I round the corner into the chamber, and everything stops.
The scent hits me first.
Old blood. Ether residue. And something else—cold that shouldn’t exist in physical form. The kind of empty that tastes like the Void.
Then I see him.
Standing near the black iron mirror, wild-eyed and lean. Pale skin that looks like it hasn’t seen real light in years. Dark hair falling into his face. The snake—Bree’s familiar—coiled around his wrist, glowing faintly silver.
And when he turns toward me—
“You.”
The word rips out of me like a snarl.
Seth flinches, and his lips pull back instinctively.
Fangs.
Sharp. White. Unmistakable.
My world narrows to a single point of rage.
I’m across the chamber before conscious thought catches up, hand closing around his throat, slamming him back against the mirror hard enough to rattle the glass.
The surface ripples behind him, silver light spilling across us both.
“Thane!” Stellan’s voice cuts through the static in my head. “Stop!”
But I can’t.
Because this is him. This is the man who betrayed her, who worked with Phil, who stood there and let her power tear through him while he smiled—
Except.
Seth’s eyes flash—not human, not quite vampire. Something in between.
The snake on his wrist glows brighter, wrapping tighter around his arm like a living shield.
My hand grows cold where it touches his throat. Not temperature—something deeper. Like the Void itself is pushing back through his skin.
My grip loosens—not because I want it to, but because the wrongness makes my instincts scream.
“What—” Seth’s voice comes out rough, panicked. His free hand flies to his mouth, touching his own teeth like he’s never felt them before. “What the hell—why do I have—”
He stares at me, horror bleeding across his face.
“What’s happening to me?” His voice cracks. “What the fuck am I?”
I freeze.
Because that’s not the reaction of someone who knows. That’s terror. Confusion. The kind of fear that only comes from waking up in a body that doesn’t make sense anymore.
“Thane.” Stellan’s hand closes on my shoulder, firm. “Let him go.”
I don’t move.
“Now.”
