Burning a Three Hundred Year Sigil

After Erik Salvatore abandoned me at the Blood Moon ceremony for the seventh time, I severed the blood-bond between us.

His exclusive blood source? No longer. The family sigil branded on my soul? Stripped away.

I made myself a ghost at every Nocturnal Feast he attended.

When the Vampire Council asked me to take over his crumbling biotech empire, I relinquished my inheritance rights on the spot.

My one rule: Never look back.

For three hundred years, I gave him my everything.

I never wanted to live like that again.

I would rather turn to ash in the first light of dawn than spend one more night with that bone-deep emptiness in his cold, magnificent castle.

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1

I waited for Erik Salvatore for hours before the family's sacred altar, until the lunar runes etched into the stone began to dim.

I'd first reached out through our blood-sigil. He'd claimed there was an urgent meeting—an emergency with the Blood Alliance—and told me to wait.

I waited for another two hours. I tried to message him again, but there was only silence on the other end of the blood-sigil.

I clutched the unfinished blood pact, my knuckles straining, the ancient parchment crumpling in my fist.

"Miss Berry, the time for the ceremony is almost over. Do you still intend to proceed today?" the presiding elder finally asked, his voice filled with sympathy.

He had watched me wait here all night.

I snapped back to my senses and shook my head slightly. "Thank you, Elder. Not today."

As I walked out of the altar chamber, a few young vampires whispered as they passed by. "I swear I've seen her before. Always alone."

"Now that you mention it, yeah. Waiting for that prince of hers who always stands her up."

I kept my face a blank mask, but shame burned through me like wildfire. I instinctively quickened my pace.

This was the seventh time I had waited for Erik on the night of a blood moon.

Just as I reached the end of the obsidian corridor, about to leave, he appeared in a swirl of black mist.

He materialized into his human form, a mask of false apology already in place.

"I'm sorry, Berry. There was an emergency with the Blood Alliance. I hope I'm not too late."

I scoffed. An emergency with the Blood Alliance. That was his excuse last time. And the time before that.

Now he was using it again.

I couldn't even be bothered to call him out. I shook my head and replied, "You're late. The altar is closed."

Erik glanced at the dimmed runes, his face contorted in indignation. "Damn it, do these elders just pack everything up the second the ceremony ends? Couldn't they have waited five more minutes?"

He strode forward, grabbing my wrist with his cold, strong hand and pressing my palm against his marble-hard chest. "The moonlight was too harsh tonight. Feel this—I came all the way through the Forbidden Forest for you. I'm exhausted."

I stared at him blankly, fighting back tears.

Who did he think he was fooling?

There wasn't so much as a single leaf on him.

I bit my lip and, for the first time, questioned him. "If you really came through the Forbidden Forest, why isn't there a single scratch on your silver cufflinks?"

His cuffs were pristine, as if they had just been taken from a velvet box.

Erik's expression shifted in an instant. He frowned, his ice-blue eyes flashing with anger as he retorted, "What's that supposed to mean? Are you saying I'm lying? Accusing me of not wanting to complete the blood pact with you?"

"I risked being ambushed by our sworn enemies to get here, and this is the thanks I get? I can't believe you're so cold-hearted, Berry!"

He effortlessly shifted the blame onto me.

His theatrics only screamed guilt.

I rubbed my temples as the will to argue drained from me. "You know the truth, Erik."

With that, I turned and walked away.

His cold voice rang out behind me. "Fine. I know perfectly well. Don't show your face in front of me again, and don't ever expect to become my bonded mate through this ceremony!"

This time, I didn't look back. I bit down hard on my lower lip, tasting the sweet, metallic tang of my own blood.

I had only taken a few steps when a blood-illusion materialized before me. "Couldn't complete the pact again, could you, Berry? What a shame. But don't worry. You can always come crawling back to Erik. Eighth time's the charm, right?"