Set You Free, My Lord Chapter 04

Set You Free, My Lord Chapter 04

“Impossible! That’s not her!”

Dorian smashed his fist on the table. The thick oak splintered under his rage. Blood welled from his knuckles. He didn’t feel 4 thing.

“Your Highness, the police confirmed it,” his guard commander, Marcus, reported carefully. “Odette’s name was on the ferry’s passenger list. All passengers…”

“Shut up!” Dorian roared. His crimson eyes flashed with dangerous bloodlust. “Get out!”

He exploded into a furious cloud of black mist. He crashed right through the massive floor-to-ceiling windows and shot into the night sky.

Thirty minutes later, Dorian stood at the harbor.

He looked down at the charred wreckage of the ferry.

Rescue teams were still working. A few burnt bodies had already been pulled out.

“Such a tragedy,” a human cop shook his head. “Looks like we’ll need DNA to ID them.”

Dorian desperately pushed his senses out. He tried to catch even a hint of Odette’s sweet blood in the air.

But he only smelled gasoline, burnt flesh, and death.

The blood bond was a pool of dead water inside him. Utterly silent.

“She’s not here,” he muttered. “It can’t be her…”

Just then, a rescue worker pulled something from the wreckage.

A half-burnt obsidian necklace. It had a moon and star pendant.

Dorian’s heart stopped. He had tossed that to Odette during their blood bond ceremony.

It was part of the marking ritual.

“No…” He fell to his knees.

Back at the vampire estate, Dorian walked through the gates like a ghost.

Everyone avoided his gaze. Nobody dared to approach the Prince. His grief and rage made the air heavy and suffocating.

He pushed his front door open. His father’s fist met his jaw.

Dorian stumbled back. Blood leaked from the corner of his mouth.

“You fool!” the former Prince roared. “You almost got Cordelia killed over a human! And now you let her die out there!”

“She’s not a human,” Dorian snarled. Blood red fire burned in his eyes. “She is my mate.”

“Oh, now you realize it?” his father sneered. “Just yesterday, you were desperate to break the bond!”

Dorian lunged. He and his father brawled.

Furniture flipped. Glass shattered. The roars of two Princes shook the entire castle.

“Enough!” the Duchess’s sharp command sliced through the air. An invisible force shoved them apart.

Dorian panted. Blood dripped down his forehead. “Tell me. What did you do to her? Why did she leave?”

“She came to say goodbye,” his mother’s voice was soft.

“What?”

“She came to see us. She said she was leaving forever.” The Duchess sighed. “She… she told us a prophecy.”

Dorian froze. “What prophecy?”

“If you stay together, in ten years, you will die trying to save her,” his father cut in. The anger in his eyes slowly faded. “She described it in perfect detail… Silver-dipped weapons from an enemy coven… Silver poison eating your heart… Turning you to

ash.”

Dorian turned bone-pale. He remembered his exact words to Odette: “If you really want to please me, disappear from my world.

“1

“And this,” his mother handed him a scroll. “She left this ‘Bond Severance’.”

Dorian unrolled it. His shock deepened.

It wasn’t a Bond Severance.

It was a “Blood Oath Blessing.”

An ancient magic. It allowed a Prince to form a strong political alliance with another vampire family, even without a blood mate.

Odette was clearing a path for him.

Even as she left, she wanted to make sure his and Cordelia’s families could form a solid alliance.

“Why would she…?” His voice went hoarse.

“Maybe you should ask the Blood Witch,” his mother said softly. “She seems to know more.”

Dorian sped to the Blood Spirit Sanctuary. He burst through the doors. The old Blood Witch was staring into a crystal ball. She looked like she had been waiting for him.

“Where is Odette?” Dorian demanded. “Is she really dead?”

“Instead of asking that,” the witch turned slowly, “shouldn’t you ask yourself why Cordelia used the Blood-Withering Curse?”

Dorian froze. “She told me she was desperate…”

“Lies.” The witch scoffed. “I just got word from the Red Fang border. They found this on a captured assassin.”

She threw a memory crystal at him. “Watch it. See how you personally sent your mate to her death.”

Dorian channeled his energy into the crystal. An image appeared. Cordelia was plotting with an enemy vampire.

“Just pretend to lose control. Use the Blood-Withering Curse on yourself,” the Red Fang envoy sneered. “Dorian will definitely force that human to give up her lifeblood. The human will die. And you will rightfully take her place as the true mistress”

Cordelia smirked in the vision. “Two birds, one stone. She’s such an eyesore. And Dorian is so stupid. He actually hates his true mate.”

Dorian’s hands started to shake.

The truth shredded his heart.

Cordelia wasn’t desperate at all!

She weaponized his affection. She used his own hands to murder Odette in plain sight!

Rage burned inside him. “Take me to her.”

Cordelia was brought to the council hall. She looked healthy again. Beautiful as always. But her eyes held an undeniable

arrogance.

“Why?” Dorian demanded. “Why did you lie to me?”

“Lie to you?” Cordelia sneered. “I just used your weakness.”

“What weakness?”

“Your rejection of your blood mate,” she said with disgust. “You were so eager to escape your fate. You never trusted your own heart. And you definitely didn’t trust your mate. That’s why you bought my lies so easily!”

Every word twisted like a knife in Dorian’s heart.

“Do you know what Odette did for you?” Cordelia continued. “She gave her lifeblood to save me. Someone who hurt her. And you? You didn’t even thank her. You just let her leave alone to die!”

“Shut up!” Dorian roared.

“You will never deserve her,” Cordelia delivered the final blow. “A Prince? What a joke! You can’t even protect your own heart!”

Dorian completely broke. He roared, “Lock her up! Permanent imprisonment! And release the proof of her family trading with hunters to all vampires!”

Cordelia was dragged away. The smug smile finally left her face. True fear replaced it

Dorian fell to his knees alone. His world crumbled around him.

The truth pierced his heart like a red-hot iron.

Odette never betrayed him. He just hurt her time and time again.

He put his pride and prejudice above true love. Now he had lost everything.

Black blood tracked paths down his cheeks. Tears of a damned soul.

“Odette…” he whispered. “How can I find you?”

Just then, his phone rang loudly. Dorian’s deputy finally brought news.

The human police just confirmed it. The DNA results are in. One female passenger is unaccounted for.