence. Even birds didn’t dare sing.  

“How long was this place abandoned?” Liam asked.  

“Five centuries. Maybe more. After the fall of the old vampire kings.”  

“Was my family here?”  

“Yes,” she said. “This was the territory of the Ashbane Court. Old blood. Ruthless. Their bones feed the trees now. ”  

“Good,” Liam muttered.  He ducked beneath a branch, claws extended, silver gleaming. “The book. Where would they have hidden it?”  

“In their temple vault.”  

“Let me guess. The vault is also cursed?”  

She gave him a flat look. “Everything here is cursed.”  

Suddenly, Liam froze. “Did you hear that?”  They both turned. Something moved behind them—low,slithering, heavy. A shadow slipped between trees. Then another.

Selene inhaled sharply. “Gravekeepers.”  

“Say that again?”  

“They’re not alive. Not dead either. Guardians of the forest.”  

Liam shifted his stance. “Do they bleed?”  

“Depends on how hard you hit.”  

Something lunged from the fog.  Liam slashed. His claws tore into flesh that wasn’t flesh. The creature screeched—a sound like metal screaming.  It fell back, smoking.  Another rushed Selene.  She threw up her hands. Symbols glowed across her wrist, and a wall of fire roared up. The Gravekeeper slammed into it and burned, black smoke curling into the trees.  Three more emerged from the shadows.  Liam didn’t wait. He charged, silver claws blazing.He spun, sliced, and roared.  Selene joined him, flames lashing out like whips.  By the time the last creature dropped, the forest smelled of rot and scorched bones.  

Liam breathed hard. “Still think I’m not ready?”  

Selene stared at the bodies. “That wasn’t a test of strength. It was a warning.”  

“From who?”  “The dead.”  

An hour later, they reached the ruins of Sangville.  Stone towers lay broken like bones. Statues of vampire kings stared down with empty eyes. The air tasted of ash.  “This place…” Liam whispered. “It feels like it remembers pain.”  

“It does,” Selene said. “The vault should beneath the chapel.”  

They entered what remained of it—collapsed walls,shattered stained glass, a throne cracked down the center.  

“There.” Selene pointed to a sigil on the floor.“ That’s the entrance.”  

Liam knelt, brushing away dust. “How do we open it?”  “Blood.”  He didn’t hesitate. Slashed his palm.  Silver blood dripped onto the stone.  The sigil lit up. Groaned. Split open.  A spiral staircase led down into the black.  

“You go first,” Selene said.  

“Of course,” Liam muttered.  

They descended.  The air was colder than death. Torches lit themselves as they walked, one by one.  At the bottom—an archway of bones.  Beyond it, the vault.  And inside, a pedestal. A book sat upon it, bounding black leather, pulsing faintly.  

“The Blood Book,” Selene whispered.  

Liam stepped forward.  Then stopped.  A figure was already standing at the pedestal. Marius.  He turned slowly, book in hand. “Looking for this?”  Liam’s eyes flared. “Drop it.”  

Marius grinned. “You’re too late, bastard.”  

“Don’t call me that.”  “I’ll call you what you are. You don’t belong in our bloodline. You’re a stain. A mistake.”  

“I’m the future,” Liam growled.  

Marius’s eyes turned red. “You’re nothing!”  He threw the book behind him, drawing his blade.  Liam lunged.  Their bodies slammed into each other—fangs bared,claws against steel.  

Selene shouted, casting wards to protect the vault.  

“You think you can kill me?” Marius hissed.  

“I don’t need to kill you,” Liam snapped. “I just need the book.” He slashed.  

Marius screamed as the silver burned across his arm.  

“Selene!” Liam called.  

She ran toward the book, reaching for it—then froze. 

 A new figure stepped from the shadows. “Don’t touch that,” said a calm voice. 

 Marcus.  

Selene backed away.  

“Father,” Marius gasped.  

“You failed,” Marcus said.  

“He had help—”  

“I don’t care.”  

Marcus looked at Liam. “You’re braver than I thought.”  

Liam bared his teeth. “Come closer. I’ll show youmore.”  

Marcus chuckled. “You think strength will win you this war? “It’s a good start.”  Marcus raised a hand. Symbols lit up in the air. The runes of the vault trembled.  

Selene shouted, “He’s going to collapse it!”  

Liam ran for the book but it was too late. The pedestal exploded. The ceiling cracked. Bricks fell.  Liam shoved Selene out of the way, claws flashing,shielding them both. When the dust cleared, the vault was shattered.  The book—gone.  Marcus and Marius had vanished. 

Selene coughed, pulling herself up. “That was...not ideal.”  

Liam stared at the rubble. His hands clenched. “They destroyed it.”  

“Not completely,” she said. “Pieces of it remain.”  

He turned. “Where?”  

“I don’t know. But books like that aren’t made to vanish. They scatter. Resurface.”  

“Then we hunt them all.”  Selene raised an eyebrow. “You mean we?”  

“Yes,” Liam said. “Because if I face Marcus alone now, I lose.”  

She smiled faintly. “You’re learning.”  

He helped her up.  As they left the vault, the walls groaned again.The curse of Sangville stirred.  

“Something’s waking,” Selene whispered.  

“Let it wake,” Liam said. “It’ll know I’m not afraid.”   

Far from Sangville, in a crypt lined with mirrors, Marcus stared at the salvaged pages of the Blood Book.  Marius stood silent, eyes down.  “They think they’ve lost,” Marcus murmured. “Let them.”  

“What happens now?”  

“We rewrite prophecy.”  

Marius looked up. “How?”  

Marcus smiled, holding a dagger carved from glass.  “We kill the bloodline before it remembers itspower.”  He pressed the blade to the page. A scream echoed through the crypt—no voice, just pain.  “And we begin,” Marcus said, “with the mother.