The Vesper Creed

Chapter 13

Aizere's Point of View

The drive to the Mikaelson estate felt longer than usual. The red sedan handled the sharp turns of the mountain road with ease, but my hands were slick against the steering wheel. Snow sat on the passenger seat, her tail twitching rhythmically, her golden eyes fixed on the dense treeline. I had the black book from the archive tucked into my bag, and the yellowed letter the one that called me a "protector" was folded safely in my pocket.

When I pulled into the gravel driveway, the house loomed over me like a silent giant. It was beautiful, yet forbidding. I gathered my things, scooped Snow into my arms, and walked up the stone steps. Before I could even reach for the heavy iron knocker, the door swung open.

I wasn't just meeting Ezrain. They were all there.

The foyer was bathed in the soft, amber glow of a chandelier, casting long shadows against the dark wood walls. Victoria was leaning against the grand staircase, looking effortlessly regal in a silk blouse.

Niklaus stood by the tall windows, his arms crossed, his gaze unreadable. Enzo was perched on the edge of a heavy oak table, his presence as sharp and intimidating as a whetted blade.

And then there was Ezrain. He stood in the center of the hall, his silver eyes immediately locking onto mine.

"The human returns," Enzo remarked, his voice smooth but edged with a hint of a challenge. "And she brought the cat."

"She's not just a human, Enzo. You know that," Victoria said softly, though she didn't move from her spot. She looked at the book clutched under my arm and then at the cat in my grip. "You've been busy, Aizere."

I didn't let their collective power intimidate me. I walked into the center of the room, the heels of my boots clicking against the marble. Snow let out a low purr, her eyes darting between the four of them, but she didn't struggle to get down.

"I'm not here for small talk," I said, my voice sounding braver than I felt. I set the black book down on the table next to Enzo and pulled the yellowed letter from my pocket, holding it out toward Ezrain. "I found this in my father's desk. It has your family's seal. It says to 'take care of the last protector.' And this book—it says the Protectors are ancient bloodlines. It says my family is just human."

I looked from Ezrain to Niklaus, then to Victoria. "If my family is just human, why did a Mikaelson write this? Why did you call me that? And why am I the only one who can see the marks on your skin?"

The room went deathly silent. Niklaus turned away from the window, his expression darkening. Ezrain stepped closer, his shadow falling over me. The air in the foyer seemed to grow heavy, vibrating with the secret they had been keeping from me since the moment I moved back to Caxwell.

"The book tells the history the town is allowed to know," Ezrain said, his voice a low, haunting melody. "But the book was written by humans. They see the surface, Aizere. They see the 'Protectors' as the ones with the silver eyes and the power to move the world."

He reached out, his cool fingers brushing the edge of the letter in my hand.

"But every shield needs a heartbeat," he whispered. "Every power needs a witness."

The heavy silence of the foyer was broken only by the rhythmic ticking of a grandfather clock. Ezrain took the yellowed letter from my hand, his silver eyes scanning the elegant script. As his gaze reached the final line, his posture went rigid.

"What is it?" Niklaus asked, stepping away from the window.

"It's an instruction," Ezrain whispered, turning the paper so the others could see. "Take care of the last protector."

Victoria pushed off the staircase, her brow furrowing. "The last protector? That's impossible. Nineteen years ago, the Lightwood bloodline was extinguished. The shadows didn't just attack; they erased them. The m******e at their estate left no survivors. Not even the child."

I looked at them, my heart hammering. "The Lightwoods? I saw that name in the book, but I thought they were just another old family."

Enzo spoke up, his voice uncharacteristically solemn. "Caxwell was founded by four pillars: Mikaelson, Black, Pierce, and Lightwood. Together, they were the Shadow Hunters—the original order meant to hold the line against the dark shadows that crawl out of the pits of hell. We are the Mikaelsons, the strongest of the pillars, but the others were just as vital. We are all vampires, bound by an ancient duty to protect this world."

"But the Lightwoods fell," Niklaus added, his eyes searching mine. "If this letter is real, it means the baby who was reported dead in the fire nineteen years ago... is still breathing."

I felt the world tilt. "But I'm a Forbes. My father... he's just a man. He's a sheriff who worries about property damage and speeding tickets. He doesn't know about vampires or shadows or 'pillars.' He raised me in a normal house with a normal life."

Victoria walked toward me, her gaze softening. "That's the point, Aizere. He doesn't know. If someone wanted to hide a Lightwood child where the shadows could never find her, they wouldn't give her to another Hunter. They would give her to a man so grounded in the human world that he could never even imagine the supernatural. A man who would protect her simply because he loved her as his own daughter."

Ezrain stepped into my personal space, his presence grounding me. He reached out, his cool fingers brushing the edge of the letter.

"The Forbes family is human," Ezrain said softly. "Your father is innocent in all of this. He likely thinks he adopted a child from a tragic accident, never knowing he was taking in the last descendant of an ancient bloodline. This letter... it wasn't written to him. It was a command from my father to the rest of us, hidden in your home as a failsafe."

He paused, his thumb brushing my jawline. "You aren't a 'glitch' in the design, Aizere. You are a Shadow Hunter of the Lightwood line. One of the four pillars. And if the 'Sight' is waking up in you, it means the shadows have already realized you're alive."

He looked back at his siblings, his expression grim. "The Sheriff has no idea what he's been harboring. He thinks he's keeping her safe with a curfew and a badge, but he's actually sitting in the middle of a war zone with no armor."

The air in the Mikaelson foyer grew so heavy it felt like breathing underwater. The four vampires stood in a semi-circle, their silver eyes—the mark of the most powerful pillar—tracking every tremor in my hands.

"There is only one way to be certain," Ezrain said, his voice cutting through the tension like a blade. "If you are a Lightwood, the truth isn't in our history books. It's in the foundation of your life. You need to find the moment the Forbes family became your own."

I didn't wait for a goodbye. I grabbed the ancient book and the letter, and ran for my red sedan. The drive back to my house was a blur of crimson and forest green as I pushed the car to its limit. I needed to know. I needed to tear down the wall in my mind once and for all.