First Blood

Lila woke up feeling like her head was stuffed with cotton. Her eyes opened slowly. She wasn't in Lucian's tower room anymore. She was lying on a cold stone table in a big room with tall pillars. Seven stone chairs stood in a circle around her. In the middle of the room was a round pool filled with red liquid that glowed faintly.

"The sealing chamber," she whispered, remembering Lucian's vision. Or had it been Darius's trick?

"You're awake." Darius stepped out from behind a wall. He wasn't pretending to be Lucian anymore. His silver hair shined in the strange red light, and his purple eyes watched her closely. "I was worried I gave you too much sleeping potion."

Lila tried to sit up, but leather bands held her arms and legs to the table. "Where's Lucian? Was he ever real?"

"Oh, Lucian is real." Darius smiled. "He's just... unavailable at the moment. I borrowed his face for a while."

"Let me go!" Lila pulled at the straps.

"Soon," Darius said. "After we test your blood."

Lila stopped fighting. "Test it for what?"

Darius picked up a small knife with a silver blade. "To see if you're ready. The Blood King thinks he has three more days until the blood moon. But I've learned to be... impatient."

He brought the knife to Lila's arm. She closed her eyes, expecting pain. But then a loud crash made her open them again. The huge doors at the end of the hall had burst open. The Blood King stood there, his face twisted with anger. Behind him were vampire guards with swords.

"Step away from her, Darius!" the Blood King yelled.

Darius just smiled. "You're too late, brother. The test has already begun."

Brother? Lila looked between the two men. The Blood King and Darius were brothers?

Before anyone could move, Darius cut Lila's arm. A thin line of blood appeared, bright red against her skin. But instead of dripping down her arm, the blood started to glow. It floated upward like tiny red stars.

Everyone in the room froze, watching in wonder. Even Darius looked surprised.

"Impossible," the Blood King whispered. "She's already changing."

The floating drops of Lila's blood floated toward the red pool in the center of the room. When they touched the surface, the entire pool lit up like fire. The red light shot upward in a beam that reached the high ceiling.

Darius laughed. "You see? She's ready now! We don't need to wait for the blood moon!"

The Blood King rushed forward, but he was too late. Darius had already cut the straps holding Lila. He pulled her off the table and toward the glowing pool.

"Come, little witch," Darius whispered in her ear. "Time to meet your destiny."

Lila tried to fight, but she was still weak from the sleeping drug. Her feet dragged on the stone floor as Darius pulled her closer to the pool.

Suddenly, a familiar voice called her name. "Lila!"

She turned her head to see Kael running into the chamber. His eyes were clear now, not black. The mark on his neck was gone.

"The blood in the vial," the Blood King yelled to Kael. "It worked!"

Kael nodded. "I'm free of his control." He pointed at Darius. "Let her go!"

Darius snarled. "You can't stop this, boy." He pulled Lila even closer to the edge of the pool.

The red light was so bright now that Lila could hardly see. The room seemed to be spinning around her. She felt power growing inside her body, like the time she had fought Kael, but stronger. Much stronger.

Then, just as Darius was about to push her into the pool, something strange happened. The cuts on Lila's arm began to heal on their own. More drops of her blood floated up, but instead of moving toward the pool, they swirled around her like tiny birds. They formed a wall between her and Darius.

"What's happening?" Darius tried to touch her, but the blood wall pushed his hand away.

Lila felt a voice in her mind. Selene's voice.

"Remember who you are," Selene whispered. "Remember your power."

Images flashed through Lila's mind. Seven women with her face, living different lives in different times. Each one fighting against darkness. Each one dead before they could finish the job.

"Not this time," Lila said out loud.

She focused on the drifting drops of her blood. They reacted to her thoughts, moving faster, forming shapes in the air. With a push of her will, the blood shield burst outward, throwing Darius away from her.

He hit one of the stone walls and slid to the floor, looking shocked.

The Blood King ran to Lila's side. "Are you hurt?"

She shook her head, too amazed by what she had just done to speak.

"The contract," the Blood King said softly. "It's working faster than I thought. Our powers are already linking."

Kael joined them, looking at Lila with wide eyes. "I've never seen anything like that."

"No one has," the Blood King agreed. "Not since Selene herself."

Darius stood up, brushing dust from his clothes. He didn't look angry anymore. He looked excited.

"Do you see now, brother?" he said to the Blood King. "She's the one. The vessel we've been waiting for. She can hold all of it, not just a part."

"She's not a vessel," the Blood King growled. "She's a person."

"She's a witch," Darius amended. "The last Crimson Witch. And soon, she'll be so much more."

Guards moved to grab Darius, but he was too quick. He jumped backward into the shadows between two pillars and vanished.

"How did he do that?" Lila asked.

"Shadow walking," the Blood King explained. "An old skill few vampires have anymore." He looked around the room. "We need to leave. This place isn't safe."

As they turned to go, Lila noticed something weird about the red pool. The light was fading, but the liquid was moving on its own, forming forms that looked almost like words.

"Wait," she said, stepping closer to read what it said.

The blood in the pool spelled out three words: FIND THE CHILD.

"What child?" Lila asked.

The Blood King pulled her away. "We need to go. Now."

As they left the room, Lila felt eyes watching her. She looked back and saw a woman standing by the pool. It was Selene, wearing Lila's face but with eyes as black as night.

Selene smiled and put a finger to her lips. Then she pointed to the pool where new words were forming.

SHE IS YOU.

Before Lila could ask what it meant, Selene vanished, and the room doors swung shut behind them.