I turned my hand every which way again, but had to concentrate so the movement stayed slower, and when the sunlight hit my palm and fingers, I realizedwhymy hand looked strange.
I was paler.
My thoughts raced as more memories of what had happened sliced through me one after another like an assassin’s blade.
I brought a hand to my chest because it felt as though my heart should be thundering, but everything inside me felt still.
I placed my palm on my breastbone, butnothingmoved within.
“Oh Gods!” Beneath my hand, I registered the feel of the dress I was wearing, but that wasn’t what worried me.
The absolutestillnessbeneath it did.
I jumped from the bed. Panic began to race through me, but I didn’t feel the urge to inhale rapidly or slow my thundering heart because my heart was silent. It no longer beat.
A memory surged to the surface of my mind. Of the vamfeer in Inisville. Of the way it’d been alive but had no heartbeat either.
“No!” I wailed as the complexity of what I’d endured hit me like a meteor. I sank to my knees, my bones hitting the floor, yet no pain came. “No, no, no, no?—”
“Ah, you’re conscious, and right on time.” Arnel slipped inside my room and closed the door behind himself, and three things hit me at once.
One, he’d done what he’d threatened to do—he’d made me ingest the potion and had turned me into a vampire.
Two, my magic was back. It surged strongly and potently inside me, which meant Tylen’s nulling power had worn off.
And three, an overwhelming magnetic pull to my uncle made me intrinsically turn to him.
What in the realm?
“Stand, Primelle.”
His command hit my ears and had no sooner registered in my mind when I found myself on my feet. Bewildered, I stared down at my standing legs.
“What have you done to me?” I whispered.
“Do you remember this morning?”
“I...” I swallowed reflexively, and a faint thumping sound reached my ears. It pulled at me,interestedme. I stared at my uncle’s chest, at the beating organ within it. I licked my lips. “I remember it, yes.”
“Then you already know the answer to your question. You drank the potion and turned. You are now a vampire, and as the potion creator, I am your Maker.” He clasped his hands behind his back. “Now, first things first. You need to contact Kole and tell him you’re fine. I want you to use your magic to connect with him, but your conversation is to be kept short, and you’re to donothingthat will make him suspect anything is wrong. You’re only to check in with him and ask him appropriate questions so he doesn’t suspect anything. Then you’re to end the conversation. Now, do it.”
It hit me that he’d said earlier my planned check-in with Kole was fixable, and no sooner had that realization hit me than I was linking my mind to Kole’s.
Automatically.
Against my will.
Magic flew out of me, and despite the distance, I found my mate immediately. My magic scratched against his distant consciousness, still just outside of Whiteolf, and he opened to me the second I did, obviously remembering the feel of it from my contact with him that morning.
Prim?He sounded anxious. Worried. Not like himself at all.
I wanted to warn him of what had happened to me, to not be fooled, but my uncle’s command didn’t allow it. MyMakerhad said I couldn’t raise Kole’s suspicions. Somehow, my voice was steady and light, even though I didn’t want that.
Hi, sorry it took me so long to contact you. I hope I didn’t worry you. How did the meeting go this afternoon?
He sighed.They know.
A new sense of panic hit me, but it wasmypanic, nothing commanded by my uncle.What do they know?
