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“How the hell does this prove anything? You just bit my mother!” I growled. But beneath the anger… I knew. I knew this proved everything. And I hated how badly I wanted to see what came next. My mother’s body sagged into Valentina’s chest. She caught her easily, lifting her like a ragdoll and carrying her to the couch as if she weighed nothing.

When Valentina turned back to me, she said, “We had to exchange blood. It’s the only way to turn her Elguto.”

“Elguto?” I repeated, completely lost.

“It means she wasn’t born a vampire; she was turned. Elguto vampires are considered unclean. Infected. Lowest on the totem. But hey, immortality’s immortality, right?” She shrugged.

“What did you say we were?” I muttered. Behind her, my mother’s heartbeat slowed, soft, too soft, fading into something that didn’t sound human anymore.

TAINTED | CHAPTER 2

Werewolves

My mother’s body lay limp against the couch. Her brunette hair splayed across the back of the blue polyester as her breathing was faint. Even her heartbeat was barely audible. It was so weak the wind could have drowned it out. Everything about her expression felt wrong in that moment. It was peaceful, gut-wrenchingly so, like she’d simply chosen to lie down and sleep.

I couldn’t bring myself to clean the blood that had pooled along her collarbone. I was too horrified by the sight, and something about how fresh it smelled made my body coil in on itself. Valentina had taken the time to clean the wound instead, bandaging the mess she’d made with steady, practiced hands. “She’ll wake up within six days. We’ll keep an eye on her while we wait on you to change.” She tossed the words over her shoulder casually, like I was supposed to accept them without question.

Anger simmered beneath my skin, tight as a noose, ready to snap. It wasn’t just anger. It was disbelief. I’d seen her do it, watched her sink her teeth into my mother’s neck, and still my mind refused to accept it as real. I dragged a stressed hand through my curls and locked eyes with Valentina. “Are you serious?” I barked. “Six fucking days?”

The situation had gone straight to hell, past it, even, to wherever Lucifer himself would refuse to tread. This girl had managed to unravel my entire world in less than an hour. My thoughts tangled over themselves, unable to separate reality from delusion. If you’d asked me yesterday whether vampires existed, I would’ve laughed you out of the room. Now I was standing in my childhood home, contemplating biology instead of sanity.

My mother’s heartbeat echoed in my head like a lonely melody, waiting to be picked back up.

And where did that leave me?

If any of this was real, if I was what she claimed, did that mean no more sunrises? No warmth soaking into my skin, no mornings spent half-asleep beneath open skies? Would I be forced into darkness, ripped away from the only life I’d ever known, all because of some crown I never asked for?

It didn’t make sense. None of it did.

Rising from the chair, I moved toward the window, glaring out into the backyard. Sunlight spilled over the orchard in soft waves, feeding the neat rows of plants my mother had tended for years. She’d poured herself into that soil, every flower, every fruit, every vegetable grown with care. Even the disgusting cherry tomatoes she liked to sneak into my salads.

There was nothing more beautiful than that orchard. Every spring we watched it bloom; every winter we mourned it. Saturdays spent with our hands in the dirt were unavoidable. She made it her mission to teach me how to garden, to make the world feel alive, even if it started as nothing more than bare earth. Now I was the reason she’d become a vampire, and it felt like the opposite of nurturing life into someone. Like I was ripping her away from the sun. Somewhere deep down, I’d been selfish. I couldn’t let her go, even if I didn’t know it until now.

My thoughts were so focused my body didn’t register the touch at first.

Then it did.

Heat slid securely around my waist, a soft cheek flattening against the curve of my spine. Her touch sparked something involuntary inside me, an electric pulse that tore through my body like wildfire, primal and relentless. Adrenaline followed, sharp enough to hurt, coiling tight at the edge of panic.

It deepened as her fingers traced lightly over my cotton shirt before lacing together across my abdomen, caging me in. I had every reason to recoil from a stranger’s touch. I didn’t.

It was… pleasurable.

Too pleasurable.

Frozen, I let her fingers linger a beat too long. Goosebumps prickled beneath my skin, threatening to betray me. Before she could sense even a fraction of my hesitation, my hand dug into the side of her grip, breaking it apart. “Don’t touch me,” I growled, still facing the window. My voice came out rougher than I intended.

Heat rushed to her cheeks; I could smell it, intoxicating as it spread around me. Beneath her skin, blood surged with that same scent from earlier: warm, rich, like melted chocolate. “I thought you could use some reassurance,” she said behind me. Her voice dipped lower than I’d heard before, almost embarrassed, if you listened closely. There was something fragile beneath it. The faint crack sent an involuntary stir through me.

Valentina shifted away, curls brushing my shoulder as she turned on her heel, boots clicking softly against the hardwood. Without hesitation, my body followed. The sound of her retreat tugging at me with an instinct I didn’t recognize. My feet moved before my mind caught up. I crossed the room and reached out, catching her by the forearm and pulling her into me. She couldn’t just leave. Not yet. Not after laying my mother out on the couch like it was nothing.

“Where are you going?” I asked. “I thought you were going to tell me more about this… life.”

She didn’t flinch. Her body spun fluidly in my grip, smooth as a dancer, until we were face-to-face. Our gazes locked for a beat too long before I stepped back, forcing space between us. “It’s better if we feed first,” she said calmly. “It’s part of the process… to help you transition.”

My throat tightened at the word feed. The idea alone made my stomach turn. I was barely holding onto reality as it was, vampires, blood, my mother unconscious on the couch, and she said it like we were discussing dinner plans. My nose flared, disgust curling sharp and instinctive.

Valentina caught it immediately. “Don’t worry,” she said, cutting me off before I could speak. “I know you won’t be ready for humans.” She stepped closer. “We’ll go into the forest. There are animals that can satisfy the craving.” Then, quieter, almost a warning. “But once you start, it’s hard to stop. You won’t need much. That won’t stop the hunger.”