Chapter 1
Sam
November 2023
My body was on fire when I woke up, not just my skin, but all the way down to my tissues. I didn’t know what I’d expected, but it felt like no time had passed at all. It was probably what people experienced when they had surgery and had to count backward while they got put under. One minute you were conscious and the next you were waking up from a long nap.
The room was pitch black, yet I could see everything clearly. When I tried to stand, I ended up on my knees. I cried out at the pain that reverberated through my entire body. Lock hadn’t said anything about this. I probably just had to complete the change to be at a hundred percent.
Speaking of completing the change, I’d expected him to be here waiting for me. He would have been prepared for the general timeframe. The room was empty, though, and far too quiet. It made my breaths speed up as I looked around at the walls that seemed too close.
I was unnerved when I realized there was no rapid heartbeat to accompany my panic. My hand went to my chest, confirming that I was definitely dead. Undead.
My gums were aching, so I pressed my fingers against them. My canines felt sharper, but for now they were the same size as before.
God damnit. Where was Lock? I needed out of this place.
I screamed when the blanket caught on fire, backing up until my back hit the wall. Something hot spread out from behind me and I leapt forward, staring at the scorch marks where I’d just been. My first thought was that Seraphim was here. He was pissed and clearly wanted to kill me.
I raced toward the door, but I couldn’t get it to budge. Remembering the fingerprint scanner, I pressed my thumb to it, but the entire thing sparked before shorting out, leaving colorful lines across the screen. Fuck. I was going to die in here and my mate had abandoned me to do it alone.
My fingers tightened in my hair as I spun in a circle. There was no way out. I was trapped in this prison. Maybe this had been Lock’s intention the whole time. It would make it easy to kill me and take my power.
Dropping to my knees, I covered my head with my hands and screamed. There was a loud scraping sound that hurt my ears, then I was hit with a myriad of new scents. Looking up, I found the door had been ripped from its hinges, leaving me a way to escape. I immediately burst through it with so much speed that I slammed against the wall in the hallway, breaking through the plaster until I hit the steel inside.
More fire ignited around me, but I didn’t see Seraphim. The elevator was moving toward this floor, so I raced into the stairwell and kept going up. When I reached the top, I found myself in the cupola, surrounded by the ear-splitting sounds of a storm.
The heavy rain drew me onto the balcony. I huddled in a corner against the railing, letting it soak me through. Somehow, it was comforting me. My skin felt hot and I was way past overwhelmed, but out here all I could hear and smell was the storm. It was like a sensory deprivation chamber for my new, heightened senses.
I wondered what could have caused a storm of this magnitude. It was uncommon for the area and I couldn’t help but imagine it meant something terrible. Seraphim’s warnings echoed in my head repeatedly. What if I’d angered some powerful, evil being?
As I grew panicked all over again, the storm picked up even more. There was a crack of thunder that made me cover my ears, even though it didn’t help. I was already beginning to hate vampire hearing. When a bolt of lightning hit the metal point at the apex of the cupola, the glass roof shattered. The sound of all those thick shards raining down made me cringe.
What the fuck was happening?
The back of my neck prickled, making me look between the rails. Far across the city was another high-rise, but the thing that caught my attention was the figure standing on the roof, looking directly at me. There was a familiar mask on his face, with two black horns protruding from it.
There he was. Was he going to come and kill me? There was no doubt in my mind that he could accomplish it easily. I was a wreck right now; I didn’t even know how to use vamp speed or smoke, if I had the ability.
Something pulsed in my chest, making me clutch at it. Seraphim did the same, grimacing as if he was upset. He shook his head, then pointed up at the sky. I didn’t understand what he was trying to say.
Another clap of thunder drew my attention away. The wind picked up, whipping my hair around my face. It rocked the metal deck, making it groan. I wrapped my arms around my head, silently pleading with whatever deity controlled the weather. If I died up here at this point, I was going to be so pissed.
Warmth spread through my body, this time as a comfort. It eased some of my panic and the wind seemed to calm down a little. Lifting my head, I looked over at the other building again. There was an orange glow around his hands; when I looked down, I saw that the same glow was radiating out from my chest.
It disappeared a moment later, along with Seraphim. Left alone, I tried to gather my thoughts. He’d helped me. Why?
The storm had also subsided a bit. There was still rain and the occasional strike of lightning, but I didn’t feel in imminent danger of being thrown from fifty stories up. It had to be a coincidence. There was no way whatever was happening had anything to do with me.
There was crunching over the glass and I caught multiple scents. One of them felt comforting to me, but I didn’t want to see who it was. I was a disaster right now and it was possible I was extremely dangerous. If anyone came close to me, I didn’t know what would happen. What if I hurt someone I loved?
“Samara.”
No, no, no. I squeezed my eyes shut, wrapping my arms around my knees. The wind started howling again, followed by more thunder.
Hands cupped my face and I shook my head. “Go away.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
Tears started falling; I didn’t know where the rain ended and they began. I wanted Lock to pull me against his chest, but I didn’t want to hurt him. I couldn’t do that. He needed to always be safe, no matter what.
Another set of footsteps set alarm bells going off in my head. There was a shout, then a clap of thunder right above us.
“God damnit,” Lock muttered.
I opened my eyes, glancing around. When I saw a body lying on the ground, I put a hand over my mouth. The skin was charred, most of it basically nonexistent. His head was turned toward me, the vacant blue eyes void of any life. Mark crouched beside him, placing a hand on his chest, then shook his head.
“Oh my god,” I wailed. “Parker. Did I do that?”
“Shhh,” Lock cooed, pulling me against him.
I shoved at his chest, surprised that I’d actually knocked him back. His eyes widened before he smoothed his expression.
“Sam, I need you to work with me here.”
Shaking my head, I felt a sob rising in my chest. “I killed Parker.”
“Fuck him. All I care about right now is you.”
“I don’t know what’s happening. Why is this happening to me?”
“You need to drink my blood. It’ll help stabilize you. We can figure everything else out after you’ve finished your transition.”
He scooted closer, but I held up a hand. “Don’t. I don’t want to hurt you.”
“You won’t, baby.”
“No. I’ll just drink this one.”
Opening the tiny vial on my bracelet, I tipped it into my mouth. Some of the pain in my body eased, but I still didn’t feel good. I wanted to drink a double dose of Benadryl and go to sleep. Waking up as a vampire was supposed to be an exciting experience, but this entire thing had been a shit show so far.
“Better?” he asked.
“Barely.”
“Hold on.”
He motioned at someone inside, then a person appeared at his side. Their scent was overpowering, making my fangs lengthen. It caused a sting deep in my gums that quickly faded.
Lock grabbed the human by the back of the neck and forced them to their knees. He fisted their hair, tilting their head, and I honed in on the pulse point on their neck. I could literally hear the blood moving through their veins, propelled by each beat of their heart. When I lunged at them, they were thrust onto their back with a cry of pain, which just heightened my desire to taste their blood.
My teeth sunk into their skin and my mouth was flooded with warmth. It tasted like blood, but I was far from repulsed by it. I could detect more flavors than I could as a human, each one unique and delicious.
I didn’t know anything about the best place to bite someone, but whatever I’d done was messy. When there was nothing left, I was covered in blood. There was a puddle of it on the metal balcony, watered down by the rain and flowing off the side.
Before I knew it, I was being cradled by strong arms. He lifted me off the ground, holding me close to his chest as we made our way to the stairs.
“You’re okay, Belladonna.”
“Something is wrong.”
“Nothing is wrong. Just different.”
He turned on the bath, then helped me out of my red-stained dress. I stepped into the water and he sat behind me, stroking my skin.
“Was all of that from me?”
“It seems so.”
“Was he the only one hurt?”
“Yes. Unless you want to include property damage in your guilt trip.”
“I’m sorry,” I cried.
He wrapped an arm around my chest, pulling me against him. “You’re not going to worry about any of that. All that matters is making sure you’re okay.”
“I’m a monster, Lock.”
“You’re a goddess, just as I told you. It’ll just take some time to adjust. Everything will be okay.”
“Do you promise?”
He kissed my temple before inhaling deeply. “I swear it.”
His assurances helped, but I didn’t know if I could believe him. Despite completing my change, I still felt off. I was so thirsty. My veins felt dry, like they were straining against my skin, looking for more blood.
“You weren’t there when I woke up,” I whispered.
“I wasn’t expecting you to wake so soon.”
“How long was I out?”
“Twelve hours.”
“How is that possible?”
“You’re special, Sam. I have a feeling we have a lot to learn still.”
A lot to learn. That was an understatement. I had no idea what I was doing. Whatever power I held was bursting out of its own accord and I didn’t know how to stop it, nor did I have any idea how to use it when I did want to.
There was a pulse in my chest again, but it didn’t seem like Lock noticed it. Now that I was a little calmer, I paid attention to the way it warmed my body momentarily, radiating outward until it dissipated. Like up on the balcony, it eased some of the turmoil in my mind and body.
I didn’t know what it was, but I was grateful for the temporary respite it offered me.
If this was one of those situations where it had to get worse before it got better, I feared what would happen to us.