Page 117 of Dhampira

Vander crossed the grass. “A new vor won’t be as volatile.” Stopping in front of Lorcan, he smiled. “It’s not like you to worry.”

“I’m not worried.”

“You look worried.” Vander tapped a finger between his own eyebrows. “You get these two little lines right here. It’s all right, sweetheart. It doesn’t make you look older.” He held his fingers an inch apart. “Well, maybe a little older.”

Lorcan drew himself up. “It’s better than looking like a—”

“Give me another vial,” I said, nudging Vander out of the way. He let me, which should have been infuriating, but it was hard to be annoyed with him when he so clearly enjoyed tormenting Lorcan.

Lorcan pressed his lips together. “Fuck,” he muttered, pulling a vial from his pocket. Uncorking it, he sniffed the blood. “I don’t want to hear a single complaint from either of you if this blows up in our faces.”

Stretching his arms over his head, Vander offered a lazy smile. “If Corinthe blows our faces off, complaints will be the least of our concerns.” His smile grew as he ran his eyes down Lorcan’s body. “You might look better though.”

With another muttered curse, Lorcan gave me the vial.

“Which power is it?” I asked, examining the blood. The scent bloomed like wine, and the monster inside me roused, its hunger scrabbling to the surface. My fangs shot lower.

Lorcan folded his arms. “That’s for you to figure out.” My annoyance must have shown on my face—big surprise—because he nodded his chin toward the vial. “Taste it. The power will flow onto your tongue and then you’ll know where to direct it.”

I tipped back the vial. Blood hit my throat, and the monster roared, clamoring for more. Following the instructions Vander and Lorcan had given me the first time, I closed my eyes.

Images flitted through my head, visions of dark towers and narrow streets forming and darting away before I could grasp them. Wind whipped through my mind, and the scent of brine hit my nose.

“The witch came from the sea,” I said, straining for more images.

“Astramar,” Lorcan murmured. “It’s the easternmost citadel in Nocta. The witches built it into a cliff that overlooks the ocean.”

The images flickered faster. Blood spread over my tongue. Soaring spires appeared in my mind, stone beasts with snarling faces perched above their windows.

And the vor formed on my tongue.

Power flooded me, the web of my glowing veins burned onto the backs of my eyelids like a constellation set on fire.

Opening my eyes, I spun until I found a short, scrubby bush. “Sezat!”

The shrub turned to stone. Ghostly wind raced through the Everless, ruffling the grass and dangling vines. Power crackled in my veins as I stumbled backward.

Panting, I stared at the bush I’d turned to stone. For a second, Vander and Lorcan stared with me, disbelief on their faces.

“Petrification,” Lorcan breathed.

Worry nibbled at me. “Is that good?”

Vander released a whoop. Then he caught me around the waist and spun me in the air.

“Is it good?” he scoffed. “It’s fucking incredible!” The Everless spun around us as he whipped me in a circle.

“Put me down!” I cried, but my laughter made the demand less effective than it might have been. I clung to his shoulders, elation and relief surging through me. Vander took me on another spin before setting me on my feet, but he kept his hands on my waist as he beamed down at me.

“Do you realize what you’ve done?” he asked. “I don’t have the vor for petrification. Neither does Lorcan. It’s a rare gift.” Joy danced in his eyes as he tipped up my chin. “This is a breakthrough, Corinthe. I could kiss you.”

My breath hitched. As I had in the Wendlewood, I became aware of how close we stood. How my body pressed against his, and how his fingers spanned my waist.

How Lorcan stood just steps away. For a second, a wicked inner voice whispered in my mind for me to move first—to pull Vander’s head down and claim his lips as I had in his study.

Instead, I pushed against Vander’s shoulders. He released me immediately, and I stepped back, heat building in my face. “It’s too bad the power is only temporary,” I said.

Lorcan’s eyes were hooded, his face unreadable, as always. “If you can control it now, you can wield the real thing eventually.”