Chapter Three: The Villain’s Promise
The darkness inside Evernight Manor did not feel empty.
Lillian Evernight stood in the center of the ruined library, her dagger raised, her magic burning beneath her skin. The cursed shadows that had crawled through the doorway surrounded the room like a cage.
She had faced Vlad Delores once.
And now she knew something that frightened her more than his power.
A figure stepped from the darkness.
The candles around the room died one by one as he entered, leaving only the faint silver glow of Lily’s magic and the crimson light in his eyes.
Justin moved beside her, his blade ready.
“Stay behind me,” Justin warned.
Vlad looked at him with amusement.
“You still pretend you can protect her.”
Justin’s expression hardened.
“And you still pretend you’re not the reason she needs protection.”
The air between the two men turned heavy.
Lily stepped forward before either of them could strike.
For a moment, the room went silent.
Vlad’s expression changed—not much, but enough for Lily to notice.
The monster everyone feared looked at her like she was the only thing in the room that mattered.
“You’re different than I expected,” Vlad said.
Lily tightened her grip on her dagger.
“I doubt that’s a compliment.”
And somehow, that unsettled her more.
Vlad walked closer, stopping just outside the reach of her blade.
“You have spent your entire life breaking curses,” he said softly. “But you never wondered why they keep finding you?”
“What are you talking about?”
“You know something,” she said.
“The moment you realize the people who claimed to protect you have been hiding the truth.”
Lily looked between them.
Vlad’s gaze remained fixed on her.
“Your bloodline is not cursed, Lillian.”
“It is the source of the curse.”
The room seemed to stop breathing.
“My family helped people. We broke curses.”
“You repaired the damage your ancestors created.”
The words struck harder than any weapon.
“Why? Because I’m telling her the truth you were ordered to hide?”
Justin’s silence answered for him.
Lily felt something inside her crack.
All her life, she had searched for answers.
Now she was standing between two men who each held pieces of the truth.
And she didn’t know which one was more dangerous.
“I could have taken you when you entered Black Hollow.”
For the first time, Vlad hesitated.
A flicker of something crossed his face.
Something far more dangerous.
“Because I wanted you to choose.”
Lily lowered her dagger slightly.
“Whether you want to remain the hero they created…”
“Or become the woman you were always meant to be.”
The shadows around him moved.
Justin gripped his weapon tighter.
“Lily, don’t listen to him. Vlad Delores destroys everything he touches.”
Instead, he looked at Lily.
The honesty surprised her.
“I have destroyed kingdoms. I have ended lives. I have done things that cannot be forgiven.”
“But I have never lied about what I am.”
The silence that followed was heavier than any threat.
“You will find the truth eventually, Lillian.”
He paused at the doorway.
“You will come looking for me.”
The darkness swallowed him.
And Lily hated that a part of her believed he was right.
Because the most terrifying thing about Vlad Delores was not that he was a monster.
It was that she wanted to understand him.
And that could be the most dangerous curse of all.
