One week had passed since the night of the ritual.
The mansion in had returned to its silent elegance. Long corridors were illuminated by the soft glow of candles and the pale light of the late afternoon filtering through the tall windows. Outside, the sky was already beginning to darken, and night slowly approached — the safest moment for certain inhabitants of the house.
During that week, many things had changed.
Odette was still getting used to her new vampiric body. Her senses had become far sharper now. She could hear distant footsteps in other wings of the mansion, feel the scent of blood circulating inside people's bodies, and perceive details that would once have gone unnoticed.
Her strength had also increased tremendously, and even her movements seemed more fluid and elegant now — almost predatory.
But there was a problem.
Sunlight.
Even through the thick curtains of the mansion, the mere presence of sunlight made her skin sting faintly, as if tiny needles of fire were touching her flesh. It was not enough to destroy her, but it was painful enough to keep her away from the windows during the day.
Selena was going through the same adaptation.
Her transformation was still recent, and her vampiric body reacted in a similar way. Sunlight hurt her skin, forcing her to remain inside the mansion during the day while slowly learning to control her new nature.
That afternoon, Odette was sitting in one of the mansion's salons, resting in an armchair near a window — but far enough away that the light would not reach her skin directly.
Vivienne was there as well.
Odette observed the outside world through the partially closed curtain, thoughtful.
After a few seconds of silence, she spoke calmly.
— We need to solve the problem of sunlight.
Vivienne lifted her eyes toward her.
— Does it hurt a lot?
Odette released a small sigh.
— Not enough to kill me… but enough to limit our movements. And Selena feels it too.
She turned her face toward Vivienne, her eyes colder now, deeper than they had been before the transformation.
— We cannot live forever hidden during the day.
Vivienne crossed her arms slightly, thinking.
— Is there any solution?
For a moment, Odette remained silent.
Then a faint smile appeared on her lips.
— Perhaps.
Vivienne tilted her head slightly.
— Perhaps?
Odette rested her elbow on the arm of the chair.
— The perfumer… Lívia.
Vivienne blinked once, immediately remembering the shop filled with crystal bottles and magical essences.
— Lívia Noctela?
Odette nodded slowly.
— Yes. And more than that…
She continued.
— Lívia has mage friends. Women very skilled in alchemy, enchantments, and the manipulation of magical energy.
Vivienne frowned slightly, curious.
— Do you think they could help?
Odette smiled a little wider, discreetly revealing her fangs.
— I believe so.
She rose gracefully from the armchair, taking a few slow steps across the salon.
— If anyone in this world can find a way for vampires to walk beneath the sun… it is them.
Odette turned her gaze back toward Vivienne.
— Lívia's mage friends may be able to help us.
Her voice was calm, but carried the same predatory confidence that always surrounded her.
— And I intend to speak with them very soon.
The desert stretched as far as the eye could see.
Gigantic dunes of golden sand rolled beneath the brutal light of the midday sun. Heat made the air tremble, and the horizon looked liquid, distorted by the burning temperature.
On top of a dark rock formation, a woman was sitting.
She wore very little.
Only a dark purple micro bra, tiny and barely covering her heavy, enormous breasts. Thin cords held the small fabric against her dark skin. Below, a matching micro thong clung to her wide hips, its delicate strings disappearing along the generous curves of her body.
Over her nearly naked form, she wore a long black cloak, flowing and open at the front, moving gently with the hot desert wind.
And over her head, a white hood partially covered her face.
The contrast was striking.
Beneath the hood, her long, wavy crimson hair flowed like living fire over her shoulders and down her back. Her dark skin shone under the desert sun as if covered by magical oil, thick droplets slowly sliding along her curves — down her breasts, across her soft stomach, over her wide hips and thick thighs.
Even beneath the merciless sun… she looked comfortable.
Powerful.
Predatory.
Her eyes glimmered from beneath the hood as she watched the distant horizon.
Then the silence of the desert was shattered.
A colossal roar echoed across the dunes.
Sand exploded outward as a gigantic dragon emerged from beneath the desert, its massive wings spreading like shadows across the blazing sky. Its scales reflected the sunlight, and its burning eyes locked onto the woman atop the rock.
The creature landed heavily.
The sand trembled.
Its enormous neck lowered, staring directly at her.
She simply smiled slowly.
— Took you long enough… — she murmured.
She rose from the rock.
Her cloak slid slightly backward, revealing even more of her nearly naked body — only the tiny purple bra and thong covering her beneath the intense desert sun.
Her feet touched the burning sand.
But the heat did not harm her.
If anything… it seemed to feed her.
The dragon opened its massive jaws.
A tremendous stream of fire burst toward her.
At that very moment, the desert ground cracked open.
Lines of glowing light appeared beneath the sand.
Red.
Orange.
Gold.
Magma.
Heat surged through the woman's body like living lava, glowing beneath her dark skin with incandescent light.
She slowly raised one hand.
— The desert… — she said calmly.
The dunes began to tremble.
— …is only a crust above the fire of the earth.
The dragon lunged forward.
But she closed her fingers.
And the world exploded.
Gigantic columns of molten magma burst from beneath the desert around the dragon like serpents of fire rising from the depths of the earth. The sand instantly vitrified into black glass.
The monster roared and tried to lift its wings.
Too late.
Lava wrapped around its legs.
Then its body.
Then its wings.
The woman slowly opened her arms, her hood still covering part of her face while the black cloak billowed behind her in the desert wind.
— Sink.
The magma obeyed.
Like a living sea, the lava swallowed the dragon completely.
Its final roar echoed across the desert… and faded away.
Silence returned.
The molten lava slowly hardened, leaving only an enormous mass of black stone in the middle of the dunes.
The woman remained standing there.
Under the sun.
Wearing only her bra, thong, cloak, and hood, in the middle of the destruction she had created.
She slowly ran her pink tongue across her lips.
Then she smiled.
When her lips parted… something became visible.
Long, sharp fangs.
Her eyes gleamed with mischief beneath the shadow of the hood as she gazed toward the endless desert horizon.
— Hm… — she murmured, tilting her head slightly.— Perhaps another one will appear.
A slow, wicked smile spread across her lips.
— I want… to be close to a beautiful woman, — she said softly, her voice husky, almost a whisper carried by the wind. — Someone who can match my fire, who can feel every spark I carry.