Chapter 19

Gabrielle's POV

It was an ordinary morning—or at least, it started that way. The sun barely peeked through the curtains, and the stillness of the house felt... different. Silent in a way that made me miss the usual chaos of Matthew’s presence. The way he would make his coffee at 5 AM, pacing around in the kitchen, his shoes clicking on the tile floor, and then the occasional soft, amused remark about how “mundane” things like breakfast had become in our strange life together.

But today? Today was different. Today, he wasn’t here.

I had woken up to an empty bed, the side where Matthew usually slept untouched. My heart sank a little as I realized that he was gone. No note, no phone call, just... gone. And as much as I tried to tell myself that it was for the best—after all, Matthew was centuries old, far beyond the normal human boundaries of life and death—there was something unsettling about waking up to silence that wasn’t his laughter or soft murmurs from another room.

It had been three days since he left for the vampire summit.

The Vampire Summit. I had never heard of it before, but from the way Matthew had spoken about it, I knew it was important. He’d never really explained the details, but his sharp tone when he mentioned “vampires causing trouble” left little to the imagination. There was a problem somewhere—somewhere far beyond the walls of this mansion—and Matthew, the ever-dutiful vampire lord, had to go and deal with it.

But no matter how many times I tried to convince myself that it was just “business as usual” for him, the truth remained: I missed him.

I missed the way his deep voice would rumble through the house like a storm, his gaze that could pierce right through me, and even the way he’d sometimes stare at me for too long as if he were trying to figure me out. The way his fangs would glisten when he was frustrated, or the soft sigh he’d make when he’d catch me trying to sneak a glimpse at him when I thought he wasn’t paying attention.

All those little things that made me realize how much he had become part of my everyday life. And now, with him gone... I felt an emptiness I wasn’t ready for.

I curled up on the couch, hugging a pillow to my chest as I glanced out the window, half-expecting to see him walking through the door. Of course, he wasn’t. He was at the summit. A place I could only imagine, full of things I didn’t fully understand. It wasn’t like he could just call me whenever he felt like it. Vampires didn’t have that luxury. And even if he could, I wasn’t sure if he would.

I still didn’t know how to handle this strange, complex relationship with a man who had lived through centuries. It wasn’t as easy as just saying, “I miss you” and hoping for things to go back to normal. No, it was far more complicated than that.

As I sat there, lost in my thoughts, the doorbell rang.

I jumped slightly, startled by the sound that seemed too loud in the quiet house. Slowly, I stood up and made my way to the door. I half-expected it to be Matthew, coming back earlier than planned, but when I opened the door, it was just a delivery.

A small package sat on the doorstep, wrapped in brown paper. I stared at it for a moment before picking it up. Who could it be from?

The moment I brought it inside, I realized there was no return address. Only a small, silver seal stamped on the front with a strange emblem—a mark I didn’t recognize. It wasn’t from anyone I knew, certainly not from Matthew. It wasn’t his style to send gifts.

I hesitated for a moment before opening it. Inside, nestled between layers of tissue paper, was a black velvet pouch.

I pulled it out, my fingers trembling slightly as I untied the drawstring. Inside the pouch was a small silver key, intricately carved with the same emblem from the seal. It was delicate but heavy in my palm, as if it carried some kind of weight beyond its size.

I turned it over in my hand, wondering what it meant, when my phone rang. The ringtone startled me, and I immediately grabbed it.

“Hello?” I said, trying to mask the uncertainty in my voice.

“Gabrielle,” came Matthew’s voice—deep, gravelly, and somehow softer than I had expected. “I need you to stay inside. Don't go anywhere. Not yet. There's something... I need to tell you."

I froze. “Matthew? What’s going on? Where are you? Are you alright?”

There was a long pause on the other end, and when he finally spoke, his voice was heavy with something I couldn’t quite place.

“I’m at the summit. Something happened... several vampires ...rogues killed humans. It’s bad. I don’t know how long I’ll be here. You need to stay inside, Gabrielle. I don’t want you involved in this.”

I swallowed, my heart sinking. “But Matthew...”

“No,” he interrupted, his voice firm. “I’ve already lost too many people to this. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

I could hear the tension in his voice, the same cold determination that had made me fall for him in the first place. But beneath that, I could also sense the faintest trace of fear—fear for me, fear for what might happen next.

“I understand,” I whispered, my throat tight.

There was a long pause, and for a moment, I wondered if he was going to say something else. But instead, he simply sighed.

“I’ll be home as soon as I can. Don’t do anything reckless. Please, Gabrielle.”

The line went silent as he hung up, leaving me holding the phone against my ear, feeling more alone than ever.

I didn’t know what the summit was exactly, but from Matthew’s tone, I knew this wasn’t just some casual gathering. This was serious.

I looked down at the silver key in my hand again, turning it over and over, the weight of it now feeling much heavier than before. What was it? Why had it been sent to me?

I didn’t know. But what I did know was that I couldn’t sit around waiting for Matthew to return. Something was happening, and I needed answers. I just wasn’t sure what kind of answers I was looking for.

As I gazed out the window again, a faint smile tugged at the corners of my lips.

I missed him. But I had a feeling something bigger was coming, and I didn’t want to sit idly by. Whatever Matthew was facing at that summit, I wasn’t about to let him face it alone.

I just had to figure out what to do next.

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