The world spins around me.
My head is pounding. I’m sure I have a concussion.
I should shift. I need to shift. But before I can even think the thought, a blade is pressed against my neck from an invisible force. I can’t see the person pushing the blade against me. It’s like an invisible person is straddling my body. I can feel their weight, but not see them.
They must be a witch or at least, working with one. Magic shields them. They have no claws, no teeth, no fangs to kill me with, so they have to choose a blade.
A witch or a human working with one.
I grab onto the handle of the blade that is pushing down on me. It’s my own blade, I realize. The bastard is trying to kill me with my own blade.
I push with all of my strength, trying to keep the blade from slicing into me. I grunt, pushing with everything I have to keep the blade in the air, but with each passing second, I’m losing. The blade sinks lower and lower, pricking my skin.
Warm blood oozes out of me. An inch lower and I’m dead. There will be nothing left of me for Riven to heal. I’ll just be gone. The prophecy, the curses, none of them will matter anymore. Not until someone else is born, destined to break the curses. And by then, everyone I love could be dead.
I’m not going to die this way. I refuse.
“Ambrose! Help!”I cry out in my mind.
But if he hears me, he doesn’t respond immediately. And even if he did, I’m not sure where I am or who I’m fighting. It feels, at the moment, like I’m fighting against myself. But that can’t be true? Someone has to be controlling the blade. Themagic. The void I disappeared into. Someone is behind this. Which means they can be defeated.
I push harder, with all of my might, but the blade lowers again. Piercing deeper.
Blood flows freely now. If I don’t get help to heal this wound, I’ll die. I’ll bleed out. Even if the blade doesn’t lower again, I’ll die.
But the person holding the blade seems intent on slicing my head clean off.
I gurgle, blood seems to be stuck in my throat now, making it hard to breathe. I don’t feel pain, which can’t be good. I shiver. I feel cold.
Shift, I should shift.But my brain is going blank. I have no idea how to shift.Shift into what?I don’t understand.
“Lumi!” a high-pitched voice registers in my head, but it’s a voice I don’t recognize.
She’s standing over me now, the blade is still pressing against my neck. Blood still covers me. I’m still cold.
“Do you trust me?” the warm voice asks.
I don’t know whose asking. I don’t know how to answer. I want to say I don’t trust anyone but him, but I don’t say that.
I gurgle.
“I’m going to take that as a yes,” she says.
And then I feel her fangs at my throat. She’s a vampire. She’s going to kill me.
Right now, I don’t care. I just want this to end quickly. She’ll pull my blood quickly, ensuring that I die fast.
Instead, a soft tongue laps over my wound, pulling a drop or two into her mouth.
“Shift,” she whispers, but it’s not just a suggestion; it’s mind control. I feel her single word twist into my brain, until I have no choice but to obey her command, even if my brain can’t comprehend what she means by the word.
Pain explodes out of my body in a way that it wasn’t before. My bones twist, break. My body contorts. But the pain is over in seconds.
Soft fur coats my body, warming me instantly. My breathing slows. I still feel the pain, but my blade has dropped to the ground next to me.
Hands cover my wound at my neck, trying to keep what remains of my blood inside my body.
“Hold on, Lumi, help will be here soon,” she says, but I’m not going to make it. My eyes begin to flutter shut. I just want to sleep. I fight it, keeping my eyes open a second longer. Enough to look into the eyes of my savior. Enough for my brain to process who saved me—Amora.