Chapter 92- Price of Survival

Pain radiated through my skull as my consciousness gradually returned, dragging me from the depths of darkness into a disorienting haze. My senses flickered awake one by one—the distant dripping of water, the cold bite of damp air, the pungent stench of decay mingling with the rich scent of earth. As my vision sharpened, I took in my surroundings.  

Stone walls towered around me, enclosing me in a suffocating underground cell. Heavy chains bound my wrists and ankles, the thick metal digging into my skin. Recognition struck like lightning—I was beneath Somber Forest.  

I barely had time to process my predicament before footsteps echoed through the chamber.  

Tessa stepped into view, her wicked grin slicing through the shadows. By her side stood several figures, some familiar, some not.  

Maria. Valia.  

And two strangers—a pregnant woman and an elderly man who bore a haunting resemblance to Mason.  

Panic clawed at my throat.  

“What the hell is going on?” My voice was raw, directed straight at Maria, who stood trembling, her eyes red and swollen.  

“I’m so sorry—” she started, only for Tessa to silence her with a sharp glance.  

“Nice to see you again,” Tessa drawled, her voice laced with mockery. “Did you miss me?”  

I ignored her taunts, my focus razor-sharp.  

“Where is my baby?”  

Tessa sighed dramatically. “Relax. He’s at home, safe and sound.”  

Maria nodded, but the nervous flicker in her gaze unsettled me.  

“Your hybrid son doesn’t interest me,” Tessa added, waving off the subject entirely. “So rest easy.”  

A wave of relief crashed over me. If she had no use for Damon, then my son was out of harm’s reach.  

Still, that left only one question—  

“What do you want?” Exhaustion dragged at my limbs, my body heavy with fatigue. A weakness I didn’t fully understand.  

Tessa smirked, gesturing toward the others. “These are my slaves,” she declared proudly. “The only humans we could find who still possess pure mortal blood—the last ones left for us to feed on.”  

Her words sent ice through my veins.  

Us?  

Tessa wasn’t alone.  

I shifted my gaze to Valia, and realization struck hard.  

The signs had always been there—her gray-tinted skin, her refusal of a blood transfusion, the unhealed scar she hid beneath scarves and loose hair. Tiffany had spotted it that day in the village market. The anemia, the secrecy—it all made sense now.  

She was Tessa’s personal blood bank.  

As was the pregnant woman.  

The thought sickened me.  

“They’re your…?”  

“Blood supply,” Tessa confirmed. “But don’t worry—they love it. They can’t get enough of me.”  

I swallowed hard, my stomach twisting.  

I knew the intoxicating effect of a vampire’s bite all too well—the rush, the pleasure, the complete surrender. It was easy to imagine someone becoming addicted.  

But Valia was practically lifeless. Drained. The pregnant woman looked equally frail, her skin pale and paper-thin.  

“You can’t keep feeding off them forever,” I murmured, locking my gaze on Valia. “Can’t you see it’s killing you? She’s a monster—”  

“Like mother, like daughter,” Tessa laughed darkly. “Who do you think brought me your baby the night he was born?”  

Maria flinched at the words, staring down at her feet.  

The world tilted beneath me.  

“Maria… gave you my baby?” My voice barely rose above a whisper, disbelief thick in every syllable.  

She refused to look up.  

“I needed to send a message,” Tessa continued. “And my dear mother would do anything for me.”  

Maria’s silent sobs filled the space between us.  

Does Mason know?  

Rage burned in my chest, tightening my throat.  

“Just tell me what you want,” I snapped, my patience threadbare.  

Tessa’s smirk faltered.  

“It’s too late to have what I want,” she admitted, her gaze darkening. “Damon wouldn’t want to mate with a bloodsucker, now would he?”  

Ah. So this was still about him.  

Jealousy twisted into something far more sinister.  

“Then why am I here?” I demanded. “If you’re not going to kill me, then get it over with. Maybe you’ll finally find some damn peace.”  

Tessa stepped closer, her expression shifting into something unreadable.  

“I didn’t bring you here to kill you,” she murmured. “I brought you here because you’re my only hope.”  

Confusion rippled through me.  

“Hope for what?”  

“To save the vampires.”  

I narrowed my eyes, skeptical. “You want me to stop vampires from going extinct?”  

“Just like you nearly wiped us out,” Tessa said smoothly, “you’re going to save us.”  

I glanced at Maria, then Valia.  

Maria looked horrified—but resigned.  

Valia… Valia was staring at Tessa with something almost akin to devotion.  

Did Maria truly believe there was still something left in Tessa? A remnant of the daughter she had lost?  

“What do you think I can do for you?” I asked.  

“I can’t keep feeding off this pathetic lot forever,” Tessa explained. “I need more pureblooded humans to reproduce, to create more sources of sustenance. Damon has a secret hospital full of them. I need access.”  

I blinked. “Damon has a hospital full of pureblooded mortals?”  

Tessa smiled. “We’ve been watching his guards for months. The facility is near Akbur Hills. High security—electric fences, dozens of armed men.”  

We.  

There were more vampires.  

“How many of you survived?” I asked cautiously.  

She flashed her fangs. “Enough.”  

“And you think I can get you inside?”  

“No,” she admitted. “And if I let you go, you’d try something reckless.”  

“So what’s your plan?”  

Her grin widened, her amusement chilling.  

“I’ll hold you hostage,” she declared. “And in exchange for your safe return, I’ll offer Damon a deal—one thousand purebloods for your life.”