Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

BLOOD BOND

The cemetery looks different through my changing eyes. Shadows that once seemed threatening now feel like old friends, welcoming me home. The moon hangs full and heavy above Ravencrest's ancient stones, and I can feel its power thrumming through my enhanced blood.

It's been three days since the attack, since I proved myself by marking the young vampires with my power. Three days of intense transformation as Torrin's blood continues to change me from within. I'm not quite vampire yet, but I'm now far more vampire than I am human. I exist in the headspace between, watching my old life fall away like autumn leaves.

My phone buzzes in my pocket – another worried message from Lisa that I'll ignore. I made a post on social media saying that I’m going on extended vacation and let my editor know that I need time to sort through some personal things. It should feel like loss, this gradual severing of mortal connections. Instead, it feels like freedom.

"Having second thoughts, little ghost?"

Torrin materializes from the shadows beside me, devastating in a black suit that makes him look sexier than the devil himself. He's been watching me all evening as I wander our territory, giving me space to contemplate what's coming next.

"Not second thoughts," I say, reaching for his hand. "Just... reflecting. On everything that's changing. Everything that's about to change."

His fingers lace with mine, cold and strong. "And what do you see when you look at those changes?"

"I see truth," I answer, watching a dark mist dance around our joined hands. "It’s difficult to wrap my head around everything, yet somehow far less stressful than I could have ever imagined. My body remembering what it was meant to become. My soul recognizing its true nature."

Torrin pulls me closer, his free hand coming up to cradle my face, and I lean into his touch, sighing at the comfort. " You’re more perfect than words will ever be able to express."

I meet his eyes, allowing myself to get lost in them momentarily. There are silver flecks that weren’t there before, reflecting off the moonlight like shiny metal. His sharp facial features are so pleasing to look at, I could never look away and die happy. “I could easily say the same thing about you.”

His expression is adoring as he asks, "Are you ready to take the final step?"

"Yes." The word comes without hesitation. "But first, there's something I need to do."

Immediate understanding crosses his features. He knows me better than I know myself. "Ah. One last visit?"

I nod, and he releases me with a gentle push toward my parents' graves. This is something I need to do alone – one final goodbye to the life I'm choosing to leave behind, and he knows it without me having to ask.

The Monroe family plot feels different now, its familiar grief transformed by my new perspective. The twin headstones rise before me, their carved roses catching moonlight. I trace the letters of my parents' names, remembering them not with pain but with a strange sense of peace .

"I understand now," I whisper to their spirits. "Why I was drawn to write about darkness. Why I never quite fit in the light. I'm not running from your memory – I'm embracing what I was always meant to be."

The night wind stirs, carrying the scent of roses and decay. In my enhanced state, I can almost imagine that I feel their presence, their acceptance of my choice.

"I'll always love you," I continue softly. “While I’m no longer the daughter you once new, I’ll always be your little girl.”

Movement catches my eye – a pale rose petal drifting down to land on the grave. Then another, and another, until a shower of white petals swirls around me like snow. My eyes widen as I realize what I'm seeing: every rose on every grave in sight is releasing its petals, creating a storm in the moonlight.

Torrin appears beside me, watching the supernatural display with intense interest. "The dead are giving their approval," he says softly. "They recognize you as a bridge between worlds – life and death, light and shadow."

Tears slip down my cheeks, but they're tears of joy rather than sorrow. This is more than just acceptance – it's confirmation. Validation of everything I'm becoming.

"Thank you," I whisper to my parents, to the cold air around us, and to whatever power is blessing this transformation. The rose petals settle around the graves like gentle snow, a final gift from the realm I'm leaving for who knows how long.

When I turn back to Torrin, my vision is clearer than it's ever been. "I'm ready."

He takes my hand and leads me deeper into the cemetery, past the familiar paths to places I've never seen before, just like our first night together. The fog rolls in thick and heavy, but my heightened sight cuts through it easily. We're heading toward something old and ancient, something that pulses with dark power.

"What is this place?" I ask as a massive structure looms before us.

"The heart of Ravencrest," Torrin answers. "The original chapel, built on much older foundations. Places of power tend to attract death – or perhaps it's death that makes them powerful."

The building is Gothic architecture at its finest, all soaring spires and grotesque gargoyles. But underneath the Christian imagery, I sense something older. Something that remembers when humans worshiped numerous gods in darker ways .

Inside, hundreds of candles cast flickering light over stone walls covered in various symbols. Some I recognize from my research into occult matters, others are completely foreign. All of them seem to writhe with purpose in the stone.

"This is where I was turned," Torrin says, leading me to the center of the space. "Though my transformation was... less voluntary than yours will be." His expression dims with the memory. "I've waited centuries to find someone worthy of sharing true power, rather than just taking it."

"Tell me what to do," I say barely above a whisper.

He pulls me close, one hand tangling in my hair while the other traces the fading marks on my throat. "First, you need to understand exactly what you're choosing. This isn't just about becoming a vampire – you're already more than human, thanks to your Shadow-Kissed nature. This is about forming a true blood bond. Joining our powers, our essences, our very souls ."

"Is it going to hurt?"

"Yes." His voice is gentle but honest. "The death of your mortal self cannot be painless. But the pleasure will far outweigh the pain once you let go, I promise you."

I shiver, feeling anxious. "And after? "

"After, you'll be like me. Immortal. Equally powerful. Free from all human limitations." His face is serious as he watches me. "But you'll also be bound to me, as I'll be bound to you. Equal partners, ruling this territory together."

"Partners," I repeat, liking how the word feels.

His grip tightens possessively. "You've proven yourself too powerful, too perfect, to be anything but my queen."

The shadows around us pulse with anticipation as I make my final choice. "Then take me. Make me yours completely."

His eyes blaze with supernatural light as he bends down, closing in on my throat. But before his fangs pierce my skin, he whispers words that sound like ritual: "Do you give yourself freely to darkness? To blood and shadow and eternal night?"

"I do." The words carry the weight of ceremony, of power older than time.

"Do you accept the price of immortality? The hunger, the power, the responsibility of ruling the night?"

"I do. "

"Do you bind yourself to me, as I bind myself to you? Equal partners in darkness, from this night until the end of time?"

"I do."

His smile is pure venom as he declares, "Then let it be so."

The bite is different from before – deeper, more primal. I hiss, crying out as his fangs sink into my throat, but the pain quickly transforms into something that feels like fire in my veins, like lightning in my blood.

Through our connection, I see everything – his centuries of existence, his powers, his failures. Every memory, every death, every moment of darkness and triumph. They flow into me as my blood flows into him, showing me what I'm becoming.

What we'll be together.

Just before unconsciousness claims me, he pulls back. I whimper at the loss of his fangs, but then his wrist is at my mouth, blood welling from a deep cut.

"Drink," he commands. "Take my blood between your lips and swallow it down in large mouthfuls. Let it remake you."

The first drop hits my tongue and my world explodes. His blood tastes magnificent – unfathomably rich and impossibly powerful. I drink deeply, desperately, feeling each swallow change me further. My focus narrows in on the rhythm of my heart. It slows, then stops completely, then starts again with a different beat. My senses sharpen far beyond human limits. Torrin’s power courses through me, transforming every fiber of my being.

When he finally pulls his wrist away, I'm trembling with the force of the changes. The shadows around us are restless with new purpose, responding to our combined power. Through our freshly forged bond, I can feel everything he feels – his triumph, his desire, his dark joy at finally finding his perfect match.

"Open your eyes," he whispers. "See the world through immortal sight."

I obey, and gasp at how different everything looks. Colors are sharper, shadows are alive, and an aura radiates from every ancient stone. But most beautiful of all is Torrin himself, his true form visible to my new senses – he still somewhat resembles a human, but he’s even more devastating than before, and he knows it the second my eyes fall onto him. A smirk slides across his lips while he lets me take him in. While I watch the swirls of black mist and arctic blue power tangle around him. He’s perfect.

"How do you feel?" he asks, wrapping his arms around me once more to steady my feet .

I take a moment to assess the changes. My body feels stronger as I turn my hands over, looking at both sides of them. More graceful. Power thrums through my veins, overtaking the human blood that once flowed there. The shadows stretch for me eagerly, acknowledging their new queen.

"I feel... complete," I answer truthfully.

His smile is prideful and possessive. "You are magnificent," he says, pulling me closer. "Everything I hoped for, everything I dreamed of finding through the long centuries."

Through our bond, I can feel the weight of his words. I can feel how perfectly matched we are now – his ancient power and my fresh strength, his experience and my innovation, his darkness and my shadow-touched grace.

"What happens now?" I ask, though I can sense the answer through our connection.

"Now?" His smiles, exposing fangs that match my new ones. "Now we hunt. We rule. We show the lesser ones what true power looks like." His hand slides into my hair, gripping possessively. "And then we have eternity to explore everything we can become together."

I pull him down for a kiss, immediately tasting my own blood on his lips. The metallic tange is exchanged between our mouths as our tongues tangle, exploring each other. Around us, the candles flare higher as our combined power fills the ancient chapel. Through our bond, I can feel his desire.

We’re lost in passion as we kiss, letting lust take over for a moment before we finally part, called by the night – full of promise and power and possibility.

“Let’s go for a walk,” he says as he presses a kiss to my forehead.

I take his hand, and then we walk out of the chapel and into our domain. The fog parts before us like a curtain as we step outside, acknowledging its new rulers. Somewhere in the distance, a crow calls out, and a part of me recognizes it for what it is. The crow is announcing my rebirth.

I pause at the top of the chapel steps, taking in the cemetery with my new senses. "I should feel different," I muse, subconsciously knowing that I’m already overthinking. "Guilty or afraid or something. Shouldn't I?"

Torrin's laugh is amused. "You feel exactly as you should, my love. You've simply become what you always were inside." His hand grips mine reassuringly. "After all, the best monsters are the ones who choose their darkness freely. "

Together, we walk into our first night together. The shadows hop and skip around us like celebrating courtiers, acknowledging their king and newly-made queen. Through our bond, I can feel Torrin's satisfaction, his triumph at having me by his side after all these years of waiting.

And I realize he's right – I don't feel different because this isn't really a transformation at all. It's a homecoming. A return to what I was in a different lifetime.

The monster in my stories, the darkness in my soul, the shadow in my blood – they were never fiction at all.

They were just waiting for the right time.