Chapter 14
Fire surged through Elara's veins—scorching, relentless, alive. She didn't remember falling to her knees, only the sensation of heat spreading outward from her chest like a lightning strike branching under her skin.
"ELARA!"
Lucien's voice echoed violently through the hall, but she couldn't lift her head. Her heartbeat thundered in her ears, drowning out everything.
Kade circled her slowly, eyes gleaming with excitement.
"Beautiful," he whispered. "The hall accepted her faster than I expected."
Lucien slammed his fist against the barrier trapping him. Silver sparks burst from the impact, but the red wall didn't budge.
"Kade, stop this! She's human—she won't survive!"
Kade arched a brow. "Oh, she will. The hall never marks someone who can't endure it. She's stronger than you think."
Elara gasped as cold rushed through her next—the fire replaced instantly by a chilling wave that numbed everything. Her vision blurred. The runes beneath her pulsed brighter, forming a symbol she couldn't understand.
A voice—a thousand whispers layered over one another—echoed inside her skull:
Bound by choice.
Bound by blood.
Bound by heart.
Elara clutched her head. "Stop… please…"
But the hall didn't stop.
A burst of light erupted beneath her, and the mark scorched itself onto her skin—just over her collarbone. She felt it burn, etching a pattern like intertwining crescent moons and fangs.
Lucien froze.
"No… no, no, no—Elara, look at me!"
She couldn't. Her limbs shook uncontrollably.
Kade knelt beside her, brushing her hair aside to reveal the new mark.
"Magnificent. The mark of convergence. Rare, ancient… and forbidden."
Lucien looked as though the world was collapsing around him. "Kade, what have you done?"
"What you couldn't," Kade replied. "You hesitated. You wanted to protect her from this, even when the hall already recognized your feelings."
Elara swayed, dizzy. "Feelings…?"
Lucien's eyes snapped to hers—silver, wild, desperate. "Elara, don't listen to him. The hall twists meanings—"
Kade smirked. "Does it? Or does it reveal what vampires try so hard to hide?"
The barrier cracked—just slightly—but enough for Lucien to step forward.
He reached her in an instant, catching her before she collapsed completely.
"Elara, stay with me. Look at me."
She forced her eyes open. Lucien's face hovered inches from hers, panic written in every line.
"I'm so sorry," he whispered. "I should've never brought you into this."
She tried to speak, but another wave of cold washed through her, sharp and violent. She gasped, clutching his shirt.
"What's happening to me?" she breathed.
Kade answered calmly.
"You're changing. Slowly. And painfully. The hall chose you as Lucien's convergence mark… which means your life is now tied to his."
Lucien's breath stilled.
"Bound…?"
"Bound," Kade echoed. "In ways neither of you can undo."
Elara's vision dimmed.
Lucien tightened his hold.
Kade's smile widened.
"Let the transformation begin."
The hall erupted in light.