Page 138 of Dark Flame

Realistically, I know I’m no good to him, especially like this.

The cup catches my eye and I run toward the broken fireplace.

Six months ago, I would have died before doing what I’m about to, but then again, six months ago I wasn’t the same person I am now.

It’s with very little thought that I place my lips to the cup at the same time a crash comes from behind me. The two vampires continue to throw one another around the small structure, evenly matched. I only hope that drinking the blood finalizes the change instantly and I can be some help to Alec.

Darkness cuffs my neck, making me shiver at its abrupt arrival.Drink, it demands, and I don’t hesitate to tip the cup back, swallowing every last drop of the earthy flavour that’s nothing like the sweetness of Alec’s blood.Welcome back,it whispers.

The blood pours into every corner of my body. Every nerve vibrates awake. Every sense becomes sharper, more aware. I can hear every curse, hiss, and grunt from the fighting vampires.

My hand lets the cup go, feeling oddly weak while the rest of me has never felt stronger.

My gums throb again, but this time, my incisors lengthen into full fangs. I reach up to touch the pointed ends, knowing later I’ll have time to dissect my new body.

For now, I turn back to my mate.

Just the sight of him has an impression snapping inside me. Something that makes mefeelhim—his rage while he battles. The grey connection I spotted after drinking from him strengthens into a brilliant bold colour, a myriad of black and purple.

I once said that while I was his Bride, witches don’t have mates.

Now, I’m a vampire. One of him.

His.

Darkness slithers around my body, a reminder it’s still here. My hands flex, heat surging into my palms. My magick never left; I was simply too drained to call upon it, but becoming a vampire has made me strong enough to control them.

The sight of Alec being slammed into a wall has red coating my vision. Fire ignites in one of my palms, a perfect little fireball to destroy the one threatening what’s mine.

Beneath my feet, the ground rumbles the same way my Darkness caused the cave-in. The same black tendrils wrap my arms, mingling with my flames and melding together, forming a black flame. Just as hot. Just as deadly.

You’re ours for good now,it whispers, but for once, I’m not frightened. I embrace it both as a witch who controls black magick and as a vampire who is a Dark creature.

Both vampires look up from their fight with different expressions. Cedric’s mouth slips open, his barely audible,“Shit!”heard as though I’m standing beside him. Alec smiles, his gaze hotter than the black flame. He backs up, leaving Cedric a rumpled, bloody mess on the ground who’s trying to regain his footing.

His lip curls. “You’re both idiots. You have no idea the mistake you’ve made, Sinclair. You’re the combination of a vampire and a witch—the exact weapon they’ll desire. Witches will follow you into Darkness, an army for the vampires. You’ll never have a side because you’re straddling the line of both. There’s nowhere you can hide where they won’t search.”

“Good thing it’s no longer your problem.”

I lift my hand, the black flame dancing around my fingers as I move them back and forth, almost thoughtfully. But his death isn’t mine, no matter what he’s done to me.

“What would you like done? He’s your best friend.”

My question seems to spark a bit of hope in Cedric who uses the wall to get partially upright. “Alec…don’t do this. You know how much Cora’s death broke me. I don’t blame you, not really.”

The plea rolls off Alec, who gives him a look of disgust, mingled with a bit of sorrow, but also encompassed in a lot of indifference. “Hewasmy best friend, but he stopped being that the second he thought to take your life.”

“No!”

Striding over Cedric whose final escape attempt is hindered by Alec, I tip my hand to allow the fire to roll off my palm and onto his body, his scream for help shifting into a howl of death.

His body bursts into flames, a mirage of black and orange, and Alec yanks me away. My tendrils unwrap the flame and link themselves around Cedric, holding him still as the fire bursts rather than burns, the combustion throwing Alec and me backwards. Within a moment, Cedric’s body is a pile of ash and the crumbling home falls victim to silence.

Alec slowly turns toward me, his gaze wandering my face and then my body as he reaches for me. He grazes the spot on my neck Cedric gripped, a flash of fury coming through the bond, but he doesn’t linger for long, moving to stroke my cheek, following the line toward my mouth, thumb parting my lips. He pokes the tip of my new fangs, amazement brightening his eyes.

“Fuck, Hellion,” he breathes. “Look at you. Your eyes—one’s still purple and one’s black.”

A sign of both sides of me.