I exhale slowly through my nose.He’s not here.
The tug in my skull seems to vibrate, as if laughing. He’s never far away now.
I grit my teeth.
“It makes sense that Orem used blood for this, though,” Taren says.
“What do you mean?” Red asks.
“Well, it’s simple. Blood amplifies the flow of magic through the sigil. With this many, he would’ve needed something to fuse the symbols. Otherwise, they would’ve worked against each other.” Taren’s voice lowers, but whatever she says is lost to the sudden pounding in my ears.
“Holy shit.” I sit up, mouth going dry.Blood.How could I have forgotten?
“Taren,” I say. Both she and Red look up. “We know Rip used his blood to create the mark on me, but what if…” I shiver, the pieces clicking together. “What if he did the same thing on himself?”
“What makes you think that?”
I grip the camera tighter, knuckles white. The words tumble out before I can stop them. “Orem took some blood from me that night. I completely forgot about it until just now. I think hewantedme to forget.” I rub my temples. I’m sure of it. He wiped my memory. “Rip didn’t want him to—he didn’t want…”Fuck, why can’t I remember?
Taren crosses the room. “Just tell me what you know.”
“Orem and Rip were talking across the room. Then they came to me and drugged me. Rip cut his wrist and used his blood to draw the mark. But Orem—before he sealed it…” I close my eyes, trying to picture the scene in my head. I can almost feel the chill of the floor, the burn of the chains. Hear their voices.
The tug in my skull seems to vibrate, like Rip doesn’t want me to figure this out. Too fucking bad. I dig deeper.
I can see Orem and Rip fighting by the stage, Orem pointing at me, Rip shaking his head. “He tried to get Rip to do something, but he wouldn’t. He didn’t trust Orem. He said he wanted—he needed to see how it worked first. So Orem took my blood, and—” I snap my eyes to her. “He said ‘you’ll change your mind eventually.’”
Taren’s golden eyes dance between mine. “So Orem always intended to use your blood on Rip?”
I nod, skin going cold. “What if he used it to mirror the mark or something? Like a reflection. Could that make it stronger?”
Her mind is already racing. “A mirrored rune… created with blood…” She returns to the table, flipping back through the pages of a thick leather-bound textbook. “Wait a minute. That would create a—oh gods.” Her voice drops to a whisper. “An Eclipse Seal.”
I frown. “A what?”
She doesn’t answer right away. Her face has gone pale. “It’s a deeply forbidden evolution of the Shadow Bond. It doesn’t just bind the symbols together; it binds the person to thecreator. Centuries ago, vampires experimented with it during their blood slave rituals. They banned it after humans were lost to it.”
My heartbeat stumbles. “Lost to it how?”
“Do you remember the history of the vampire slaves? They’d become dependent on the vampire and would do what they wanted? It’s because of marks like this. This kind of spell creates a bond so powerful that it eclipses another person,” she says. “The ownership, protection, time? It’s not just Rip’s claiming of you—it’s himconsumingyou. The sigil on you acts like the moon during an eclipse, absorbing light—your essence, your autonomy. When Rip—if this is what he did—mirrored it on himself using your blood, the two marks aligned like the sun and moon crossing. Theresult isn’t balance. It’s occlusion. Your light dims beneath his shadow. He can pass his will through the bond until—”
“He controls me,” I say, shaking.
Taren’s silence is answer enough.
The room tilts.
So Jericho was right. They’re reviving the blood slaves.
Red mutters a curse, dragging a hand through his hair.
A sharp tug in my chest makes me snap my eyes to the doorway, where Rowen is standing, hand gripping the doorway with white knuckles. He must’ve felt my growing anxiety and came running. From the look on his face, he’d heard everything.
Taren exhales shakily. “It explains the change in the sigil too. He must’ve sealed it on his end, which triggered the eclipse.”
“So what does this mean for Tobias?” Red asks.
She sucks in a breath. “Well, it evolves, just like an eclipse. It happens slowly. The full alignment can take time—days, weeks maybe. Once complete…” She stops herself.
