VAMPIRE QUEEN SERAPHINA POV
She tried to speak, but I was squeezing her windpipe. Her eyes went wide with fear as she realized I'd found her out.
"What did you do?" I ordered, loosening my grip just enough for her to breathe.
"I... I don't know what you mean," she gasped.
"Liar." I could smell the dark magic on her skin now. "You've been touched by darkness. What did you put in the symbolic circle?"
"Nothing! I swear!"
I lifted her off the ground with one hand. "Try again. And this time, tell me the truth, or I'll drain every drop of blood from your body."
"The salt!" she finally choked out. "I switched the purification salt with shadow crystals!"
My blood went cold. The purification salt was what kept the ritual circle safe from shadow magic. If she'd replaced it with shadow crystals...
"You've turned the ritual into a trap," I realized. "The Shadow Lord can enter our world through it."
"He... he promised me power," she whispered. "He said I could be like him."
