Chapter 1

1

Ella

The rising moon peeked over the dense crown of oaks as the sun sank lower toward the horizon, making the shadows of the trees stretch toward me like long, dark fingers. An icy shiver tickled my spine. The safety of our manor house was miles behind me now, with only the cursed forest ahead. I'd have to turn around soon.

"Damn you, Belle," I muttered as I followed the path deeper into the woods.

It had been five days since I'd seen her last. My sister was often gone for a day or two, either guiding the immortals from the castle on their hunts or gathering wild herbs for the royal larder, but she'd never been gone this long. Not five days.

Our stepmother hadn't shown the slightest concern. "She'll turn up when it suits her," she'd said. "She always does."

But I couldn't shake the unease that had rooted in my gut. Something was wrong, and if my stepmother wasn't going to do something about it, I would, even if that meant searching every corner of the ancient forest.

I pulled the hood of my coat over my braided silver hair and patted the little rat who nuzzled my neck. "Don't worry, Pip. I won't get us lost."

He gave a soft squeak of encouragement.

Although the forest had always been a place where my sister and I could escape our troubles, a part of me hated the cursed woods, not because they were rumored to be haunted, but because they were a prison for every human in the valley—an impenetrable barrier that prevented anyone from venturing too far beyond the grasp of our masters, the Lords of the Bloodvale. The immortals.

Bloodsuckers.

Yet as cruel as our masters were, whatever lived in the heart of the forest was worse—or so the rumors said. Hunters and trappers disappeared in the deep woods all the time. Sometimes, their mangled bodies were found, but more often, they simply vanished. The villagers spoke of ghosts and monsters and magic. Although I didn't necessarily believe all of the rumors, I was experienced enough to know something was lurking out there beyond the reach of civilization, and that I shouldn't be caught out past sundown.

Hopefully, Belle hadn't ventured too far.

I touched my father's hunting knife to make sure it was there, then hitched up my skirt and trudged uphill toward the ancient oaken sentinels that marked the edge of the true wilderness, the part of the forest where few mortals ventured. My pulse quickened at the sudden shift in the air—thick and damp and riddled with the earthy scent of decay. An unnerving silence fell over the woods, prickling my skin. It was like the silence of anticipation, as if the creatures and trees were waiting for me to do something.

The hush came every time, and I'd never understood why. When I'd tried to explain the sensation to Belle, she'd told me, "Maybe it's just the way the woods welcome you."

Tonight, it felt more akin to a warning.

I quickly found the silver bark pine that marked the head of the path Belle had forged during years of daily forays into the woods. Blackberry tendrils had already encroached on the trodden dirt trail in her absence, their thorns snagging on my dress and pricking my legs.

Over the next hour, I checked all our childhood haunts—the wading pool with the smooth skipping stones, the ancient hollowed-out oak where Belle would pick wildflowers each spring, and the secret glade—but I found no indication that my sister had passed by.

As the sun sank behind the canopy, the shadows deepened, transforming familiar trees and stones into ominous forms. I glanced up at the sky. Twilight was fading quickly, which meant I had about twenty minutes before darkness enveloped the woods.

Pip scampered along my shoulder and tugged on a loose thread on my coat. I smiled down at the little brown and white rat. He twitched his tiny pink nose and looked up at me with wide eyes that seemed to say, It's getting late .

I scratched him between the ears. "We'll go home soon, I promise."

I had one last place to look before heading back to the manor, so I fetched a shelled walnut from my pocket as an apology. Pip plucked the nut from my fingers and began nibbling at it contentedly as I headed up the path.

Most of the villagers thought it was peculiar the way I talked to animals, and a few had spread ugly rumors. I didn't care. Belle and Tarran, the farm boy up the road, were the only ones who didn't give me a hard time about it—one of several reasons why they were the only close friends I had.

And now Belle was gone. It was like half my soul had been cut away.

It didn't take long to reach the hideout that we used to escape to when our stepmother was being particularly cruel. The dense trees opened onto a low, grassy outcrop overlooking the Bloodvale. It had been years since we'd been here last, but the fallen trunks we'd used as a fort remained.

I set Pip down to nibble on the vegetation while I searched the clearing for any indication that Belle had visited the outcrop recently, but the blades of grass were fresh and untrampled.

"Where are you?" I sighed as I gazed out across the glittering lights, relishing the cool evening breeze against my heated skin. A winding river split the valley in half, fed by the mountains in the north. It cut through the town, dividing rich and poor, with Castle Silverthorn perched on a high cliff above. The fortress with its towering spires was both breathtaking and horrible, a symbol of the power the immortals held over us all, rich and poor alike.

Was Belle somewhere in there?

Although she frequently visited the kitchen, she'd always warned me to stay as far away from the castle as I could. "Never visit Silverthorn, Ella. The immortals are ruthless, and they take what they want."

Perhaps she'd stopped there to sell her latest harvest and had drawn the eye of a lord. Would he have forced her to pay the blood tithe? Would he have kept her there against her will?

I shivered, and my stomach twisted at the thought of Belle offering her blood to one of those vile creatures.

I let my gaze drift to the long carriage road winding through the farms toward the far end of the Bloodvale. "One day, we'll get out of this valley and forge our own path."

A branch cracked behind me, and I froze.

Was something out there?

Goosebumps rippled along my arms, and my heartbeat accelerated. I scanned the shadowed tree line, but the thick vegetation obstructed my view. The woods were silent, nothing unusual. Still, I couldn't shake the unnerving sensation that I was being watched.

I scooped Pip out of the grass and quickly began making my way back along the path.

My fingers brushed the hunting knife at my side. Calm down, Ella . The bloodsuckers feed in town and in the castle, not in the forest.

But if it wasn't a bloodsucker, then what was it?

I took off in the direction of home, moving as quickly as I could. The rustling of leaves and snapping of branches sounded behind, and I stole a quick glance back.

A dark shape flashed through the trees at the crest of the hill. My stomach curdled with dread. Humans didn't run with such speed.

Immortal.

Pip scampered into the crook of my neck, his poor little heart fluttering against my skin. "Hang on tightly, Pip," I muttered, then hitched up my dress and began to run, my breath coming faster and faster. The sounds from the trees followed, quickly closing in. The path split before me, the left fork heading toward the manor and the other veering deeper into the woods. There was no way I could outrun an immortal, so I went right, barreling toward the hollowed-out oak Belle and I once used as a fort. It'd be a tight fit, but if I could squeeze inside, I'd be safer than out in the open.

A man's laughter echoed through the trees behind me, nearly drowned out by the sound of my thundering heart. I crashed through ferns and thimbleberries, cursing the silence of the woods as I tore through the underbrush. Gods, if I were lucky, the bloodsucker would mistake me for a wild boar.

A rock slipped beneath my foot, and I crashed down, skinning my forearms. With no time to think of the pain, I shoved myself to my feet and kept running. Fates help us now. The woods awoke in an explosive fury of noise—melodic cries of warblers and thrushes joined the symphony of chaotic cawing and hooting, while chittering and clicking rose from the underbrush, as if the entire forest were calling out in warning.

I'd never heard them so agitated. What was going on?

I leapt over a fallen trunk and burst into the clearing with the weathered oak. Nestled in its lightning-scarred bark was a gap large enough for a small person to fit through. A cloud of crows descended from the sky and fluttered into the branches overhead, their piercing shrieks no doubt drawing the attention of every creature in the forest.

"Shh!" I scolded. "You're drawing attention to me! Get out of here!"

I froze as the birds above all went silent.

"What's a pretty little human like you doing so far out in the forest after dusk?" a smooth voice asked from behind me.

My breath stilled, and I turned slowly.

A male stood in the dim light at the edge of the clearing. He was tall and gracile, his light brown hair tied back in a low ponytail. He was beautiful and severe and ageless.

An immortal.

I palmed the hunting knife tucked into my waistband. The male's amber eyes tracked the movement, and the corners of his thin lips quirked. "A playful one, aren't you?"

Even though we both knew the blade was next to useless, it gave me courage. I forced out an even tone. "I'm meeting my father. He's a skilled hunter, so I suggest you be on your way."

A slow grin cut his marble cheeks, and he took a step toward me. "Then we'd better be quick. I wouldn't want to keep Daddy waiting."