I woke drowning in fire.
The first thing I knew was pain—searing through my veins like molten glass, writhing beneath my skin as though something alive crawled inside me. My body convulsed, torn between burning and freezing, my breath rasping in shallow, frantic gasps.
Strong arms held me. I thrashed against them at first, wild, lost in the storm, until his voice cut through the agony.
"Liora. Stay with me. Hold on."
Dorian.
Even through the haze, I knew him. His scent—iron and ash, smoke and roses—enveloped me, grounding me in the chaos. I clawed at his chest, desperate, clinging to the only thing solid as my body betrayed me.
"What… what is happening?" My voice was a broken gasp.
His hand stroked my hair, trembling. "The Blood Oath. Your body resists, but it cannot deny. My blood wars with yours, reshaping, binding. It will not kill you—but it will unmake what you were."
Another wave struck, worse than the first. My spine arched, my vision blurred. I felt my heartbeat falter, stumble, quicken too fast. My nails dug into his shoulders, though my strength shocked me—unnatural, jagged, as though my muscles no longer obeyed mortal law.
"Please," I whispered, barely sound at all. "Make it stop."
"I cannot." His voice cracked. "All I can do is hold you through it."
And he did. He cradled me against him as though I were a child, rocking me gently even as my body shuddered and burned. He whispered words I did not understand, ancient syllables that curled like smoke, soft as lullabies, fierce as spells.
I lost time in the storm. Moments blurred into eternity—pain, cold, heat, darkness, flashes of sharp clarity. I thought I saw Selene's smile hovering in the shadows. I thought I heard Father's voice calling me home. I thought I tasted blood—my own, his, someone's, sweet and terrible on my tongue.
Then, at last, the fire dulled.
I lay limp in his arms, sweat cooling against my skin, trembling like a leaf in a storm's wake. My chest rose and fell raggedly, but it rose. I was alive. Changed, but alive.
Dorian brushed damp hair from my face. His eyes glowed faintly, the fire dimmed but not gone. "It is done," he whispered. "You are mine now, as I am yours."
I closed my eyes, too weak to answer, but a part of me thrilled at his words. Mine. His. Bound.
When next I woke, dawn's light seeped weakly through the cracks of the ruined tower. I should have burned, blistered, but the sunlight only stung faintly, like nettles brushing bare skin. I drew back into shadow instinctively, shivering.
Dorian watched me, silent, solemn. He had not slept. He never did.
"How do you feel?" he asked softly.
I searched myself. My body felt different—lighter, yet heavier. My senses stretched unnaturally far. I could hear the drip of water deep in the ruins, smell the musk of earth, taste the iron tang of old blood that lingered faintly in the stones. And beneath it all, a hunger pulsed. Faint, yet growing.
"Strange," I whispered. "Everything is… sharp. Too sharp. And I… I want…"
I trailed off, ashamed of the word that trembled on my tongue.
Dorian's jaw tightened. "Blood."
I flinched at the sound of it, though my body thrilled in answer. My throat ached with an emptiness no food could fill, my teeth tingled with restless pressure. I lifted a hand to my mouth, horrified to feel the faint points of new fangs pressing against my lip.
"No," I breathed. "I didn't want this."
He was beside me instantly, his hands capturing mine. "You chose it. Not because you desired it, but because you desired me. And now it is both curse and bond. I would undo it if I could, Liora. But I cannot."
Tears blurred my vision, hot and bitter. "Then what am I becoming?"
"Half of me. Half of you. Something neither mortal nor vampire. Bound to hunger, but not yet enslaved." His eyes darkened with sorrow. "You will feel hollow at first. The hunger will gnaw. But you are strong, stronger than you know. You can endure."
I turned from him, pressing my hand to the cold stone. The world felt alien now, and yet terrifyingly intoxicating. My ears caught the heartbeat of a bird in the rafters above. My nostrils flared at the faint scent of blood dried into the stone. My body ached, not only with hunger, but with desire, sharp and dangerous, coiled like a serpent beneath my skin.
I hated it.
I craved it.
I hated that I craved it.
That night, the craving worsened.
I lay in Dorian's arms, trembling, my throat burning, my body restless. He stroked my hair, whispering comfort, though I felt the tension in him—the same hunger mirrored, doubled, entwined with mine.
At last, I broke. "Dorian… please. I can't—"
His hand stilled. His eyes burned into mine, fire and torment entwined. "If I give you what you crave, you will not stop. Neither will I."
"I don't care." My voice cracked. "I need you."
A growl tore from his throat, low and pained. He kissed me then, desperate, devouring, his mouth crashing to mine with the force of a storm. His tongue tangled with mine, his hands gripping my body hard enough to bruise. I arched against him, gasping, trembling with both need and terror.
When his lips left mine, they trailed down my throat, slow, reverent, torturous. His fangs grazed my skin, and I gasped, clutching him closer.
"Liora," he groaned, voice breaking. "I will damn you."
"You already have," I whispered.
And then his teeth sank into me.
The pain was brief, a spark swallowed by a flood. Heat surged through me, ecstasy laced with terror, as though my soul itself were being consumed. I cried out, clutching his hair, arching into the bite even as tears spilled down my cheeks.
He drank only a mouthful before wrenching away, blood glistening on his lips. His eyes blazed black fire, his chest heaving.
But the hunger in me was no longer hollow. It was alive.
I pressed my lips to the wound on his wrist, tasting him again, fire spilling down my throat. He groaned, head thrown back, trembling as though undone.
We clung to each other, half in passion, half in ruin, bound by hunger, blood, and something deeper still.
When at last we collapsed together, breathless and trembling, I felt the change more fully. My veins sang with power. My heart beat weaker, but sharper. My senses burned brighter. And deep in my soul, I knew:
I was no longer just his light.
I was his shadow too.