Veins Of Nightfall

Chapter One — The Woods Don't Whisper to Anyone Else The Black Cat Pack feared silence more than death. Silence meant the woods were listening. Nyx learned that before she learned how to fight. The forest surrounding the Blackwood estate was older than the pack itself, older than the vampires that once ruled the northern mountains, older than the witches buried beneath the frozen soil. The trees twisted toward the sky like skeletal fingers, their bark stained nearly black beneath the moonlight. Nothing lived there. Nothing except whatever called her name at night. Nyx stood barefoot on the balcony outside her bedroom, her silver-blue eyes fixed on the tree line beyond the cliffs. The wind tangled through her dark curls while distant howls echoed across the valley below. Inside the estate, laughter carried through the halls where her brothers celebrated another successful hunt. Kael. Lucas. Nox. Hector Jr. The perfect sons. The rightful heirs. And then there was her. The mistake. "You're doing it again." Nyx turned at the sound of Eve's voice. Her mother stood in the doorway wearing a long black silk robe, silver charms hanging from her wrists. Unlike Lila's sharpness, Eve carried softness in everything she did — soft eyes, soft voice, soft hands. But even softness could hide fear. "You hear them, don't you?" Eve asked quietly. Nyx hesitated. The truth was dangerous in this house. Sometimes the trees whispered her name. Sometimes shadows moved where nothing should move. And sometimes... the woods whispered back. "I was just thinking," Nyx lied. Eve studied her for a long moment before stepping closer. "Your father wants everyone downstairs." Nyx looked toward the forest one last time. Something moved between the trees. Watching her. Waiting. And for the first time in her life... Nyx wanted to go toward it instead of run.