"For seeing it. For carrying it with me now." I look up at him. "I'm not alone in it anymore."
His expression shifts, something fierce and tender all at once. "You're never alone. Not anymore. Whatever else they locked in your mind, whatever else we discover, we face it together. Understood?"
"Understood."
He kisses me then, soft and slow. A seal on a promise. When he pulls back, the trembling in his hands has stilled.
But his expression remains troubled.
"The daylight," he says quietly. "That's what I can't stop thinking about. You and Konstantin, standing in sunlight. Not burning."
"It shouldn't be possible."
"No. It shouldn't." He's quiet for a moment, and I can see him turning something over in his mind.
"There are legends," he says slowly. "Old stories. About vampires who found ways to walk in sunlight. The methods were always considered too dangerous, too costly. Most dismissed them as myths."
"But you don't think they're myths."
"I think Konstantin has been alive for over a thousand years, and he hasn't survived that long by being ordinary." His jaw tightens. "But I don't know what we actually saw. Whether he's found some way to withstand sunlight, whether it only works temporarily, whether you survived because of something he did or something you are."
The implication settles over me like cold water. "And there's no way to test it."
"No." His voice is rough. "If you step into sunlight and you can't withstand it, you burn. There's no halfway. No safe experiment."
So I might be able to walk in daylight. Or I might die theinstant I try. And we have no way of knowing which until it's too late.
He takes my hands, his grip tight. "We need to tell the others. If he's found a way to operate in daylight…"
"Then our plan is useless." The realization compounds what we've just discussed. "We're setting a trap for him at night. If he can move during the day, he could hit us while we're all sleeping. While we're helpless."
"The compound has human staff during daylight hours. Security measures that don't rely on vampires."
"Against Konstantin? Against someone with a thousand years of experience?" I shake my head. "We're not ready for this."
"We have to be." He stands, pulling me with him. "Come. We need to find Marcellus."
The inner circleassembles within the hour.
The mood in the conference room is tense as I recount what I saw. Fragmented as the memories are, the implications are clear. If Konstantin can walk in daylight, everything changes.
"It could be false," Nadia says when I finish. "Implanted memories designed to frighten us. Make us hesitate."
"To what end?" Julian counters. "If she hadn't had Maximus drink from her tonight, she wouldn't have remembered anything. Konstantin couldn't have planned for that."
"Unless he did." Marcellus's voice is grim. "Unless everything has been planned. Her turning, her arrival here, their relationship." He glances at Maximus. "All of it leading to this moment. To her, unlocking these memories right before we spring our trap."
"You think I'm compromised." I keep my voice level, though myhands are clenched at my sides. "You think these memories are a weapon."
"I think we'd be fools not to consider the possibility."
"Enough." Maximus's voice cuts through the tension. "We can debate the nature of her memories later. Right now, we need to focus on the practical question: do we still go to this meeting?"
Silence falls.
"His letter was clear," Julian says. "He wants both of you. If you don't show up…"
"He'll burn the network to ash," I finish. "He's made that threat before."
