Page 20 of Blood Match

“Ancient powers, hear us. Wrap Mia in stardust and moonbeams till we meet again in the shadow of the stars.” Seraphina begins to chant in the ancient language of our ancestors, her words weaving a spell of remembrance and release. The crystals start to glow faintly, pulsing in time with her words. Tears blur my vision as I think of Mia, trying to focus on happy memories rather than the ache of her absence.

Suddenly, a blood-curdling scream pierces the night. My head snaps up, heart pounding.

What the—?

Dark figures burst from the trees, moving with inhuman speed.

“Vampires!” someone shouts. And then, everything goes crazy. The circle shatters as witches scatter, magic crackling in the air. I stumble backward, nearly falling as something whooshes past me.

A vampire, teeth bared in a feral grin, lunges for Gran.

“No!” I cry out, reaching for her. But I’m too slow, too weak, too useless.

6

Chapter 6

Darick

The soft glow of the moon casts long shadows across the manicured lawns and carefully tended flowerbeds of my gardens. The night air is cool against my skin, but it does little to ease the churning in my mind.

This is unbelievable. Un-fucking-believable.

I’ve lived long enough to see empires rise and fall, witnessed the birth of technology that would have been considered magic in my youth. Yet nothing – absolutely nothing – has prepared me for this.

A voice in my head. A woman’s voice, no less.

I pause by a statue of Artemis, her marble form frozen in an eternal hunt. How fitting. I feel like I’m on a hunt of my own, chasing answers that seem to slip further away with each passing moment.

The conversation replays in my mind for the hundredth time. Her voice, clear as a bell, demanding I get out of her head. As if I were the one intruding. The audacity of it almost makes me chuckle. Almost.

But the laughter dies in my throat as I consider the implications. If this is real – and that’s a big if – it means I’m experiencing some form of psychic connection. In all my years, I’ve never encountered anything like it. Vampires have their own forms of mental communication, sure, but this? This is something else entirely.

Who the hell is she? And how the hell did she get into my thoughts? Is it some sort of trickery to infiltrate our clan? Learn our secrets?

But no, that doesn’t fit. She seemed just as surprised as I was. Just as confused. Just as angry.

I reach out and touch a rose petal. The scent wafts up, rich and intoxicating. Once, long ago, I would have savored it. Now, I’m too preoccupied.

The Bloodbane. Could this be a symptom? To be honest, as much as we’re aware of it, we don’t really know much about it. The Bane seems to affect everyone differently. I’ve considered the possibility of hallucinations, but this felt too real, too interactive to be a mere figment of my imagination. And yet, the alternative seems impossible. I’m connected to someone.

I continue my path through the garden, each step measured and deliberate. The gravel crunches beneath my feet.

What if it is real?

What if, somehow, I’ve formed a connection with this woman? The implications are staggering. It could change everything we know about vampire physiology, about the limits of our abilities.

Or it could be the first sign that I’m losing my grip on reality.

I clench my fists, feeling my nails dig into my palms. The pain is sharp, immediate. Real. Unlike the voice in my head.

But even as I think it, I know I’m lying to myself. It felt real. As real as the ground beneath my feet, as real as the blood that no longer flows through my veins.

I stop at the edge of a small pond, its surface a perfect mirror of the night sky above. My reflection stares back at me, pale and ageless. The face of a predator.

And now, that face looks uncertain. Troubled.

Scared.