"Liam," Katie breathed, her mind not able to wrap around his confession."What?"

"I was gonna tell you, and I am sorry I didn't sooner." Liam apologized, reaching for her hand, only for Katie to flinch away as tears welled in her eyes. "I just needed a bit more time."

"What does this mean, Liam? Have you been working for them all along? You-You knew about my brother, about everything,  and you—"

"I wasn't a part of the family when your brother died, Katie," Liam said, his face twisted in regret. "I would have done something—"

"What about the other people dying now, Liam? Because of you? Because of your family?"

"Listen, Katie, " He pleaded, taking a hesitant step forward as he dropped his voice, looking around for any onlookers, "I have a plan to put an end to all that, and I was going to do so after I take over the Darven family name, I promise you, Katie. But I just needed to tie things up at the station and—"

"Oh, at the station...so you've been manipulating our data? Our investigations? This whole time?" Katie cried, "All those nights of helping me research... You were leading me astray, weren't you?"

Liam's gaze fell, a guilty swallow tickling at his Adam's apple, and he held back his words.

"You were. All those times I thought I was just too slow—"

"No! I mean, yes, I have. There were a few times I did get in the way of some of the larger operations. But it was because you were too good, Katie, it was why I was put in there in the first place. I am sorry I got in the way, but I promise I'll—"

"No, Liam, I don't want to hear your promises." Katie interupted, stumbling back. Her world felt like it was crumbling all around her.

"How can I trust anything you say? You are mad at me for meeting Connor, when you have been hiding this from me?"

"I knew you would hate me for it, Katie! And I can't blame you! My family is full of monsters, and I allowed myself to become one to join them... but I can't go back and change my decision to become the heir. If I could, I would." Liam said, his voice strained as he ran a hand through his blond curls. " I would have never sought out my father, and I would have met you as a normal man, and lived a normal life with you, Katie."

He let out a long breath, pulling the glasses off his nose to rub at his eyes before he continued.

"But when you almost died, I had no choice, I had to save you, and I marked you in the process to keep you safe.... I knew it was only a matter of time before you found out, but can you blame me for wanting to spend as much time as I could with you, before you started looking at me as if I were some monster? Like you are now?"

Katie shook her head, her body trembling as she took another wobbly step back.

Liam, her soft, warm, lovable Liam... was going to be a Vampire King.

He had lied to her, even when he knew just how much bringing down his family meant to her.

He claims to have loved her regardless. 

But... could she still love him regardless? 

"Liam, I need to go, I can't..." Katie mumbled, shaking her head and pushing out a hand between them. "Don't follow me, I need to think..."

"Katie, please—"

Kaite didn't let Liam finish, and instead grabbed the end of her dress and ran out of the garden, weaving through the maze of bushes and trees as she dialed Sam.

"Sam..." Katie whimpered, her voice breaking as her assistant picked up. "I need you not to ask any questions and just pick me up at the Darven Estate."

"Wh-" Sam began before letting out a groan. "Fine, I'm nearby anyway. I'll be there soon."

"Thanks." Katie breathed, tears beginning to fall down her face, her frustration building as he struggled to find her way out of the garden. 

What did this mean for her? For Liam?

She had her whole future planned with him, thinking this marking was just a side step in that. 

But it was no longer a side step. It was a whole new path. 

A future that tied her both to her worst enemy and the love of her life. 

Who she now knew to be the same man. 

Tears clouded Katie's vision as her heart crumbled in her chest. Her breath came in short gasps as she ran as fast as her heeled stilettos would take her. 

After several wrong turns, Katie let out a breath of relief at the sight of Sam's familiar black van waiting at the front drive.

Wiping at her tears, she quickly threw the door open and lifted her foot to step inside.

 However, instead of Sam, a bald, burly man with a cigar sat in the driver's seat. A smile crept up his face at the intrusion.

"Oh, I am sorry, wrong—" Katie began.

But her apology was abruptly cut short when a sharp pain reverberated from the back of her skull, and everything around her went dark.