Clark's POV:
The room went silent.
For one heartbeat, two, three… silence. And then the screams began.
Because standing in the doorway was a figure I knew too well. But not like this. Never like this.
Blaze.
But not the Blaze I knew.
This wasn't the smirking, teasing vampire who toyed with me. This wasn't the one who got too close and left me confused about my own reactions. This was something else. Something terrifying.
The moment he entered, the air changed.
A cold aura rolled off him like a stormfront, filling every corner of the room, squeezing the breath from my lungs. My skin prickled, goosebumps erupting across my arms. The tiny hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.
His fangs were longer than I'd ever seen them, slicing past his lips like weapons meant for tearing throats. His eyes… god, his eyes. They weren't just red anymore. They were dark—soaked in a crimson so deep it looked like liquid blood had filled his pupils.
And his hands—
They burned.
