SILVERED
The scent of something sharp and smoky clung to my skin when I woke—like magic, but heavier. Dirtier.
I blinked up at the ceiling, breath catching.
My body felt...strange. Hot. Buzzing like I'd swallowed stardust and couldn't quite digest it. My legs were tangled in the sheets. My skin prickled like it had been kissed by lightning. My thighs—don't even get me started.
And then I saw it.
My hair.
The strands that fell into my lap were no longer silver-tipped.
They were silver. All of it.
"What the fuck," I whispered, bolting upright.
My fingers curled into the glowing strands, eyes wide. I stumbled out of bed and made it to the mirror in three clumsy steps, nearly tripping on the sheets still wrapped around one ankle.
And then I froze.
My reflection blinked back at me like a stranger.
My hair—long, wavy, luminous—was glowing silver, shifting with magic like it was alive. My eyes were too bright. My skin shimmered faintly. My lips were parted. Flushed. My thighs trembled like I'd just run a marathon and gotten kissed by a storm on the way.
"Oh my gods," I breathed. "Oh no. No no no. What the fuck is happening to me?"
The door opened behind me.
"Lani?"
Theron's voice was rough—groggy but alert. I turned, heart leaping to my throat.
He stopped dead in the doorway.
His eyes dropped to my hair. His entire body tensed.
"What the fuck."
"Right?!" I shrieked. "That's exactly what I said!"
He moved toward me slowly, like I was a wild animal about to bolt. His hand lifted, hesitated—then slid through the silver strands like he didn't believe they were real.
"You changed," he murmured. "You really changed."
"I feel like I'm going to explode," I said breathlessly. "Everything's hot and itchy and tingly and my thighs are being weird and I don't know why!"
Before Theron could answer, Evander appeared behind him, fully dressed, face unreadable. He stopped cold the second he saw me.
"Well, fuck," he muttered, stepping in and shutting the door behind him.
Theron ignored him. His attention was fully on me. "You're glowing," he said, like it hurt to admit.
"I don't want to glow!" I wailed. "I want to understand! What does this mean?"
"It means your bond to us is getting stronger," Evander said, circling slowly. "You're reacting to the connection."
"But I didn't do anything—"
"You don't have to," Theron said. "Your soul knows what it wants."
I flushed from head to toe.
Their presence pressed around me like heat and gravity and something darker. Something deeper.
Evander's fingertips grazed my bare shoulder. "You feel it, don't you?"
I nodded mutely.
Theron was behind me now, one hand firm on my waist. "Let us help."
I should've said no. Should've pulled away. But I didn't. I couldn't.
Their magic curled around mine, seducing it, unraveling it. I felt lightheaded, high off the contact. My skin buzzed where they touched me.
And then—
Knock knock knock.
I jumped, practically leaping out of my skin.
Theron growled softly. Evander swore under his breath.
"Lani?" Sera's voice floated through the door. "Are you up? I brought muffins! Also there's kind of... um...silver situation happening?"
I covered my mouth with both hands, face burning.
Theron sighed and backed away, running a hand through his hair. "She has timing," he muttered.
Evander rolled his eyes but stepped toward the door.
I grabbed Theron's wrist. "Don't let her in."
He paused, searching my face.
Theron nodded. "Then she won't."
Evander cracked the door. "She's sleeping," he said smoothly. "Come back later."
"But I just heard her—"
"Later," he repeated, and shut the door in her face.
Silence fell.
I let out a shaky breath. "Shes going to kill me."
Theron smile faintly. "Not before we get the chance."
Evander turned back to me, his voice low and certain. "You're changing, Lani. You feel it. We feel it. And this—" he touched a glowing lock of hair, "—is just the beginning."
The weight of their presence pressed in on me, thick and overwhelming, but before I could process it fully, Theron's hand moved to my cheek, his thumb brushing over my flushed skin.
"Don't worry," he whispered, his voice like a caress. "You're not alone in this."
Evander's eyes flickered to the door, as if sensing something I couldn't. He stepped closer, his gaze dark, dangerous. "You'll adjust. It's just the beginning."
I nodded, but the tremor in my chest refused to subside.
"Can we help you?" Theron asked, his lips curling into a slow, predatory smile.
I didn't have an answer, but somehow, I already knew—everything was about to change.
~
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