The chamber was built from obsidian and bone.
Buried beneath the heart of the Keep, the ritual sanctum hadn't been used in over a century. Not since the last time a vampire lord's mate had been corrupted by blood magic.
Ariana stood in the center, wrapped in a thin shift of ritual silk. Her arms and legs were bare, already marked with runes painted in vampire blood—Asra's blood.
"You sure you want to do this?" Asra asked, voice steady but eyes uncertain.
Ariana nodded. "He's inside me. I feel him in my sleep. When Damien touches me… sometimes I see Xander's face instead."
That broke something in Asra's gaze.
"All right. Then we burn him out."
Asra began the incantation in the old tongue.
The runes flared red.
Ariana gasped, the fire searing beneath her skin. Her knees buckled—but she stayed upright.
Then the visions began.
---
She saw herself.
Tied to Damien's bed again—but this time, it wasn't pleasure.
It was shame.
Her body arched, moaned, writhed.
But the hands on her weren't his.
They were Xander's.
She screamed.
"No—this isn't real!"
The illusion shifted—she saw Clara, bleeding on a steel table, eyes wide, whispering:
> "He'll never choose you. You were just the closest warm body."
Ariana dropped to her knees, sobbing.
But then—
A voice broke through.
Soft. Fierce.
> "Fight it, little flame."
Damien's voice.
Not real.
But real enough.
She clenched her fists.
Gritted her teeth.
And screamed, "GET OUT OF ME!"
The runes exploded in light.
The ritual fire surged—
And Xander's influence was torn from her veins.
---
Meanwhile...
Damien stood in the Blood Hall before the five Vampire Elders.
Towering figures in crimson robes. Each older than empires. Their eyes glowed with age and power.
"You dare invoke Blood Judgment," the High Elder hissed. "Against your own kin?"
"I don't dare," Damien said coldly. "I demand."
Whispers rippled across the court.
Damien stepped forward, cloak trailing behind him like black smoke.
"Xander has violated the ancient bonds. He kidnapped a human under my claim. He tortures her bloodline. He invokes forbidden magic."
"And your proof?"
Damien threw down a vial of Ariana's blood—still glowing with the residue of corruption.
The Elders hissed.
"This is my mate's blood. Tainted by my brother's hand. If the Council won't judge him…"
Damien's voice dropped to a growl.
"…then I will burn the law and take judgment myself."
A pause.
Then—
> "So be it. Blood Judgment is granted."
---
Back in the ritual chamber...
Ariana collapsed into Asra's arms, breathing hard.
"It's done," Asra whispered. "He's gone."
But Ariana's eyes flicked open—and they glowed faint red.
Something else had awakened in her.
Not Xander.
Not Damien.
Something older.
A primal part of the blood bond only mates could access—if they survived.
Ariana looked up, trembling.
And smiled.
> "Let him come now."