The Ravencrest infirmary was quiet when Elara was brought there that afternoon.
The slanting sunlight streamed in through the tall windows and fell on the gleaming white floor, making the all-white room feel too bright for Elara, who was still feeling a little dizzy after class.
The two-hour class focused on the instincts and self-control of a werewolf–how to control their urges, their hunting instincts, and how to stay in control when emotions run high.
None of this was something Elara needed to know as a human.
Right after she walked in, Elara immediately recognized the vampire standing near the table.
He was the same one who had drawn her blood the day before.
He smiled and bowed his head slightly as she and Kael approached.
“Lady Elara,” he greeted.
Elara gave a small nod.
She still remembered what had happened yesterday–especially how the vampire had nearly lost control the moment her blood hit the floor.
However, compared to her fear, what Elara felt most now was simply exhaustion.
“I wanted to apologize for what happened yesterday,” the vampire said.
“I should have had better control over myself.
I never meant to put you in danger.”
Kael, standing at her left, let out a short huff through his nose.
“At least you know how stupid that was.”
The vampire glanced at him but didn’t answer.
He turned back to Elara instead.
“I really am sorry.”
“It’s fine,” Elara said after a moment.
“I’m okay.”
Kael turned to look at her.
“Are you, though?” One eyebrow lifted.
She shot him a glare.
He’d just declared war.
“Would you shut up?”
The vampire seemed to decide it was smarter to stay out of it.
He gestured toward the medical bed near the window.
“Have a seat.
This won’t take long.”
Elara did as told and lay down on the bed.
She rolled up her right sleeve as he got ready.
Kael stood still beside the bed–until the man set a glass bottle on the table, and something about it caught his attention.
“Why’s the bottle bigger than usual?” Kael asked, brow furrowing.
The vampire followed his gaze.
He hesitated before answering.
“The royal reserves are running low.” His eyes shifted to Elara.
“They need more blood from you.”
“How much?” Kael cut in, his flat expression shifting.
“As much as necessary.” The vampire’s smile stayed perfectly calm.
“That’s not an answer.”
The vampire looked at him, patience thinning.
“We’ll stop when it’s enough.”
Kael didn’t push further.
He held the man’s gaze for a beat, then let his eyes settle back on Elara.
“If it starts to hurt, tell me.”
“I know.” For once she didn’t argue.
Truthfully, she was worried too–about how much they’d take from her.
The vampire tied off her right arm and found a vein with practiced ease.
Elara turned her face away as the needle came closer to her skin.
Her eyes met Kael’s instead.
He’d become, without meaning to, the thing she focused on to keep from watching the needle.
He stood there with his arms crossed, close enough that she realized he’d been watching her this whole time–not the needle, not the bottle waiting to be filled.
“Why are you staring at me?”
He raised an eyebrow.
“Who’s staring?”
“You’re obviously staring.”
“Then don’t look back.
Watch the needle that’s about to go in your vein instead.” His tone was sharp, and it worked–dragging her attention right back to the thing she’d been trying to avoid.
The needle slid in.
She winced, then fixed her eyes on the window behind him.
Blood began to move through the clear tube, dark and slow, toward the bottle.
At first, nothing was different from yesterday.
Elara just lay there, watching the afternoon light slowly change color outside the window.
She didn’t think about taking the needle out of her hand anymore–unless she was completely fed up with life.
A few seconds later, her fingertips went cold.
She flexed them, feeling the numbness creep in, and rubbed her free hand against the sheets, chasing whatever warmth she could find.
“Why do I feel cold?” she asked.
The vampire, watching the blood flow, answered without looking up.
“That’s normal.”
She wasn’t convinced.
She glanced at Kael, but he was still watching her, brow drawn tight.
He said nothing this time–just let his eyes drop to her hand for a moment before returning to her face.
She meant to ask again, but her head suddenly felt too light.
She blinked, trying to bring her blurring vision back into focus.
A faint sourness settled on her tongue, like she’d bitten down on something metallic.
The room seemed to tilt, spin, then still.
“Is this really normal?” she asked, her forehead creasing.
“What’s wrong?” Kael was already leaning in.
“What are you feeling?”
“My head’s just…” She paused, hunting for the right word.
“Light.”
Kael’s eyes cut to the bottle.
There was already far more in it than he’d expected.
“How much are you taking?”
The vampire said nothing.
“How much?” Kael repeated, his voice dropping lower.
“We’re almost done.” Whatever warmth had been in his tone was gone now.
Cold.
“You didn’t answer me.
How much are you taking?”
The vampire met his stare, just as cold.
“A little more.”
Elara let her eyes fall shut.
Their voices sounded further away, even though they were both still standing in the same spot, not moving anywhere.
A heaviness began to settle on her eyelids, while her body felt as if it were losing its calm little by little.
When she opened her eyes again, Kael’s face filled her vision.
“Elara?”
She tried to answer, but her voice barely carried.
“I’m fine.”
“Don’t lie to me.”
She looked at him.
Something in his voice made her stop arguing–no mockery this time, none of the usual jabs he threw just to get under her skin.
Kael turned on the vampire, who still hadn’t pulled the needle from her wrist.
“Pull it out.
Now.” His voice was low.
“Not yet.” The vampire’s calm didn’t crack.
“Just a little more.”
Elara could only listen, drifting in and out.
Their faces blurred together, but she could still feel Kael’s anger building with every word.
“She’s white as a sheet!
Are you trying to kill her?”
“She’ll recover.” The vampire’s voice trembled, just slightly.
“I can’t go back with this little.
If I come back short, I won’t be the only one to suffer the consequences.”
“I said pull it out!”
“You can’t defy a royal order.” He tried the threat again, but his voice cracked on the last word.
“Pull it out.” Kael’s growl was low in his throat.
He didn’t care anymore.
“Kael, this is a direct–”
He crossed the distance in one motion.
His hand closed around the vampire’s throat and hauled him off his feet.
The vampire, taller than Kael by half a head, grabbed at the arm pinning him, trying to break free.
“The crown will be angry–” the vampire tried to threaten him again.
But Kael tightened his grip instead.
“My wrath could wipe out your entire race and leave nothing behind.
Pull it out.
Now.” Kael’s voice dropped to a very low tone.
No shouting.
No fake threats.
Instead, the calmness in Kael’s voice made his words sound far more terrifying.
The vampire finally yanked the needle free.
Elara could barely feel it anymore.
She caught one last glimpse of Kael moving back to her side before everything went black.
Less than a minute later, she opened her eyes again–but it turned out she was no longer in the infirmary.
She was standing in the corner of her mother’s kitchen.
A kitchen she knew by heart.
The old wooden table still sat where it always had.
The little shelves still lined the walls, and sunlight still fell through the window above the sink at the exact angle she remembered from every dream she’d ever had of this place.
She wanted to move toward the table, toward the chair her mother used to sit in, but her feet wouldn’t obey.
She tried again and again, and still couldn’t close the few steps between them.
Then came the sound of footsteps, fast, from the hallway.
A moment later her mother burst into the kitchen.
Elara knew her instantly.
“Mother?”
No answer.
Her mother kept looking back over her shoulder, as if she were afraid someone was following her.
Her face looked strange.
It lacked the calmness Elara always remembered about her.
There was panic in her expression–something that made Elara feel afraid too, even though she didn’t know what was going on.
Her mother rushed to a corner of the kitchen and dropped to her knees.
The old table blocked most of the view.
“Mother!”
The floorboards creaked as she knelt there.
Elara still couldn’t move toward her.
It didn’t take long.
Her mother was on her feet again, face still tight with panic, throwing glances back at the hallway before bolting for the back door–right past where Elara stood.
“Mother, wait!” she called again.
But her mother didn’t seem to see her at all.
Or maybe she wasn’t supposed to be seen.
Her mother ran deeper into the forest, which was filled with trees of various colors.
It was where Elara and her father usually went to look for squirrels, just to see where the squirrel family lived.
Elara watched her mother’s back turn smaller and smaller as the afternoon light shifted to evening, then sank away entirely.
Day turned to night in the space of a few heartbeats.
The walls blurred, the wooden floor dissolved beneath her feet, until darkness swallowed everything.
Elara woke with a gasp.
The white ceiling greeted her again.
She blinked a few times before she realized–she was back in the Ravencrest infirmary.
Rough sheets beneath her back, her right arm still throbbing where the needle had gone in.
She shifted slowly, trying to feel her way back into her own body.
“Easy.” Kael’s voice.
She turned her head, and he was still there.
He sat in a chair next to the bed, his body leaning slightly forward with both hands resting on his knees.
As soon as he saw that Elara had woken up, he let out a sigh, as if he’d confirmed something that had been on his mind all along.
“How long was I out?”
“Not days this time.
Just a few hours.”
She tried to sit up, but he pushed her shoulder back down, and she landed flat against the bed again.
“You just passed out from blood loss.
Don’t make this harder than it needs to be.”
She gave in and let him hand her a glass of water from the table.
He waited until she’d finished.
“Did you dream?” he asked.
She went quiet.
The question pulled her straight back to that kitchen.
She didn’t want to tell him.
Honestly, she was still confused about how she could be dreaming within the dream she was currently dreaming.
“I don’t know,” she said finally.
“I don’t remember.”
Kael stared at her, not answering right away.
“You were just screaming for your mother.”
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