Voices.
Distant at first.
Muffled… like they were coming from underwater.
"…shouldn't be possible."
"She survived it."
"Not just survived."
Silence.
Then—
"She changed."
A sharp breath pulled into my lungs as my eyes snapped open.
I sat up instantly.
Too fast.
The room spun violently around me, but something felt… different.
Too sharp.
Too clear.
Every sound echoed louder than it should. I could hear footsteps somewhere far away. The faint rustle of fabric. Even the quiet ticking of something mechanical hidden behind the walls.
My heart pounded as I pressed a hand against my chest.
"I can hear everything…" I whispered.
My voice sounded strange to my own ears.
Stronger.
Clearer.
Alive.
"You're awake."
I froze.
Lucien.
He stood across the room, watching me.
But this time… there was no calm indifference in his eyes.
Only intensity.
And something else.
Caution.
"What did you do to me?" I asked immediately, my voice sharper than I intended.
He didn't answer right away.
Instead, he walked toward me slowly, his gaze scanning my face like he was looking for something.
Or trying to understand it.
"I asked you a question," I snapped, sliding off the bed.
My legs should have been weak.
They weren't.
If anything, I felt… stronger.
More balanced than I had ever felt before.
That alone terrified me.
Lucien stopped a few feet away.
"I bit you," he said plainly.
My breath caught.
"I figured that part out," I shot back. "What I don't understand is why I'm not dead."
A flicker of something crossed his face.
"That makes two of us."
Silence filled the room.
Heavy.
Unsettling.
"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked.
Lucien's jaw tightened slightly.
"It means," he said slowly, "humans don't survive a bite like that."
My stomach dropped.
"What?"
"They don't wake up," he continued. "They don't… change."
My pulse quickened.
"Change into what?"
His eyes darkened.
"That's what I'm trying to figure out."
A chill ran through me.
"No," I said, shaking my head as I took a step back. "No, you don't get to say something like that and just stand there like it's nothing. Tell me what's happening to me."
Lucien didn't move.
But I felt it.
The shift in the air.
"You're not entirely human," he said finally.
The words hit like a slap.
I let out a small, disbelieving laugh.
"Yeah, okay. And what? I'm secretly a vampire now?"
"No."
The seriousness in his voice wiped the sarcasm right off my face.
"Then what am I?" I demanded.
He stepped closer.
Slow.
Measured.
"Your blood," he said, his gaze dropping briefly to my neck. "It's different."
I instinctively reached up, my fingers brushing over the spot where he had bitten me.
I expected pain.
There was none.
Just a faint, strange warmth beneath my skin.
"I've never tasted anything like it," Lucien continued, his voice lower now. "It's… powerful."
A strange feeling twisted in my chest.
Not fear.
Not completely.
Something else.
"And they knew it," I whispered. "Those things… they said they could feel it."
Lucien nodded once.
"They were hunting you."
"Why?" I asked again, my voice breaking slightly. "What is so special about me?"
This time, he didn't answer immediately.
And that scared me more than anything.
"Lucien."
He looked at me again, his expression unreadable.
"I don't know," he admitted.
The honesty in his voice caught me off guard.
For a moment… I believed him.
A heavy silence settled between us.
Then—
A sudden sharp sound rang through the room.
I flinched instinctively, my head snapping toward the door.
"What was that?" I asked quickly.
Lucien didn't react.
Didn't even turn.
"Footsteps," he said calmly.
My brows furrowed.
"That was down the hall," I said slowly.
"Yes."
I stared at him.
"How did I hear that?"
His gaze met mine again.
"You're faster now," he said. "Stronger. Your senses are heightened."
My chest tightened.
"No… no, I don't want this," I said, shaking my head. "Fix it."
Lucien's expression hardened slightly.
"It's not something that can be 'fixed.'"
Panic started to rise.
"I didn't ask for this!"
"And I didn't intend for it to happen," he snapped back.
The room went quiet again.
Tension crackled between us.
Then something else hit me.
A scent.
Faint at first.
But then stronger.
My stomach twisted.
"What… is that?" I whispered.
Lucien went completely still.
His eyes sharpened.
"You smell it," he said.
My throat felt dry.
"Yes."
The scent was… intoxicating.
Warm.
Rich.
Calling to something deep inside me.
My heart started racing again—but not from fear this time.
From something else.
Something darker.
"What is it?" I asked, my voice quieter now.
Lucien didn't answer.
But I saw it in his expression.
Hesitation.
Warning.
"It's blood," he said finally.
My breath caught.
Blood.
The word alone sent a strange rush through my body.
My stomach tightened again—but not in disgust.
In hunger.
I took a step back, shaking my head.
"No," I whispered. "No, that's not possible…"
But my body said otherwise.
My pulse quickened.
My senses sharpened even more.
And before I could stop myself—
I took a step toward the door.
Lucien moved instantly.
Blocking my path.
"Aria."
His voice was firm now.
Commanding.
"You need to control it."
"I don't know how!" I snapped, my breathing uneven. "I don't even know what's happening to me!"
His eyes softened—just slightly.
Then he stepped closer.
Slowly.
Carefully.
"Then listen to me," he said. "Focus on my voice."
I hesitated.
But something in me responded.
I stilled.
"Breathe," he instructed.
I did.
"In… and out."
The scent was still there.
Calling me.
Pulling at me.
But his voice—
It grounded me.
"Good," he said quietly. "Again."
I swallowed hard, forcing myself to focus.
To breathe.
Slowly… the feeling eased.
Not completely.
But enough.
My shoulders relaxed slightly as the tension left my body.
"That's it," Lucien murmured.
When I finally looked up at him again, something had changed.
The fear was still there.
The confusion.
But now…
There was something else.
Connection.
"You didn't kill me," I said softly.
His gaze held mine.
"No."
"You could have."
A pause.
Then—
"Yes."
My heart skipped.
"But you didn't," I repeated.
Something flickered in his eyes.
Something deeper.
"I didn't want to," he said.
The air between us shifted.
Warmer now.
Heavier.
More dangerous in a completely different way.
I swallowed hard.
"What does that mean?" I asked.
Lucien stepped closer.
Close enough that I could feel the coldness radiating from his skin.
Close enough that my heart started racing again.
But this time…
Not from fear.
"It means," he said quietly, "you're mine to protect now."
My breath caught.
Protect.
The word should have comforted me.
Instead…
It sent a different kind of shiver down my spine.
Because the way he said it—
Didn't sound like a choice.
It sounded like a claim.