[CONTENTID1]Poppy[/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]Chapter Twenty-Four[/CONTENTID2]

[CONTENTID3]

Calling the atmosphere in the clan’s home tense would have been an understatement. The nine remaining vampires had yet to swallow Baekhyun’s disloyalty, painfully aware that Yoonhee’s life was hanging by a thread as long as she stayed with Aeri’s clan. They felt betrayed, angry, agitated. Chanyeol broke a wine glass in his rage, scattering its shards through the dining room.

“How could he do this to us?!” he growled. “He ing hates Aeri! I don’t understand this at all! He threw his own soulmate to the wolves, but I always thought he’s not capable of hurting her.”

“I’m not ready to accept his decision,” Yerin said. Her heart ached for her friend who was all alone in a house filled with enemies—and a soulmate who had stabbed her in the back.

“To be honest with you, I doubt Baekhyun did this willingly,” Kyungsoo chimed in, remaining calm despite the stressful situation. He, Minseok and Yixing were the only ones who weren’t overwhelmed by their feelings, staying rational. “Baekhyun and Yoonhee recently sealed their bond. It happened after Aeri appeared on our property, and it proves that Baekhyun has no interest in her.”

“And yet he stayed with her,” Chanyeol grumbled.

“What if he was blackmailed by Aeri?” Kyungsoo suggested. “It’s a possibility.”

“Baekhyun is not a convincing actor,” Junmyeon said. “It would have been evident, had he been fooling us. He was completely serious.”

“Well, then all that’s left is the witch. Seulgi,” Kyungsoo offered. “She must have done something to him.”

Chanyeol gulped. “You think she put a spell on him? ing hell, that’s plausible.”

“More like a curse… Did you see how cold he acted towards Yoonhee? It was very out of character. He would never treat her like this, not in a million years,” Minseok said, fully trusting his friend. He sounded so confident that everyone else was hanging at his lips, soaking up his words. “And hasn’t he demonstrated his hatred and disdain for Aeri often enough? Aeri likes him, but the feeling is not mutual. To me, it’s clear that a curse is the cause for his actions.”

“Okay, assuming he has been cursed, how do we turn him back to normal?” Chanyeol sighed, ruffling his unruly scarlet hair. “We don’t know about magic and curses!”

“Yoonhee would know more, but she’s probably locked away somewhere and can’t reach Baekhyun,” Kyungsoo growled. “We’re powerless. Aeri’s plan is foolproof. There’s no doubt in my mind that she’s using Yoonhee as a hostage... If we try to interfere, she might hurt her.”

“But we have to do something! We can’t just sit around,” Chanyeol hissed. “!”

Kyungsoo frowned ominously. “There is nothing we can do without endangering Baekhyun and Yoonhee in the process.”

“What about alerting the vampire council?”

“You know as well as I do that they don’t care about small feuds between clans. As long as their rules aren’t broken, they won’t interfere,” Junmyeon grimaced. “Besides, how would we prove that Baekhyun is under a spell? They wouldn’t believe us.”

“Then what the hell should we do?” Chanyeol was about to rip his hair out—he couldn’t take another day of sitting around and waiting. “This is hopeless!”

Yoonhee ended up alone in her room that evening. She sat with her back pressed against the bedpost and gazed out the window. The tiny room she was confined to was too high up to jump, but even if it had been on the ground floor, escape was meaningless. She couldn’t leave Baekhyun behind. He would eventually die without her blood.

Aeri had full control of the situation. Her actions had earned her all the hatred Yoonhee’s heart had to offer. Why had she not accepted Baekhyun’s rejection? If she loved him she would not have forced a curse on him. Yoonhee could only imagine how confused he had to be. She had seen it in his actions. He had fought with himself, had been bewildered by their encounter. Even though his memories were suppressed by Seulgi’s curse, he had touched Yoonhee as gently as if he still remembered. Their bond couldn’t be destroyed, not even with a curse. It was still there, putting up resistance, becoming Yoonhee’s anchor and her hope.

Many hours after Baekhyun had left, the lock rattled and the door was thrown open. A stranger entered, dumping a bottle of water and a small cup of rice on the nightstand. Yoonhee didn’t dare to look at the vampire, holding her breath in fear. He lingered for a while and stared at her, but ultimately, he left. She was lucky—another feeding session tonight would have been dangerous for her exhausted body. The question was, how long would her luck last before it would run out?

She wasn’t as naïve to believe these vampires would leave her alone for much longer. The greed in their eyes was prominent.

Ever since Baekhyun had visited his soulmate, his headaches had subsided and they didn’t return. She intrigued him, and she continued to steal his attention even when he was with Aeri. There was something about her that drew him in like a magnet. What could be her name? And why had she been so sad? Her feelings had been written all over her face and though his emotions were weak and repressed, her state didn’t leave him unaffected. His chest constricted and his heart was heavy with grief. The urge to return to her was overwhelming—his soulmate held the key to the answers he sought.

But every time he wanted to go back to her, the voice ordered him to stop. It was always there, in the back of his mind, lurking like a venomous snake, waiting to poison his thoughts. You are not allowed to be with her, it said. Aeri would not like it.

He snarled. Anger stirred within his hollow mind. He jerked his head in the direction of her room, dull violet eyes searching for her window, hoping to get a glimpse of her. Baekhyun was outside in the garden with Aeri, spending time with her. He had no say in the matter, and initially, this hadn’t bothered him, but since meeting his soulmate, his attitude had undergone a drastic change.

His shackled thoughts were not allowed to linger on her for too long. The voice didn’t permit it. However, since he wasn’t tormented by headaches anymore, he had grown bolder and disobedient. She had healed his pain—and he wanted to heal hers. If only he could somehow make the sadness in her gorgeous green eyes disappear… Baekhyun was helpless. He was a fool for not even remembering her name.

Stop thinking about that , the voice reminded in an increasingly aggressive tone. You belong to Aeri.

“Don’t call her that,” he growled.

“Did you say something?” Aeri asked. Her eyebrows rose as she scrutinized him from head to toe. “Is something wrong?” Her voice, at first sweet, now froze over like a lake in winter. It warned him not to give the incorrect answer.

“No,” he replied robotically, his mouth moving before he had processed the question. With an impassive expression plastered on his face, he stared at Aeri. She furrowed her brows, disliking his behavior.

“Why do you act so… so uninterested?” she complained. “You should be all over me! What’s taking so long?”

You have to please her, the voice commanded, steely and harsh. It’s why you’re here.

“What do you want me to do?” he heard himself say.

She pursed her lips, flipping her blonde hair over her shoulder. “You are my partner, so the least you could do is tell me you love me, no?”

Again, his mouth moved on its own. “I love you.”

Aeri’s features twisted in sheer anger. “You don’t sound genuine, Baekhyun. Now that I think about it, you have been rather distracted… since you drank that ’s blood.” He was treading on thin ice. The threat hidden in her words didn’t stay unnoticed. “I should punish her for interfering.”

“Don’t!” he choked out. His hands twitched, instinct telling him to get rid of Aeri—as before, he didn’t understand where this urge to oppose her came from, but he trusted it more than the venomous voice in his mind.

“Oh? So you’re attached to her despite everything,” Aeri remarked callously. “Let me ask you a question. Would you still accept her when other vampires drink her blood? Surely, you would be disgusted by her. Just so you know, all of my clan members are allowed to take what they want from her, no matter what it is.”

Baekhyun snapped. A severe carnal instinct prompted him to act. His eyes were no longer murky but crystal clear, splattered red. The beast within him longed to tear its claws into Aeri—she was his nemesis, a menace to the one he held dear. He reached out his hands and lunged so fast that Aeri couldn’t avoid them. Her eyes bulged when his fingers locked around , squeezing and cutting off her air supply.

“How dare you,” he roared. It would be so easy to break her neck. So, so easy. The idea was tempting, making his blood boil in his veins. Aeri screamed, struggled, and scratched his arms, leaving red streaks. Baekhyun didn’t feel them. He was controlled by his instinct and couldn’t hear her cries.

His triumph was ephemeral. Without warning, the excruciating headache came back. It hurt like never before, erasing every last thought on his mind. His body was hit with tremors—he let Aeri go, falling to his knees, ripping at his hair, screaming in agony.

She took deep breaths and touched her aching throat as she glared down at him. “That should teach you a lesson! Do not disobey me. Your actions will have consequences.”

And with that, she stormed away. She didn’t spare him a glance and didn’t waste a second to see whether he was fine. Unbeknownst to her, Seulgi was hiding in the shade of a tree and observing the scene from afar. She watched the hot-tempered clan leader run away like a spoiled child deprived of their favorite toy. Seulgi wondered when Aeri would wake up to the bitter truth. This man would never love her. A curse could not make someone fall in love. All it did was cause misery.

Aeri was out of sight, but the vampire still kneeled on the ground. Seulgi was quite impressed by him. He had almost broken the curse with sheer willpower. Not much more and it would have been reduced to smithereens. Unfortunately for him, the curse was tenacious and forced him back into submission. When he pushed himself up, his apathetic mask had returned. All emotions were extinguished.

When the sun rose the next morning, it colored the world in vibrant shades of red and violet. The scenery reminded Yoonhee of Junmyeon’s pretty paintings and she inevitably wondered if her friends were alright. They had to be sick with worry. She hated being cut off from them like this, unable to contact them at all… it was terrible.

Yoonhee hadn’t slept well tonight, as was the case for most nights. Therefore, she was awake at dawn break and witnessed the breathtaking play of colors