I Disappeared Before My Vampire Mate Could Turn Me

"Are you sure you want this?" The witch slid the vial across the table.

"Once I cast the unbinding spell, your Fated Mate connection will dissolve over ten days. On the tenth day, it's permanent. No reversals."

I didn't hesitate.

"Your name?" She picked up her pen.

"Mara Voss."

Her hand froze.

Everyone in New York's vampire community knew that name. Conrad Levin — the Prince of the New York Dominion, an eight-hundred-year-old monster who had never shown a flicker of attachment to anything — had three years ago announced to the entire supernatural world that he'd found his Fated Mate.

A human girl carrying the rarest blood type in existence.

Golden blood.

Her name was Mara Voss.

I held out my wrist. The witch began her work.

I opened my phone and booked a one-way ticket to Prague. Departing in exactly ten days.

This time, Conrad would never find me.

I walked out of the witch's shop into the middle of a celebration that wasn't mine.

The Dominion was getting ready for my Turning ceremony.

Blood-red silk banners hung from every building. Ghouls sprinted past carrying pure silver candelabras. For the first time in decades, the Elder Council's flags were flying above the guild hall's front entrance.

"Watch those crystal blood goblets! The Prince had those shipped from Vienna!" A steward screamed at a group of fledglings.

A newly turned vampire tugged at her companion's sleeve. "What's all this for? Is the Prince taking a new companion?"

The Ghoul next to her looked personally offended.

"Are you serious right now? They've been Fated Mates for three years. The Turning ceremony is in ten days."

Another one jumped in, practically sighing. "You know how long he waited to find her? Eight hundred years."

"You should see the way he looks at her—"

I walked past them.

The whole Dominion loved our story.

Three years ago, Conrad pulled me out of a crossfire between a vampire hunting unit and a rogue clan. He said the moment he caught the scent of my blood, something in him that had been completely dead for centuries suddenly snapped awake. He called it La Tua Cantante — blood resonance. He said it was fate.

He said I was the only one.

I believed him. Right up until a month ago.

—

That afternoon, Conrad had promised to take me to pick out a gown for the Turning ceremony.

I waited until the sky went completely black.

His head Ghoul, Elias, found me at half past ten. He kept his eyes down when he spoke. "The Prince sends his apologies. Something urgent came up — a territory matter. He said you should get some rest. He'll be back as soon as he can."

"What kind of matter?"

Elias was quiet for exactly one second.

That one second told me everything he didn't want to say.

"Never mind," I said. "I'll go by myself."

I spent three hours walking through the human shopping district alone. I came