**Chapter 6 – Ruby Morning, Co-op Sunrise**
6:12 a.m.
The shower ran scalding, but the bite on my neck still throbbed like a second heartbeat.
I tilted my head under the spray, watching pink water swirl down the drain.
When I wiped the fog off the mirror, my eyes stared back **ruby red**.
Not glowing.
Not contacts.
Just pure, deep, permanent ruby—like someone had replaced the crystal-blue with liquid garnet overnight.
Grandma Elowene's voice drifted through the steam, quiet and satisfied.
**"First binding always leaves a mark, dragă. The eyes are yours now. Forever. The vein likes its Receivers to wear its color."**
I touched the two silver-scabbed punctures just below the spiral tattoo.
Julian's teeth marks looked like crescent moons.
My ruby eyes looked like I'd been born with them.
I shut the water off.
The color stayed.
Downstairs, Mom dropped a spatula when I walked into the kitchen wearing my Lakeside Rams hoodie, platinum hair dripping, eyes the exact shade of fresh blood.
Dad's coffee mug froze halfway to his mouth.
"Celeste… your eyes."
"I know." I slid into a chair, stole a piece of bacon off Dad's plate. "Permanent souvenir. Long story short: Mr. Bathory's a vampire, tried to drink me at 3:33 a.m., I bound him with Grandma's spiral, and now the magic decided ruby is my new brand."
Mom's face went through six emotions in two seconds.
Dad just stared. "Permanent?"
"Yep." I crunched the bacon. "Grandma says it's unique to me.She was never turned vampire.She was just a very strong Wizard.
No take-backs."
Mom reached for me like I might vanish. "Are you… okay?"
"I'm fine. Sun doesn't burn, either. Bonus." I leaned forward, ruby eyes steady in Mom's terrified ones.Dont worry I don't need to drink blood to Survive.The magic sustains Me remember im a wizard."But I'm done running and I'm done with the feud. Today I'm offering Seras co-op. Equal partnership. Two families, one vein. No more kneeling. We share the spiral or we let it die together."
Dad set his mug down very carefully.
"Celeste, the Nakamura's have hated us since 1949."
"Then they're overdue for an update." I stood, grabbed my board. "Photolab's empty today—Julian's allergic to sunlight. Perfect place for a truce talk."
Mom called after me: "Take pepper spray!"
I was already out the door, ruby eyes cutting through the morning glare like stoplights.
The sun was brutal—Arkansas October pretending it was July—but my skin drank the light like sweet tea.
No burn.
No squinting.
Just ruby irises soaking up gold.
Grandma hummed approval.
**"New perk. Receivers walk in daylight when the vein is pleased. Enjoy it. The color in your eyes? That's the veil's signature. Undeniable."**
I rolled to school, wheels singing on dry pavement.Took just me just a couple minutes to get there
The ruby eyes earned stares in the hallway—Brittany actually squealed, "New contacts?!"—but nobody asked twice.
Freshman year rule: weird is just Wednesday.
Photolab, 5th period.
Door unlocked. Lights off.
Seras was already inside, red streak glowing under the safelight like a fresh cut.
She stood at the enlarger, developing a single print.
Didn't look up when I walked in.
I dropped my board, let it clatter.
"We need to talk."
She snorted. "Your eyes look like you bathed in blood and decided to keep the color."
"Permanent upgrade." I stepped into the red glow. "Julian's mine now. Leashed and kneeling. But I didn't come to gloat."
Seras finally turned.
Her own eyes were black garnet.
"Then why come?"
I held up my right hand.
No spiral.
Yet.
"I want to change the rules," I said. "No more Receiver and shadow binder. No more one family devouring the other. I want co-op. You and me. Equal spirals. We hold the vein together, or we let it die together. Your choice."
Seras laughed—sharp, bitter.
"You think it's that easy? My mother wore the black garnet for twenty years waiting for a Morau throat to rip out."
"I think you're tired," I cut in. "I think you're fourteen, same as me, and you didn't ask for this any more than I did. I think the valley's big enough for two wizards."
I stepped closer.
The safelight flickered.
The print in the developer tray began to surface on its own.
Seras glanced down.
Her face went white.
The photo was us—her and me—standing on the fifty-yard line at Homecoming.
Both wearing lockets.
Both with silver spirals glowing on our **right palms**.
Between us, the mist formed a perfect figure-eight—two spirals, intertwined.
Seras's hand shook.
"That's not possible. The veil only chooses one Receiver."
"Apparently it's in a generous mood." I met her ruby-to-garnet stare. "I'm not asking you to kneel, Seras. I'm asking you to **stand beside me**. Same power. Same risk. Same crown."
For the first time, the red streak in her hair looked less like blood and more like a bridge.
She swallowed.
"If I say yes… what happens to the black garnet?"
"We melt it down," I said. "Make two new lockets. One for each of us. Shared vein, shared heart."
The safelight steadied.
The photo finished developing.
In it, Seras and I were smiling.
Seras stared at it for a long time.
Then she looked up.
"Homecoming," she said. "Fifty-yard line. Midnight. Bring the locket. I'll bring the garnet."
I nodded.
"Truce until then?"
She extended her hand—not to shake.
Palm up.
Waiting.
I placed my right hand in hers.
For a heartbeat, nothing.
Then the silver spiral **flared**—briefly—across my palm.
A second later, a matching black garnet spiral flickered across hers.
Both faded instantly.
But we both felt it.
The veil had just blinked.
Seras pulled her hand back, but the smirk was softer now.
"Don't be late, Valentina-chan. I hate waiting."
I grabbed my board.
"Wouldn't dream of it, Nakamura."
I rolled out of the darkroom, ruby eyes cutting through the hallway fluorescents like fresh paint.
Grandma Elowene's laugh echoed warm and proud.
**"Two spirals, one vein. Your grandmother is crying somewhere beyond the veil, dragă. Now go eat lunch. You'll need strength for what comes at midnight."**
I grinned.
For the first time since moving to Hot Springs, the mist didn't feel like it wanted to swallow me.
It felt like it wanted to **crown me**.
And maybe—just maybe—crown Seras too.