Night fell over the city like a cold curtain, pulling silence over what was left of the school day. Sirens were gone, fire trucks rolled away, and smoke drifted lazily from blackened windows.
Students had been sent home early — shaken, confused, clinging to rumors.
Aiden walked alone, hands in his pockets, head low. He should have taken the bus like everyone else, but crowds felt dangerous now. Especially with fear beginning to circle him like vultures.
He knew teachers whispered about how he escaped without a single burn or cough.
He knew Noah was telling everyone Aiden wasn't normal.
And the truth?
Their fear… wasn't wrong.
A sleek black car waited by the curb near the far end of the block — too expensive, too dark, too familiar.
Aiden's steps slowed.
The back door opened before he reached it.
"Get in," a low voice commanded.
Aiden exhaled once — steady — and obeyed.
The door shut behind him with a heavy click that sounded like a lock on a cage.
Inside sat a man dressed in a perfectly tailored suit — posture straight, expression carved from frozen stone. His eyes were the same unnatural silver as Aiden's, but colder… emptier.
Lord Arcturus Blackwell.
His father.
"You were attacked," his father said. Not a question.
"A fire was set," Aiden answered quietly.
Arcturus studied him, gaze sharp enough to cut.
"And you revealed yourself," he said. Still not a question.
Aiden didn't look away.
"I saved students."
"Humans," his father corrected with a trace of disgust. "Fragile creatures who will repay you with fear and betrayal."
Aiden's jaw clenched. "Ella almost—"
His father raised a hand, silencing him with effortless authority.
"No names. No attachments."
Arcturus leaned forward slightly, voice dropping to something colder.
"The Council is furious. They believe your control is slipping."
He paused, eyes narrowing. "Is it?"
Aiden looked out the window instead of answering. Streetlights streaked past, blurring like comets falling backwards.
"I'm fine," he muttered.
Arcturus didn't believe lies.
Especially not his son's.
"Jace reports you defended a human girl with full strength," he said.
Aiden's fists tightened at the mention of Jace's name.
"He tried to kill her," Aiden said, voice low and sharp. "Because of me."
"And you care?" his father asked, genuinely puzzled.
Aiden stared back.
"She looked at me like I wasn't a monster."
Arcturus sighed — not tired, but disappointed.
"You are a vampire, Aiden. A predator. That cannot be changed by a school or a girl's foolish sympathy."
Aiden swallowed hard. He remembered the terror in Ella's eyes inside the smoke-filled hallway — but she stayed. She didn't abandon him.
That had to mean something.
Arcturus continued, voice turning as cold as the moon outside the window.
"Draven will not stop. This fire is only the first message."
Aiden's eyes darkened. "Then I'll fight him."
Arcturus stared — then chuckled. It wasn't a warm sound.
"You think the Council will allow you to choose war? You can barely resist your own hunger."
Aiden flinched internally — not because it wasn't true.
He knew the hunger.
The quiet voice in the back of his mind that whispered every time he smelled blood.
The ache that started in his throat when someone stumbled and scraped their knee.
The beast that wanted… needed.
He forced a slow breath. "I'm in control."
His father's expression turned briefly sorrowful — the first hint of emotion he'd shown all evening.
"You are in pain."
Aiden looked away, throat tight.
Arcturus spoke gently — which somehow hurt more.
"You starve yourself to protect humans. But they will never protect you."
Aiden's voice came out cracked and low.
"I don't want to hurt anyone."
"You are a Blackwell. You will hurt people," Arcturus said firmly. "Even if you don't want to."
Silence thickened inside the car.
Aiden finally asked the question he had been afraid of.
"What does the Council want from me?"
His father's answer was simple.
"For you to act like a vampire."
Aiden's breath caught — cold, sharp.
"They want you to feed," Arcturus clarified. "Soon. Publicly, if necessary. To prove you belong to our kind."
Ice spread in Aiden's chest.
"No," he whispered.
Arcturus's voice became steel.
"You may not have a choice. The treaty between humans and vampires is fragile. They are waiting for a symbol. You are that symbol — whether you like it or not."
Aiden shook his head, voice trembling with anger and fear.
"I'm not a weapon."
"No," Arcturus answered. "You are hope. They want to make you fear."
The car slowed to a stop in front of Aiden's home — a dark mansion hidden behind tall iron gates.
Arcturus opened his door — then paused.
"There is a girl. Ella," he said quietly. "She matters to you."
Aiden froze. "She's just—"
His father didn't let him finish.
"If you want her safe… keep your distance."
His eyes glinted dangerously. "Draven will use her. And the Council will not protect a human."
The message was final.
Aiden stepped out into the cold air, feeling the weight of two worlds crushing down on him.
Before the car drove away, Arcturus spoke one last thing:
"You are my son. Believe me when I say — humans are the ones who will destroy you."
The car vanished into the darkness.
Aiden stood alone beneath a starless sky.
He looked toward the direction of the school… where Ella had been standing only hours ago.
He remembered her hand in his.
Her fear — for him, not of him.
And he whispered to the empty street:
"I won't let them hurt you."
But even as he said it, he wasn't sure… if that was a promise he could keep.