Chapter 17
OLIVIA
When Rack took me to the middle of the railing on the second floor and told me to wait, I thought he was crazy.
“There’s no third floor,” I’d told him.
He’d just smirked.
Then he pressed his palm against the metal railing and magic shimmered outward like heatwaves rolling across pavement. A staircase slowly appeared out of thin air, and I’d actually gasped.
Rack looked entirely too pleased with himself after that.
The entire third floor turned out to be one giant open room curved in a half circle, surrounded by floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city.
I walked straight to the glass, stunned into silence by the view.
I knew firsthand that those streets were covered in dirt and grime, but from up here, it was a beautiful urban landscape and I was untouchable.
Standing there above the city, I finally understood something terrifying. Power changed perspective.
From the streets, the city swallowed you whole, but from up here? It looked like something you could own.
No wonder Calix walked around like he ruled the world.
With my hand on the glass, Rack slid up beside me and told me about the rune magic. No one could see in, and the sun’s rays would stay out.
While vampires could go out during the day, it wasn't very comfortable.
Since the sun did micro damage to your skin as soon as its rays touched you, it made the natural healing process work overtime, which meant more blood intake was needed.
For those of us who weren't rich, blood was something that got expensive the more you needed it.
Eventually, I’d turned around and asked Rack if he was seriously okay with me staying here. The whole place felt personal somehow, like memories still lived in these barren white walls.
Rack had smiled strangely at that.
“Calix used to hide up here,” he’d muttered. Then his mouth twitched slightly before he added. “At least now the room’s finally being used correctly.”
I wanted to ask what that meant, but he’d already moved on, opening the bathroom door like it was no big deal.
My jaw had nearly hit the floor.
The bathroom was bigger than the entire garage apartment I’d slept in for years. Then came an equally big walk-in closet.
I’d just stared at him.
Rack tried to act casual about it, but every few minutes his phone buzzed violently in his pocket. Not once did he look at it while he was showing me around.
Every time I spoke, his full attention was on me, hanging on my every word. Maybe that shouldn’t have affected me as much as it did, but I wasn’t used to that kind of attention. I only knew the kind that came with fear attached to it.
Eventually, he’d sighed and admitted he had work to finish, but before leaving, he paused in the doorway.
“I’ll come back later,” he promised. “We’ll go get whatever you need.”
“I really don’t need much,” I’d argued immediately. That earned me a slow smirk.
“We’ll see.” He motioned toward the bathroom. “I already left you something to wear in the closet.”
Before Rack left, I stopped him near the doorway, fingers twisting together awkwardly.
“Can I call Lark?” I asked quietly. “Just so she knows I’m okay?”A phone appeared in his hand a second later, and he placed it into mine carefully, like he thought I might disappear if he moved too fast.
“It’s yours,” he said simply. Then he gave me that small, soft smile of his and disappeared down the stairs.
***
“I’m fine, Lark. Promise.” It was about the tenth time I’d said those words, and they were starting to lose all meaning.
Lark folded her arms tighter across her chest on the screen, glaring at me like stubbornness alone could force the truth out of me.
“You scared the absolute shit out of me,” she snapped. “And you still won’t tell me what happened.”
I dropped backward onto the ridiculously soft white bed, the mattress swallowing me whole. It was the kind of bed only rich people could afford.
“I already told you,” I groaned, dragging a hand over my face before peeking back at the phone. “I was planning to run away, then apparently I woke up halfway dead, sucking blood out of Calix’s arm like a feral animal.”
A laugh slipped out before I could stop it.
“I mean… kinda like my life did depend on it.”
Lark’s stare flattened instantly.
“Too soon?” I winced at her through the screen. Her nostrils flared slightly while exhaustion started replacing the anger around her eyes. I was counting on her eventually giving up.
“I just don’t remember everything yet,” I tried again, softer this time. “They said that happens sometimes after a turn.”
“That part’s true.” Nathan leaned halfway into frame behind her, one arm draped lazily over the back of the couch.
“I barely remembered anything right after mine,” he added. “Pieces came back over time.”
I sat up a little straighter.
“How long?”
He tipped his hand back and forth.
“Couple days for me. Longer for others.” His shoulders lifted in a shrug. “Sometimes memories need a trigger. Smell. Sound. Similar emotions. Familiar place. Some vampires don’t even bother digging for them. They just… move on.”
“See?” I pointed triumphantly at the screen. “Normal vampire behavior.”
“No, Olivia Savin,” Lark shot back immediately.
She shoved Nathan aside hard enough to make him laugh under his breath before her face crumpled all over again. Her eyes darted away from the camera.
“I just…” Her voice snagged halfway through the sentence. The fight drained out of her shoulders as she swallowed hard.
“When I saw you lying there, it just…” The rest barely made it out in a whisper. “It just reminded me of my mom.”
My stomach twisted instantly.
Lark rubbed at her face angrily, like she hated the tears threatening to spill.
“I couldn’t do that again,” she whispered. “I couldn’t fail you too.”
My fingers tightened around the phone as the guilt hit me like a brick to the chest.
“I’m sorry,” tumbled from my lips. I knew it didn't make it right, but that was all I could do at the moment.
Lark quickly sat up, swiped at the tear tracks on her face, and gave me a serious look. “You're happy, right? We did the right thing? G-giving you to them? How do you even know them?”
I hesitated before blowing out a long breath then told her about Cal, about waking up in his bed and finding out who he really was.
Lark’s mouth dropped wider with every sentence. By the end, her hands were gripping the sides of her face.
“Oh. My. God. You slept with a Syndicate boss?” Lark squealed.
“I DIDN’T KNOW!” I yelled back immediately. I didn't need her to make a big deal about it because I was already doing that to myself.
She could probably tell I was on the brink because her face softened, becoming empathetic.
“I’m glad he saved you,” she admitted quietly. “I don’t care what anyone says. I’m glad he turned you.” Her eyes shimmered again. “Because I really don’t know what I would’ve done if you died.”
“But I did die,” I replied automatically. Even flashed her a grin and wiggled my brows. Lark just stared at me in horrified silence.
“Still too soon?” I sighed. I couldn't help it. When I was stressed, I needed something as an outlet.
She pointed aggressively at the screen. “Absolutely too soon!”
“Okay, okay,” I laughed. “I’ll retire the death jokes for at least two weeks.”
“Three.”
“Aw, come on!”
Lark sniffed once before chewing nervously on her bottom lip. There it was. That look. The one that meant she desperately wanted to ask something.
“What?” I asked immediately.
Her eyes flicked sideways toward Nathan before she leaned closer to the phone and lowered her voice dramatically. “How was the turning?”
I blinked.
“You know…” she whispered, her voice somehow getting louder. “The instincts part.”
Heat crawled up my neck instantly.
“What?” she hissed. “I’m curious!”
Nathan disappeared from the frame so fast I knew he was trying not to laugh. I dragged my hands down my face before groaning into my palms.
“Girl,” I muttered, peeking at her through my fingers, “it was insane. Still is insane.”
Her eyes widened immediately.
“It felt like…” I struggled for the words while motioning helplessly with my hands. “Like my body stopped asking permission.”
Lark leaned closer.
“The hunger took over, and blood was everywhere. And the…” I coughed awkwardly, looking down without saying, “Everything was on the table.”
Her mouth slowly dropped open.
“I knew what was happening,” I continued quickly, not wanting her to think I was forced or anything even though I technically wasn't all there. “It also felt like something inside me had grabbed the steering wheel and shoved me into the passenger seat.”
A slow grin started spreading across Lark’s face. “Oh my god,” she whispered delightedly.
“Don’t ‘oh my god’ me!” I snapped, already mortified.
She slapped a hand over her mouth, shoulders shaking violently while she tried not to laugh.
“You absolutely climbed that vampire like a tree, didn’t you? Did you enjoy the ride?” Lark wiggled her brows so hard I snorted out a laugh before I could stop it.
“Yes,” I admitted, dropping my face into my hands for a second. “That is exactly it.” And god, what a ride it had been.
The memories kept circling back no matter how hard I tried not to think about them. The heat. The hunger. The strange overwhelming feeling that everything clicked into place whenever both of them touched me.
That thought alone made my stomach flip.
Was that too selfish? Greedy?
Before I could spiral too hard, Lark leaned so close to the camera her nose almost touched the screen.
“Soooooo,” she sing-songed, making exaggerated kissy faces, “are you and Calix now…”
Heat rushed straight into my cheeks, and I looked down.
“It’s…” My fingers twisted in the blanket beneath me. “Complicated.”
Understatement of the century, but how was I supposed to explain any of this? That I was apparently Rack’s magical soulmate even though it was Calix’s blood that pumped through my veins, calling me to him.