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M y ears ring.

I drown in pain.

My vision blurs.

I’m dying.

I collapse to the floor, vaguely aware of the fighting next to me.

How am I still alive?

I can feel my blood gushing out of the wound on my neck. My heartbeat is slowing. My body relaxes as life drains from me.

But I stay.

I watch.

Millie launches herself at Henry. He stabs her in the stomach, just like he had done to me.

She doesn’t back down. She latches her arm around his neck and uses her weight to bring him to the ground. He wasn’t expecting the move, and they land with Millie underneath him—her front to his back. She wraps her legs around his waist.

“Now, Layla,” she screams, though the words sound muffled, as if I’m underwater.

I struggle to keep my eyes open, but I have to see.

Layla stands over Henry, a stake in her hands, and she brings it down. The wood sinks down into his chest. The last thing I remember before passing out is his body bursting into flames.

“ S tay with me,” a familiar voice says.

Millie?

“Yes, Teddy, it’s me. I need you to drink.”

My mouth is full of blood, and I’m not sure if it’s mine or Millie’s.

“Please. You will die if you do not drink.”

Die? I was already going to die. But I still had a few months left. I don’t want to die now. It’s too soon .

Wait. Is this… is this really happening? Is Millie turning me? I weakly clasp her arm and start drinking.

Angry voices reach my ears, muffled like my vision is blurred.

Millie’s blood isn’t healing me this time. I’m pretty sure I’m in some weird limbo between life and death. I’m unnaturally cold and as hard as I try, I can’t feel my heartbeat. Am I dead?

“Yes,” Millie answers, even though I’m not saying the words out loud. “My blood brought you back, but it’s not enough this time. You must complete the turn to survive.”

“You do not have the right to do this,” someone says.

“He’s my blood mate.”

“What? Impossible.”

“You heard Henry. His blood is unusual. He can’t be compelled. Those are signs of a blood mate. My blood mate. I’ve claimed him.”

“It’s true. She’s highly protective of him too,” Layla adds. “And they’ve been inseparable since meeting two weeks ago. You know vampires never get that territorial or attached to a human, even the ones they intend to sire.”

“I love him,” Millie says with a sob.

A chorus of gasps fill the room.

“Please, I can’t let him die. I won’t be able to live without him. I will face the sun if he… ”

Her words trail. Bloody tears fall down Millie’s face as she combs her fingers through my hair while I feed from her.

“He has to consent.”

All heads in the room turn to me. I give them a weak thumbs up since I can’t speak. The informal motion of permission garners some chuckles, including a tearful laugh from my queen.

“The rules state he must verbally consent,” an older man with salt and pepper hair begins. “But very well. It’s clear this is a unique case. We will have more thorough questioning for you and your fledgling after his turn. Are we clear, Your Majesty?”

“Yes,” Millie says, not once looking away from me as I ingest her blood.

“I will send for a donor. He will need one to complete the turn.”

The room starts to clear, and a man is sent in a few minutes later.

“You’ve had enough, Teddy.”

I don’t want to stop. Millie’s blood is too good. But the moment the man approaches us, I smell it.

I smell him .

His human blood .

I release Millie’s arm and sit up, clutching my throat. It burns with how much I want this man’s blood.

“This is Ayame,” Millie says, and he sits on the ground next to us.

He’s a beautiful man. Tall and thick with dark brown skin and rich brown eyes.

“He has given consent for you to feed from him,” Millie continues. “I’ll puncture his skin since you don’t have fangs yet. You’ll get those once the transformation begins. It’ll take a few days and it’s going to be extremely painful. Do you understand, Teddy?”

“Yes.”

It’s all I can say because I’m both terrified and excited .

Millie leans in and bites Ayame on the neck. Once she moves back, he repositions himself to straddle me.

Oh. Wow. This is intimate.

“Feeding is intimate.”

I didn’t realize I had said that out loud.

“But he’s straddling you so you can easily drink from him.”

Millie places a palm on my shoulder.

“I’ll be right here watching.”

Fuck. Why is that hot?

If I weren’t in between life and death, maybe this turning ceremony could be something entirely different.

“Clear your mind, Teddy. Those thoughts are not very helpful right now.”

You can hear my thoughts?!

“Yes. Now drink so you’re not wasting Ayame’s blood.”

My mouth covers the bite wound, and I draw the thick, warm liquid past my lips.

I groan and wrap my arms around the man. He gasps, but not in fear. I can taste his pleasure.

“Easy, Teddy,” Millie whispers.

I drink from Ayame for only a few minutes before Millie stops me.

I could have kept feeding.

“His heart was beginning to slow. You have enough of my blood and his for the transformation to be successful.”

Millie holds out her hands to help me and Ayame stand. She turns to him.

“Thank you for your donation.”

He nods and leaves us, and I briefly wonder if Millie got his phone number so we can revisit my earlier thoughts.

“He’ll be easy to track down,” she says with a small chuckle, once again reading my thoughts. I should ask her about that, but I’m starting to feel woozy. “We should go. We have an hour before sunrise. ”

Millie walks us out of the room, and she passes me off to two guards who nearly carry me because of how delirious I am.

I feel drunk and high and out of my body.

I don’t remember much after that. Only pain that seems to last for days upon end.

Searing pain as if my blood has been set on fire.

Biting pain as if ice water has been thrown on the flames encasing my body.

Piercing pain as if I’m being stabbed over every inch of my skin.

Feverish pain as if I’ve become ill with a virus that’s making me sweat and toss and turn.

Aching pain within my mouth as my fangs grow.

And finally, a gasping pain as life leaves my body.

The transformation is complete.