“W-What?! How did you come to that conclusion?” Esadora gaped at Mrs. Veharic, wondering if the lady had her head on right.

“Do you mean you didn’t know?”

Though Esadora gave a hesitant nod, she still couldn’t understand how what Mrs. Veharic said could even be true.

“That’s ridiculous! How could you not… unless, your parents never told you?”

Esadora shrugged this time, not sure how to respond.

Mrs. Veharic stared at her for a minute. “How powerful is your magic?”

“Before Leon bit me, people said I was the most powerful witch since Esmeralda herself, but now my magic is gone,” Esadora said, looking at the ground.

When she glanced back up, she thought she saw sympathy in Mrs. Veharic’s eyes, but it was gone in a flash. “I’m sorry, Esadora, but I have to go.” She stalked with a speed Esadora hadn’t known anyone could manage without running.

She groaned, gripping both sides of her head. How was that lady about to just walk off after dropping that bombshell? Though, truth be told, Esadora didn’t really believe her. How could no one have told her that she was a descendant of Esmeralda Stanlow?

She couldn’t be sure about her mother, but is the students at Stanlow Academy had known about her being a descendant, they never would’ve shut up about it.

But despite her mind’s instant rejection of the idea, a beam of naive wonder shone in her heart. After all, if her family wasn’t a descendant of Esmeralda, who would be? When she’d had her magic, she’d been revered, and her parents were both Chamber Representatives—well, her dad had been. Chamber Representatives were not simply chosen for their intelligence and credentials, but also for their powerful magic.

But Esmeralda was the most renowned witch in all of Wirania, having been the one to rebuild the city of Esmeralda—formerly known as Turan—from scratch.

She’d even helped get the government back on its feet, then left to help other cities in Wirania, for which Turan was renamed Esmeralda in her honor. Her greatest feat, however, was restricting vampires to the area now known as the Vampire Belt.

And for Esadora to be related to her? Especially in the state she was now? It was laughable.

As she went up the stairs, her steps echoed, and she brought her arms around herself. With its sheer size and space, the house felt so desolate.

She hesitated when she got to the door. What if Holly hadn’t calmed down yet? Things would get awkward really fast. But Esadora just wanted to lie down for a bit, and the only place she felt even slightly comfortable doing that in this Godforsaken house was in the room she shared with Holly. Bracing herself, she opened the door. She glanced around the room and found Holly facedown on the bed.

“Holly?” she said, stepping toward her.

The girl shifted, then lifted her head. “Hey.” Her voice was groggy from sleep.

“Hey.” Esadora looked at her feet. “Are you okay?”

“Stop asking me that,” Holly snapped, head whipping around to glare at her.

Esadora brought her hands up, fingers splayed. “Sorry, sorry.” It’s just habit now, since you always look so sad. “Anyway, are you that tired? It’s barely even noon.” Or so the clocks said.

A strange noise resembling a groan emanated from Holly as she stared at Esadora with half-lidded eyes. Her short curls fell around her head, and she looked absolutely ridiculous. Esadora stifled a laugh.

“I’m just tired…” Holly trailed off, head leaning forward into her lap. She snapped back up, eyes wide. “I just want to go home.”

She muttered the last part, but Esadora could still hear her. Her eyes softened. “You know,” she said as she walked toward her, “I don’t think I’ve told you why I came here.”

Holly straightened. “Um… you don’t—”

“I do.” She paused. “I mean, Leon basically already said it, but I think I need to clear up some things.”

Holly nodded, seemingly at a loss for words.

And Esadora told her everything. She told of her power as a witch, of how Leon broke in, and of everything after. She gazed at the wall in front of her, speaking as if reciting something. It hurt to think about, and if she let herself get immersed in her recent past again, she would cry for sure. Her fingers twitched, reached out to the nonexistent magic inside of her. Oh, how she longed to disappear from this reality and go back to everything that had been. She missed Ezra…

She jolted when Holly’s hand touched hers, realizing that she’d already finished.

“I’m… I’m really sorry you lost your magic. Even though I’m kind of ass at using it, I know I’d be more than hysterical if my magic disappeared, then I got turned into a vampire on top of that… It’s like your life has been torn apart.”

That was one way to summarize what Esadora felt at the moment. Until this time, she’d kind of just been going with the flow, as if this were all a dream, or something. But recounting everything to Holly grounded her into reality, and she wasn’t sure if that was a good thing. All she said was, “Yeah,” though. After all, what else was there to say?

“Well, I’m going to see if I can find us some food,” Esadora said, standing.

“I don’t think so. Sit down,” came Holly’s deadpan voice from behind her.

Esadora shrugged. “If you insist.”

Holly crossed from the bed to the door in only a few seconds. “If I can’t find anything, I’ll be back up in a bit.”

Esadora didn’t sit down though. She went to the one window in the room, spreading the curtains wide. Outside, a few vampires loitered at the wall of the house, soldiers soon coming to hurry them away. Other vampires kept their distance from the house, and some just gazed at it. The Veharics were clearly imposing in this place, which brought Esadora to a thought she'd shoved into the back of her head: What was she doing here?

She wanted to get her magic back, but how? For all she knew, it might have disappeared off the face of the planet. She wanted to get back at Leon, but how? He was stronger than she’d ever be in a million years… except, she was also a vampire now. The thing was, she didn’t feel any stronger.

She just felt like a human.

In this place, since there weren’t any witches around, she didn’t even smell anything out of the ordinary—it was enough for her to almost forget she was a vampire. But the constant fact that her magic was gone weighed on her.

Like hell she could forget what he’d done to her.

Resentment grew in her chest as she stared down at the vampires below.

She had to find some way to get her magic, no matter what.

Easier said than done. Esadora couldn’t find Leon anywhere for the next few days, as if he were avoiding her, which she couldn’t understand. A big part of her was glad that he kept his distance, though.

She had this feeling that if they met again, he would be even more aggressive than before.

Days passed, and Esadora grew more frustrated. What was she supposed to do? She couldn’t find Leon no matter how hard she tried. She explored the house, but there were soldiers keeping her from certain parts of it, and she knew if she searched throughout the city, she would only end up getting lost.

What was even more aggravating, though, was how nonchalant Holly grew. As opposed to the earlier days, she went with the flow of things, seemingly fine with everything.

As she sat on her bed, head in hands, she wondered if she should’ve left at all. Fresh air, she’d thought before, but there was nothing more frustrating with not being able to do anything and having no one to talk to. At first, Holly had been good enough company, but she was distant somehow. Aloof.

She was snapped out of her dreary thoughts when she heard the front door of the Veharic House slam open.

“What the hell? Let me go! I haven’t done anything!” came a girl’s voice from below.

Esadora shot up and out of her room. Once she came to the stairs, she was met with the site of a girl with her arms held from behind by a soldier.

“Excuse me! I won’t ask nicely again!”

Esadora ignored the clear contradiction of that statement and raced down the stairs. Before she could get a word out, however, the girl said, “Esadora—thank God! I’ve been searching all over the city for you.” She took a breath, eyebrows furrowing in concern. “You have to go back to Esmeralda! Your mother’s in danger!”