Chapter 128 The Rising Beast
Lyra stood frozen in the lobby, her hand still tight around the blood-stained fork she had taken from the dining hall.
The woman in front of her looked like royalty. Her skin was so pale it almost looked blue under the dim palace lights, and her silver hair fell in a straight, heavy sheet down to her waist.
"I am Seraphina," the woman said, her voice echoing in the large, empty space. "The sister of the man you think you can escape. And I have been waiting for you to try something this stupid."
Lyra didn't wait to hear more. She knew she was outmatched, but the fear for Ryker and the anger at being a prisoner snapped something inside her.
She lunged forward, swinging the fork toward Seraphina’s throat. She was fast, but Seraphina was faster. The vampire moved quickly, her hand catching Lyra’s wrist in mid-air.
.
Seraphina didn't just stop the attack; she twisted Lyra’s arm behind her back and slammed her face-first against a marble pillar.
Lyra gasped as the cold stone hit her forehead.
"You think you’re a warrior?" Seraphina hissed in her ear. "You’re a dog. A half-breed mistake that my brother has wasted too much time on. You aren't a guest here, Lyra. You are a tool. And tools don't run away."
Lyra struggled, kicking back with her heels, but Seraphina grabbed a handful of Lyra’s hair and yanked her head back.
With a sudden shove, Seraphina threw Lyra into the center of the hall. Lyra hit the floor hard, sliding across the polished black stone until she came to a stop in the middle of a massive circle.
Vampires began to emerge from the balconies and the side rooms. They were all dressed in sleeping robes and they looked down at Lyra with expressions of pure disgust.
"Look at her!" Seraphina shouted, her voice booming so everyone could hear. She walked slowly around Lyra. "This is the great prize my brother brought home. This is the woman the IronFangs are so proud of. Look at how she crawls in the dirt!"
The onlookers began to laugh and someone even spat on the floor near Lyra’s hand.
"The werewolves think they are our equals," Seraphina continued, gesturing to the crowd. "They think because they have fur and claws, they can stand against us. But look at their Luna. She is nothing! She is a weak, pathetic pup who can't even get past a single door without being caught."
Lyra looked up, her vision blurred.
She saw the faces of the vampires, the mockery in their eyes, and she felt a heat starting to rise in her chest.
It was rage. She forced herself to go limp. She slumped her shoulders and let her head hang low, making herself look as defeated as possible.
"Please," Lyra whispered, her voice trembling. "Please, just let me go. I don't want to be here. I'll go back to the pack and we will never trouble you again. Just spare me."
Seraphina stopped walking and stood over her. She let out a loud, mocking laugh. "Spare you? Why would I spare a dog? You are worth nothing to me. If I killed you right now, my brother would be angry for a day, and then he would find a replacement for his ritual in a week. You aren't special, Lyra."
Seraphina leaned down, her face inches from Lyra’s. "You are just a half-breed," she whispered, her voice full of scorn. "You’re a freak of nature. My brother thinks you’re a masterpiece, but I know the truth. It isn't hard to create something like you. It just takes a little blood and a lot of luck. You are replaceable."
That was the final spark.
The heat in Lyra’s chest exploded.
She growled and it wasn't a human sound or the sound of a normal wolf. It was a deep, guttural roar that vibrated loudly.
In a split second, Lyra transformed.
But she didn't turn into a wolf. Her body grew larger, her muscles bulging beneath her skin, which took on a strange, shimmering blue tint.
Her hair lengthened, and her fingernails turned into black, serrated claws. Her fangs didn't just grow; they doubled in size, dripping with a thick saliva.
Before Seraphina could even blink, Lyra lunged.
She opened her jaws and bit down hard on Seraphina’s shoulder and neck. Her teeth sank deep into the vampire’s cold flesh, crushing the bone beneath.
Seraphina let out a high-pitched, curdling scream that echoed through the palace. She tried to push Lyra off, clawing at Lyra’s face, but Lyra didn't let go. She held Seraphina in place, her jaws locking with a strength that was impossible.
Blood poured into Lyra’s mouth, and for the first time, it didn't make her sick. It made her stronger.
The vampires on the balconies stopped laughing. They surged forward, their fangs bared, ready to help their princess.
But as they got closer to the center of the hall, they stopped. They were afraid to see Lyra in hybrid form. Something none of them had ever witnessed before.
"Get off her!" one of the male vampires shouted, but he stayed five feet away. He was afraid. He had lived for hundreds of years, and he had never seen anything like the creature standing in the middle of the hall.
Lyra’s size was different from any werewolf they had ever fought. She was bigger, faster, and her skin looked like it was made of stone.
She looked like a nightmare brought to life.
Lyra stayed locked onto Seraphina until the woman stopped struggling and went limp. Only then did Lyra open her jaws and toss Seraphina aside. The vampire princess hit the base of a pillar like a broken doll, her silver hair matted with her own blood.
She was alive, but she wasn't moving.
Lyra stood in the center of the hall, her chest heaving. She looked around at the crowd of vampires and she let out another roar of pure dominance that sent the onlookers scrambling back.
Not a single one of them moved to stop her.
She felt a surge of power that made her feel invincible. She didn't look at Seraphina again. She turned toward the massive black doors at the front of the palace.
And she ran.
She was moving so fast that the weak and terrified guards at the door didn't even have time to raise their spears.
She smashed through the heavy wood doors, the hinges snapping like toothpicks as she burst out into the dark streets of the vampire city.
She didn't stay on the main road, she leapt onto the side of a building, her claws digging into the stone, and climbed toward the rooftops.
She moved, leaping from building to building.
Below her, she could hear the bells of the palace starting to ring. The alarm had been raised and no doubt, vampires would pour out into the streets to hunt her down.