The Bloodbound Awakening

ter still rang in Elian's skull. Mrs. Lowell's grip on her arm was vise-like as they hur

pped steadily from her nose, splattering dark droplets across the cobbl

l wrapped in velvet, the kind of tone that brooked no argument. Behind them, Jason

artbeat, each throb sending a fresh wave of heat through her veins. The pendant-now fused to her chest-bur

from a nearby alleyway. Alistair, their tour guide, stood blocking

eth bared in a smile. "I see the

fened. "Move asi

d old blood as he leaned in. "You feel it, don't you, girl? The call in you

tween them. "Ba

ir's gaze. Then he bowed mockingly and melted back

for you be

heir phones and posted herself by the door, her expression stormy. Outside

d. "Your fever's getting worse," she murmure

animal. "We need a doct

. "Not after tonight's stunt." She fixed Elian with a

ut Raelith's voice slithe

them n

ut unbidden: "I

rowed. "Don't lie to m

, her tongue moving without her consen

dant growing hotter against her skin. Across the room, Mrs. Lo

st then. We leav

seen it too. Whatever Elian had just done, whatev

the moment Elian

ifferent version of herself-some dressed in medieval gowns, others in mod

th, his coat pooling arou

You're but the latest in a long line of vessels. Serap

dding dress. As she watched, the woman's throat was slit by an unse

e curse," Raelith murmured.

r shoulders. In the mirrors, a thousand versions of them s

arry her blood. Y

y, but the dream held h

nt sing for you? Why do the runes answer your blood?" His fingers traced t

ilt in Elia

o a hand clampe

rom hers, his eyes wide with

yard below-figures in long coats, their weapons gl

sed to the wood. "They're on every floo

llowed by the sharp scent of gasol

ian up. "Secret

ames began to lick at the hallway behind them. Elian's pendant pu

ce curled thr

ut know this-you can'

es. Mira's flashlight flickered as they navigated the narrow

e. "Okay, new plan: we find a

kling. The pendant was ice-cold now, it

you insane? Those people ju

Don't you get it? This started the moment I touched that statue. Maybe

head-too large to be rats. Jason stepped in

limbs, its flesh stretched taut over bones that jutted at unnatural angles. Where its face

ad cocking toward Elian. "

amed as i

roze mid-air, suspended by some unseen force. The pendant blazed wit

tched into a grotesque sm

d them collapsed, and

s returned i

of water somewhere in the darkness. T

its walls covered in the same runes from the museum. At its c

bound and gagged

he spoke. "Your friends live, for n

sit up. "That... th

inally, he faced her, his eyes glowing faint

's gaze, her eyes blazing with hatred. She spa

him, girl. He's n

the wall. "Silence." He knelt before Elian, his cold fingers tilti

memory of that surge-of the creature fro

I?" she w

ile showed f

ky blood-red. Somewhere in the distance, a be

e went pale. "Oh

arms, his coat beco

hunt co