Chapter 176: 176-No reaction
"Give me your hand."
Maisa placed her hands in it. Their hands were intertwined, she stared at their joined hands.
Varitreya’s fingers were long and elegant, her skin pale against Maisa’s. Once, the contact would have sent a warm flutter through her chest. She would’ve felt the faint pull of attraction and the quiet reassurance of being close to someone she loved.
Now, there was only skin touching skin. Nothing more but the absence of reaction struck so sharply that Maisa nearly pulled away.
Varitreya closed her eyes. "Everyone, focus."
Addessa moved to Maisa’s other side and took her free hand. Lumi approached, while Zolani finally abandoned her commentary and joined them.
Five vampires stood close together, five hearts connected by the flower of fate, except one seemed to have drifted beyond their reach.
"Think of the bond," Varitreya instructed. "Don’t force it. Just remember what it feels like when we’re connected."
Maisa closed her eyes. Remember? How could she forget? She remembered Addessa’s fierce protectiveness, even when it came disguised as irritation.
She remembered Varitreya’s rare smiles and the way the princess could make her feel like the most important person in the world with a single look. She remembered Lumi’s sharp tongue, intelligence, and quiet loyalty hidden beneath her complaints.
She remembered Zolani’s laughter, their warmth and what it felt like to be loved by them in the moments that they showed her affections.
The memories rose inside her, beautiful and painful, pressing against the emptiness where the bond should have been.
’Please,’ she reached inward. ’Please, just come back.’
For one fleeting instant Maisa thought she felt something. It was a tiny movement beneath her heart, a faint stirring like a flower shifting in a breeze. Her breath caught.
’There you are!’
She reached for it desperately like a starved vampire. The sensation vanished. Maisa’s fingers tightened around Varitreya’s hand until her nails pressed into her own palm.
Nothing happened despite her reaching out. There was no warmth, emotional ripple and no answering pulse. The silence remained absolute in her heart, in the flower-shaped mark and in her body.
She opened her eyes. Her heart ached deeply as she realized just how badly she had lost to those medicines.
Varitreya was already watching her. "Anything?"
Maisa forced herself to shake her head. "No."
The four vampires went silent. The disappointment on Addessa’s face was brief, but Maisa saw it. Lumi looked troubled while Zolani’s smile had faded into thought. Varitreya, however, didn’t release her hand.
"Again," the princess said.
"Vari," Addessa murmured. "It’s not..."
"Again," Varitreya insisted. She was a little in denial, because if this part of the information was true then what about the others.
Stubbornness edged Varitreya’s voice. She wasn’t ready to accept that the bond had stopped responding. Not when she could still feel Maisa’s presence so clearly, not when the others remained connected, and not when the flower of fate had always been more powerful than any of them understood.
They tried a second time, then a third. Each attempt ended in the same silence. By the fourth, Maisa could barely keep her expression composed.
Her eyes burned, but she refused to let the tears spill. If they saw her cry, they would ask why. If they asked why, she might break open and confess everything.
She wanted to pull away, to run somewhere no one could see her face and finally fall apart but Varitreya held her hand so carefully, as though she feared Maisa might shatter if she let go and Maisa couldn’t bear to hurt her.
"That’s enough," Addessa finally said.
Varitreya opened her eyes. She didn’t want to believe it. She wished Maisa would prove her wrong.
"We’re not getting anywhere by exhausting ourselves," Addessa continued. "Stop this. We have our answer."
"I’m not exhausted," Varitreya stated. With this, she can go all day and all night for days if that is what it takes to get the bond to respond and have to prove that person wrong.
"No, but she is," Lumi said, sensing that Maisa was on the brink of breaking down.
Addessa glanced at Maisa. The redblood looked pale. Her lips had lost some color, and the tension in her petite shoulders was becoming impossible to ignore. "Look at her, Vari."
Varitreya followed her gaze. For a moment, something softened in her expression. She loosened her grip but didn’t release Maisa’s hand.
"Are you alright?"
Maisa nodded quickly. "I’m fine," goodness knows how badly she wanted this fact to be true.
The lie came too easily and that frightened her more than anything else. She had spent so long concealing her fear that pretending to be fine had become instinctive. She could smile while her heart ached, nod while panic gnawed at her, and stand among the people she loved while feeling more alone than ever.
Varitreya studied her for another moment. Then her gaze dropped to Maisa’s nape. The marks Addessa had left were still visible. Her expression changed. "Addie."
"What?"
"Your bite. You took it a bit too far."
Addessa glanced at Maisa’s nape and frowned. "What about it?"
"Look closely."
The blackblood leaned in. The marks were unmistakable. Two shallow impressions marred Maisa’s skin, red enough to show where Addessa’s teeth had pressed yet something was strange about them. The surrounding skin hadn’t reacted as it should have. There was no swelling, flinch, or sign that Maisa had even registered the bite.
Addessa’s eyes narrowed. "That’s not normal."
"No," Varitreya agreed quietly. "It isn’t."
Maisa pulled her hand toward her nape and touched a spot too high from the spot Addessa bite which offered more proof that she hasn’t felt it because she couldn’t even know where the pain was.
The movement was small but every vampire noticed it. Varitreya lifted her gaze. "Does it hurt?" she asked even though she knew the answer.
"No, it doesn’t."
"Not even a little?" Zolani questioned and examined Maisa more closely.
Maisa shook her head. The room seemed to grow colder. Lumi stepped closer, her brows drawing together. "Could it be a spell?"
"Possibly," Varitreya answered. "But if magic is suppressing her sensations, why hasn’t it affected the rest of us?"
"Maybe it was designed specifically for her," Lumi said.
"Then whoever cast it knew exactly what to target," Varitreya said. Her voice had lost its uncertainty. She looked from Maisa’s nape to her face. "And they knew enough about the flower of fate to leave the rest of us untouched."
Zolani hummed thoughtfully. "Or maybe someone doesn’t want her to feel anything."
The words fell into the room with surprising weight. Maisa’s stomach lurched. She looked at Zolani who was no longer smiling and for once, the mixedblood seemed entirely serious.
"Think about it," Zolani continued. "The bond is still working for the rest of us. We can feel each other’s emotions, and when something happens between two of us, the others can sense it. But Maisa is completely cut off."
Her gaze settled on Maisa. "Someone could have done that deliberately."
Maisa felt the blood drain from her face. Cold prickled along her arms, and the room seemed to tilt beneath her feet.
"Someone who had access to her," Lumi added quietly.
Addessa’s attention snapped toward Maisa. "Or someone she went to willingly."