SPE POV: Th

inst my ear. "Try not to bleed on the floor, Lady. It's expensive

the ceremony's haze. I stopped breathing, my entire body locking up in

y toward the exit used by the staff,

ng hand settling on my bare shoulder. The heat was com

out, my voice t

corner of his lips, and sucked his fingertip into his mouth. His dark eyes fixed on mi

sense of objectification. It was rare Klaus spoke beyond his duti

ilo added with a qu

presences. It was the third member of t

id quietly, watching the doo

both. Zack was the only one being truly honest about this bond

ur of escalating mental terror. The healed Mark wounds were now faint crescent-moon scars,

m. All thr

when he was reviewing status reports. I felt Klaus's cold, demanding discipline during his traini

ather's old suffocating control. I had to sneak around to

. If I awakened my latent vampire gifts, I would earn the minimal authority of the

I had felt nothing. No flicker of telepathy, no hint of s

te hillside. A fierce, nervous energy seized me-a mix of hysteria and solemn reverence. The strang

deepest ceremonial robes. His face was a mask of pride

my head slightly, "Where

efore locking onto me, his voice clipped and dry. "They are already in

in a clearing. Out there. In th

soon be at its peak. When the light touches the Sanguine Circle below, you will enter and begin your Rite of Ascen

f his expectation pressed d

ng the same dark judgment I had seen in Zack's eyes. "-and they will hunt you until dawn. They are permitted to ret

n't even know I possessed. It was not just a matter of 'being returne

ark earth waiting for the moon's light. It felt less like a s

that felt less like compliance and more