The Vampire Prince's Practice Run

That night, I didn't get a single message from Damon.

For years, he had been incredibly possessive. He demanded we say goodnight to each other before I went to sleep, without fail.

Tonight, I wasn't going to play along.

The next morning, a chill woke me from my sleep.

I opened my eyes. Damon was standing by my bed, looking down at me. He was still in his black tux from the night before, and he smelled faintly of a cold, unfamiliar perfume. Serena's.

"Morning, beautiful," he said, leaning in to hold me.

I instinctively flinched away.

Damon frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." I pulled the covers tighter around me and sat up. "Shouldn't you be busy?"

"Never too busy for you." He sat on the edge of the bed, his icy fingers tracing the side of my neck. "Looks like the marks healed perfectly."

I went completely stiff.

His fingertips lingered there, as if searching for a new place to bite.

"I'm tired," I said, pushing his hand away. "Maybe some other time."

Damon froze.

He stared at me for a few seconds, then let out a cold laugh. "Are you angry? Because I didn't say goodnight?"

I said nothing.

"Such a child." He pulled a velvet box from his suit pocket. "Here. To make up for it."

Inside was a ruby necklace that glittered like blood in the morning light.

"You told me you loved rubies because they're the color of my eyes," he said, his tone full of confident affection. "Put it on. Stop sulking."

I stared at the necklace and thought of the tiara on Serena’s head.

"Maybe Serena would like this more," I said, pushing the box away. "You two are the same kind, after all."

Clatter.

The box fell to the floor. The ruby popped out, a crack running through its center.

Damon’s face darkened instantly. "Who gave you the right to defy me?"

His voice was ice, and a dangerous light flashed in his red eyes. It was the look of a predator, a stark reminder that he was, at his core, a monster.

I had never seen him so furious. All the pain from the last few days came rushing back, and I started to tremble uncontrollably as tears fell, one after another.

"I…"

"Alright, stop crying." Damon's expression softened, and he sighed. "You know I can't stay angry with you."

He bent down, as if to hug me.

Just then, his phone rang.

The screen flashed a name: Serena.

Damon glanced at it, and his face grew serious.

He stood up, looking down at me. "Get a hold of yourself. You know my patience has its limits."

And then he was gone, as if he'd never been there at all.

The only things left in the room were me and the shattered ruby on the floor.

Sunlight streamed through a crack in the curtains, illuminating the fracture in the stone.

I stared at it and, suddenly, I laughed.

"That's the last tear I'll ever cry for you," I whispered.

A few moments later, a notification popped up on my phone. A new post from Serena.

The picture was of a room blanketed in jewels—rubies, sapphires, emeralds, piled up like small mountains.

The caption read: 【Just said I was in a bad mood, and he sent all this. So dramatic! Good morning, my Prince of the Night. 】

The comments were a flood of envious praise.

I put my phone down. I couldn't produce a single tear.

Maybe I'd run out. Or maybe my heart was just dead.

I remembered Damon pointing to a ruby one night and saying, "This color is yours alone, Elena. I will only ever give you rubies."

Just another lie to trap his prey.

I forced myself to get up and start packing. I was leaving.

I boxed up every gift Damon had ever given me. I threw out every piece of clothing that carried his scent.

It only took a day to erase ten years of memories.

Finally, I took a small vial from a drawer.

It was the special elixir Chloe had gotten for me, the one that could erase a blood servant's bond mark—Damon's mark of ownership.

"It'll hurt like hell," Chloe had warned me. "Like tearing your soul from your body."

I tilted my head back and drank it.

The moment the liquid hit my throat, a fire tore through my body. I collapsed to my knees, the back of my neck burning as if branded by a hot iron. The pain was so intense I almost passed out.

But I gritted my teeth and endured it.

In the mirror, I watched as the intricate, blood-red mark slowly faded, until finally, it was gone.

I was free.