The first thing Rory felt was cold stone beneath her.

The second was pain.

A dull throb in her neck... and a deeper ache in her chest, like something inside her had been ripped out—and replaced.

Her eyes fluttered open slowly.

She wasn’t in the woods anymore.

Stone walls.

A high ceiling with thick wooden beams, covered in dust.

The air smelled like old fire and dried blood.

Candles burned in metal holders along the walls, their flames low and flickering. Shadows danced across the room, moving like they had minds of their own.

Rory sat up slowly. Her head spun.

She was lying on a wide, ancient bed. Black sheets. A velvet blanket. She touched her neck—there were two small marks. Tender. Still healing.

> He bit me, she remembered. He drank from me. I passed out…

And now she was here.

> Where is here?

She stood, legs weak. Her bare feet touched the cold stone floor, and she winced. Her shoes were gone. So was her jacket.

A fire burned low in the fireplace.

Someone had brought her here.

Someone had made her… comfortable.

But why?

He watched from the doorway, silent as a shadow.

She was awake. Moving.

Alive.

Good.

He didn’t understand why it mattered.

She should’ve been dead. He had taken too much. And yet... her body refused to die.

It was healing.

Too fast.

Too clean.

And now he could feel something else. Something new.

A thread.

Invisible—but real.

It stretched from her chest to his.

A bond.

Not love.

Not affection.

But something... older.

She turned suddenly and saw him.

Her breath caught. Eyes wide.

He stepped forward into the candlelight.

Same black clothes. Same sharp face. Hair falling across one eye. Blood still faint on his lips.

She stared at him with fear—and something else.

Curiosity.

“Where am I?” she asked.

He didn’t answer.

She swallowed. “You bit me.

“I know.”

“You drank too much.”

“I didn’t mean to,” he said quietly.

She blinked. His voice was softer now. Almost human.

“But you were going to let me die.”

He said nothing.

That was enough of an answer.

She looked around the room again. “Is this your house?”

Kael shook his head. “No. It used to be... theirs.”

“Whose?”

He didn’t reply.

Instead, he stepped closer.

She backed away.

“Don’t,” she said.

He paused. Then, slowly, lifted a small hand mirror from a table and held it out to her.

“Look.”

She took it, confused.

Her fingers trembled as she lifted it to her face.

And she froze.

Her eyes.

They were no longer just brown.

The edges were changing—turning gold. Glowing faintly like fire trapped behind glass.

“What... what’s happening to me?” she whispered.

Kael watched her closely.

“You’re not normal,” he said. “I thought you were. But your blood… it’s not human.”

She stared at him. “What does that mean?”

He looked away.

“I don’t know.”

Suddenly, she felt it again—that spark from before.

It pulsed in her chest.

She gasped and dropped the mirror. It shattered.

Something moved under her skin.

Heat. Power. Fear.

She fell to her knees, holding her stomach.

Kael moved fast, catching her before she hit the floor.

Her eyes met his.

“I don’t feel right,” she whispered.

“I know.”

And then her back arched—violently.

Her mouth opened in a scream, but no sound came out.

Golden light shot from her chest for just one second—bright, blinding.

Kael dropped her, shocked, stepping back.

She collapsed, unconscious again.

And Kael stood over her, breathing hard.

> What are you?

The second time Rory woke up, the room felt different.

Warmer. Brighter.

The fire was higher now. Someone had added wood. She was alone, but she knew he had been there. Kael.

She sat up slowly.

Her body didn’t feel weak anymore.

It felt... strong.

Too strong.

She went to the broken mirror on the floor. Her reflection stared back through the cracked glass.

Her eyes were glowing again.

Not fully—but enough.

Golden light curled around her irises like smoke.

She touched her skin. It felt normal, but under her fingertips, she could feel something pulsing beneath. A quiet energy. Like lightning in her veins.

> What did he do to me?

Her mind flashed back to his face when she collapsed.

He looked... afraid.

Not for her.

Of her.

Far away, in a forgotten part of the forest, something ancient opened its eyes.

She was awake.

The girl with strange blood.

The man sitting in the dark opened a book bound in skin. His eyes were solid white, glowing like moons. He turned the page and whispered a name.

> “Kill her before she remembers.”

A shadow moved beside him.

A tall, hooded figure nodded and disappeared into the trees.

Rory stepped out of the bedroom. The hallway was silent. The candles on the walls blew softly, casting long shadows on the stone.

She followed them, slow and careful, until she reached a large door.

She pushed it open.

A massive hall stretched before her—empty, cold, but still beautiful. A broken throne sat at the center, vines wrapped around its base.

And Kael was there.

Standing near a cracked window, staring out at the dark forest.

She approached him slowly.

He didn’t turn.

“You lied to me,” she said quietly.

“I never said anything to lie about.”

“You said I was nothing.”

He looked at her then. His eyes were darker than before.

“I was wrong.”

She folded her arms. “What’s happening to me?”

He said nothing.

She stepped closer. “I want the truth.”

Kael’s jaw tightened. He looked down.

“I don’t know what you are. But I know what you’re not. You’re not fully human. You never were.”

She flinched. “That’s not possible.”

“Then explain the light. The healing. The way your blood feels like fire.”

“I don’t have answers,” she whispered. “Only questions.”

Kael turned fully now. He took one step toward her.

“There’s something inside you,” he said. “Something I haven’t felt in centuries. Old. Wild. And dangerous.”

She stared at him. “Dangerous for who?”

Before Kael could answer, the door behind them burst open.

A gust of icy wind blew in.

Rory spun around—and froze.

A tall figure stood in the doorway.

Long black coat. Skin like ash. Eyes glowing white.

Kael growled low in his throat, stepping in front of her.

“Stay behind me.”

The figure smiled, but it was cold and cruel.

“So she’s finally awake,” the stranger said. His voice was dry. Empty. “I could smell her from across the valley.”

Kael’s hands tightened into fists. “You’re not welcome here.”

“Neither is she.”

Rory stepped out frombehind Kael. “Who are you?”

The figure tilted his head. “I’m the one sent to kill you.”

Kael moved faster than a blink, slamming into the stranger with a roar—but he bounced back, thrown like a ragdoll against the wall.

Rory screamed.

The man stepped into the room slowly, smiling wider now.

“You’re not ready, girl,” he said softly. “But when you are… I’ll be back. And I’ll tear the truth out of you myself.”

He vanished in a swirl of smoke.

Rory stood frozen.

Kael was on the floor, blood dripping from his mouth.

And her hands... were glowing.