My Vampire Brother Faked Dying—Mine Was Real Chapter 06
Alaric’s POV
I reached for the phone, but Evelina got to it first.
“Alaric, I’m starving. Can you grab me something to eat?”
I figured everything back at the Veyron Estate had been handled, so Selene would be fine. She was always like that — patient. Obedient. As long as I told her I’d be back, she’d wait.
So I nodded and headed to the rear cabin. When I came back, the phone screen was blank.
Evelina handed the phone back with her sweetest smile. “Just some junk messages. I cleared them for you.”
I didn’t think twice about it. I turned to the window and stared at the sky, but something in my chest felt hollow — a gap I couldn’t explain.
I left my personal phone off for the next two weeks and brought Evelina to every stop on her list. She lit up at each new city.
But Selene kept slipping into my head at odd moments. The day we flew home, I powered it on before the wheels touched the ground and opened her messages.
I started to type, but the words looked wrong on the screen. Too flat. Too cold. I switched to voice messages and couldn’t keep the excitement out of my tone.
[Selene, it worked. The treatment worked — I’m better. I’m coming home today.]
[Wait for me. I’m bringing your favorite strawberry cake.]
The second I sent it, I knew a cake wasn’t nearly enough. I called my assistant.
“Redo the Veyron Estate. Restore Selene’s room.”
“No — better than before. A year’s worth of custom dresses, the best coven healers money can buy, and that silver sports car she used to love.”
Then I printed the blood-pact transfer myself. Two-thirds of every Veyron asset under my name, signed over to Selene.
Five years of suffering. She deserved to have it all back. The Veyron princess had only ever been her.
Evelina watched from the side, her smile paper-thin. “You’re so good to Selene. I wish I were your real sister.”
“Must be nice, being blood. No matter what she does, you’ll always take her side.”
My jaw tightened. For the first time, I didn’t soften my voice for her. “Selene’s been punished for five years. Isn’t that enough?”
“She wronged you first, and I promised I’d make her answer for it. Five years, Evelina. I kept that promise.”
“But you need to understand something. I can give you a good life. Don’t mistake my indulgence for something it isn’t.”
“Selene is my blood. She’s the only real family I have. The only one.”
“Whatever’s between me and Selene is between us. Our parents’ legacy, the Veyron name, the estate — all of that was always hers.”
“When we get back, I’ll set you up with your own estate. Selene doesn’t want you in the house, so it’s better if you’re somewhere else for now.”
The color left Evelina’s face. Tears spilled before she could even speak.
“Alaric, don’t you want me anymore?”
“You said it yourself at the banquet. You called me your only princess. You said you’d make my wish come true. How can you take that back?”
My voice hardened. “Enough. I’m not saying you’re not my sister. I’ll still visit. I’ll still be there.”
“You won’t want for anything — your allowance, your lifestyle, it all stays the same. But I owe Selene five years I can never get back, and I won’t let anyone hurt her again.”
Evelina shattered. She clawed the Firstblood pendant from her throat and held it up, tears streaming down her face.
“Then what about this? You put this around my neck yourself. This is a Veyron Firstblood pendant — blessed by the first vampire. Only true siblings carry one.”
“You gave it to me. That means you chose me. I’m your sister! I’m your only sister!”
I stared at her. The face twisting before me looked nothing like the girl I’d raised. For the first time, I didn’t recognize her.
“Evelina, look at it. The one around your neck is a replica. I had the High Priest make a copy.”
“It was a gift. Made to look like the real thing, but—” I stopped. Something clicked.
I stared at her. “You didn’t think I gave you Selene’s piece. Did you?”
“That pendant belongs to Selene and me. Our parents left it to us. Why would I ever give that to you?”
The words landed like a slap. “Stop this. You’re embarrassing yourself. If you don’t want to live nearby, I can set you up in Europe.”
Evelina crumpled to the floor, white as bone. I didn’t look at her again. I turned back to the transfer documents, my head already full of ways to make things right with Selene.
Five years of suffering. But none of that mattered now. We were immortal. There was all the time in the world.
Behind me, Evelina went rigid. Maybe she’d remembered the message she’d deleted from my phone two weeks ago. Ice seemed to crawl down her spine.
Blood debts always came due in blood. Perhaps she already knew what was coming.