At the moment of severing, Nora's mind flashed back to a year ago.

She was with Kaden then. The sun was shining and they'd been at school. She remembered laughing at their idea to attend classes that semester. Most kids were there because they had to be. Nora and Kaden though, had signed up for pure kicks and giggles.

Their age wasn't lived like everyone else. Half-human, half-immortal, it was hard to describe the unique way time passed for Nora.

Running into the vampire, though, hadn't been part of the plan. They'd had no idea he'd be there when they arrived on campus. Determined to enjoy themselves, Nora and Kaden stayed put, steering clear of the vampire as much as possible.

Their efforts had been futile.

The attack'd happened unexpectantly. Nora never saw it coming. But when he bit her, Nora stood proud as the vampire fell to his demise before her.

She'd thought she would be fine. She thought she was indestructible.

But she was wrong.

By the time they'd gotten home, Kaden knew something was wrong with Nora. " You're so pale," she remembered him saying in alarm. "And I can see you growing weaker, Norie. What's going on?"

In the end, Nora ended up slipping into a coma. When she finally woke up, it was decided that until her eighteen birthday she would be hidden away with humans, with Donovan as her only body guard. Her adopted parents, friends of her real Mother, volunteered to live with Nora as a family to help make her story look authentic. Her looks were altered, her memory was cloaked and Kaden was kept as far away as possible from her. Their theory was that his love for Nora increased her powers' potency, attracting vampires to her more quickly than what would've been normal.

In bitter sorrow, Nora remembered wiping at her tears just before her memory and all she'd held sacred was ripped from her life.