Page 24 of Bloodween

The tracking will begin. Good luck, initiate.

It was time.

Time to prove I wasn’t another little witch hoping for power.

I was the one who’d take it.

I slipped off the bed, my feet meeting cold floor. The chill sharpened my focus and stripped his warmth away as my reflection met me. The color of my eyes brightening to amber-red as my magic rose like it had been waiting for permission.

My gaze returned to him—the wolf sleeping where the man had been, chest rising and falling with trust I was about to shatter.

Maybe in another lifetime, we’d be something else.

But in this one, he had to bleed.

I straightened, let my magic fill me, and spoke the words that would seal his fate.

the ritual

"THANK YOU FOR YOUR SACRIFICE."

The first rule of Bloodween: mercy ruins the magic. It isn’t a warning; it’s a commandment. The power only answers to certainty, and hesitation breaks the bond before it forms. Every witch who’s failed forgot that.

I didn’t.

The room went still as my power rose, a red glow beneath my naked body, faint at first, then stronger—letting me know that the Crimson Elixor was ready.

I opened my palm. “nexa mor nae.”

Red light coiled from my hands, thin as smoke, tracing symbols across the cabin floor. They spread toward him, winding around his body, binding him to the room exactly where he lay.

When the last thread locked into place, I spoke—not as a plea or prayer, but as law.

“I am Armisha Devane of the Crimson Witches of the Blood Coven. Descendant of the Bound. And this Bloodween, I bring to you Dorian Redd-Owens as my sacrifice.”

The declaration rippled through the air, intimate and absolute. The walls shivered. Outside, the trees brushed against the window like they’d been summoned to bear witness.

My heartbeat was steady as I moved toward him. Still sleeping. Still unaware of what was coming.

As my feet reached where the light had circled his chest, I released out the words, “dentae ferro dae.”

Magic cracked through me like lightning. I gasped, palms over my mouth as pressure and pain bloomed in my jaw. Fire crawled up my throat—then the skin split.

My fangs broke through, fresh, sharp, and wet.

The potion inside me woke fully, heat rising through my chest, pushing up behind my eyes until my vision burned crimson.

The vampire in me awoke screaming.

And it was hungry.

Thirsty.

Ready for blood.

I lowered my body onto Varek’s back and he stirred beneath me. Body tense as if his instinct caught the change in the air.

“Shh.” I pressed a hand against him, power threading through my fingertips. “Sleep, little wolf.”