Page 93 of Let Sleeping Vampires Lie

Behind me, Constantine’s hand settled lightly against my lower back, grounding me. “We will find a way,” he said.

Raven’s eyes flicked between us, some of the tension in her jaw easing at the certainty in his voice. “I want to believe that,” she said. “I do. But you both need to understand something.”

She straightened, shoulders squaring despite the invisible weight pressing on them. Her hands opened and closed at her sides, as if she were relearning her own body.

“I’ve had foreign magic forced into me,” she went on. “I know what it feels like when something inside you is wrong. I know what it feels like when someone tries to bind you, reshape you, make you into something else. This isn’t that.” Her gaze locked onto mine, intense. “This feels like my magic and your soul decided to stop being separate things. It feels like they’re… negotiating terms of cohabitation.”

“That’s a horrible metaphor,” I said weakly.

“Yeah, well, I’m not exactly at my poetic best right now.” She blew out a breath, then pushed on. “The point is, if this solidifies, there may not be a way to cleanly separate us again. We could try, but we might do more damage pulling it apart than leaving it.”

“Damage to who?” I asked.

“To you.”

Silence stretched.

For a few seconds, the only sound was the tick of the antique clock on the dresser.

If Raven’s magic stayed with me, if it rooted and fused and refused to let go… what did that make me? What did that make her?

I clenched my hands, nails biting into my palms. “We will not let this destroy you or me.”

Raven’s gaze softened, something fragile and bleak flickering in it. “I know you won’t stop until you fix it. That’s part of why I’m telling you now. You deserve to know what you’re carrying.” She swallowed. “And because if this keeps progressing, you might start feeling things that aren’t yours. Memories that don’t belong to you.”

A cold shiver ran through me. “That’s… already happening.”

Both of them looked at me intensely.

“When I’ve fought recently,” I admitted, forcing the words out, “sometimes I move before I think. Like my body knows patterns I never learned.”

He frowned, replaying previous battles in his mind. “Yes. I assumed you were unconsciously mimicking what you’d seen.”

“Maybe I was.” I shook my head. “But there are flashes. Pieces of… something. Places I’ve never been. Faces I don’t know. The taste of magic that isn’t mine. I thought it was just stress. Or Valerian trying to mess with me again. But maybe not…”

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Raven said. “You’re starting to carry pieces of our history.”

I drew myself up, spine straightening. Fear quaked under my ribs, but I wrapped both hands around it and forced it into something else. Determination. Stubbornness. The refusal to accept that this was already decided.

“Then we find the seam,” I said. “We find where the magic is fusing and we figure out how to reinforce it. We have witches. Warlocks. Ancient vampires who’ve seen every kind of blood ritual under the moon. I don’t care if I have to crawl to every coven on the continent and beg.”

Raven’s expression softened around the edges. “You’re not the reason. Valerian is.” She took a step closer, then another, until she stood within arm’s reach. “But I needed you to stop pretending everything is fine so we can plan for the worst while we fight for the best.”

“I’m very bad at planning for the worst,” I said. “It usually involves me biting someone I shouldn’t.”

“That is your primary coping mechanism,” Constantine agreed.

I shot him a look. “Helpful.”

His lips quirked, but his eyes remained serious. “Raven, thank you for telling us. We will adjust our plans accordingly. After we speak to Julian, I’ll call in a few favors. There are scholars outside the clan who specialize in persistent magic bonds. They may have seen something like this before.”

Raven nodded, some tension draining from her shoulders. “Good. Because I’m running low on miracles. The weaker I become the weaker Rene is.”

“You won’t lose him,” I said again, more to myself than to her. “We’ll drag him back from whatever edge he’s flirting with.”

Her mouth twisted into a small, tired smile. “You better.”

She glanced toward the door leading to the hallway. “Go check on Julian. He told me he’s trying to get you into the auction, we need to know what we’re walking into. I’ll go sit with Rene.”