I didn't move. Couldn't move. My brain was scrambling to make sense of what I was seeing Kyle's skin rippling like water, dark hair sprouting down his arms, those amber eyes fixed on the girl in the leather jacket like he wanted to tear her apart.
"Prophecy?" I finally managed to get out, my voice cracking. "What are you talking about?"
The girl my supposed aunt didn't take her eyes off Kyle. "Later, kid. Right now we need to get out of here before your little friend fully shifts and draws every cop in town."
"Little friend?" Kyle laughed, but it came out more like a snarl. "She's been going to school with me for three years and you show up out of nowhere claiming she's yours?"
"Blood means more than proximity, mutt." She took another step forward, and the silver wolf necklace around her neck flashed brighter. "Now step aside, or I'll make you."
Kyle's lips pulled back from his teeth. His hands were already twisting into claws, the nails black and sharp as obsidian. "Try me."
That's when my head started to throb. A dull ache behind my eyes that built fast into something like a hot needle being pressed into my skull. I dropped to my knees, hands flying to my temples, and the world blurred at the edges. Through the pain, I could hear Maya calling my name from somewhere far away"Elara! What's going on in there?"
"Stay back!" I yelled, but it came out rough, like I'd been swallowing gravel. The weird smell was everywhere now, and under it I could pick out something else smoke, like a campfire left to burn too long.
The gym lights flickered again. When they came back up, Kyle had moved. He lunged at the girl so fast I barely saw it happen, claws extended for her throat. She dodged sideways, moving with a grace that didn't seem human, and slammed the silver necklace against his shoulder.
Kyle howled loud enough to make the windows rattle and stumbled back, clutching his arm where black marks were already spreading across his skin like bruises. "Silver," he gasped, his voice already starting to sound less human. "You brought silver."
"Had to make sure you'd listen." She turned to me then, her red eyes sharp with urgency. "Elara, stand up. We don't have much time."
I tried to push myself off the floor, but my muscles felt like jelly. The throbbing in my head was getting worse, and I could feel heat building in my palms like I'd been holding onto hot coals. When I looked down, my skin was glowing with a faint silver light that matched the necklace.
Kyle stared at my hands, his amber eyes wide. "That's… impossible. Half-breeds don't"
"Exist?" The girl cut him off, already moving toward me. "Tell that to your ancestors. Now help me get her out of here before the shift hits its peak."
"I'm not helping you take her anywhere." But Kyle's posture had relaxed a little, his eyes still fixed on my glowing palms. "Whatever she is, she deserves to know the truth first."
The pain in my head spiked, and I cried out. Through the haze, I saw the gym doors burst open. Maya stood there, her face pale as paper, holding a fire extinguisher like she thought she could use it as a weapon. Behind her, I could hear shouting teachers, maybe even the cops.
"Elara!" Maya's voice was shaking. "What is he? What are you?"
The girl swore under her breath. "We have to go. Now."
She reached for my arm, but before she could touch me, Kyle was there grabbing me around the waist and hauling me to my feet. I stumbled, my legs still weak, and the heat in my palms flared brighter. A bolt of silver light shot out, hitting the basketball hoop across the gym. The metal bent like plastic, and the backboard shattered into a thousand pieces.
Maya dropped the fire extinguisher and ran.
"Shit," Kyle muttered, even as his body continued to shift his shoulders broadening, his face stretching forward into a snout. "You're stronger than we thought."
The girl had pulled out something else now….a small glass vial filled with dark red liquid. "Drink this. It'll dull the pain and keep you stable until we can get somewhere safe."
I looked from her to Kyle, who was barely holding onto his human form now. The gym was filling with the sound of sirens, getting closer by the second. Whatever was happening to me, whatever they were saying about me being some kind of half-breed… I didn't have a choice.
I took the vial and drank.
The liquid was bitter and warm, tasting like iron and cinnamon. The second it hit my stomach, the pain in my head receded, and the glow in my palms faded to a faint shimmer under my skin. I felt stronger, clearer and more scared than I'd ever been in my life.
"Okay," I said, my voice steady now. "Take me somewhere we can talk. But if you lie to me… I don't care what you are. I'll find a way to make you regret it."
The girl smiled, but there was no warmth in it. "Good. You're going to need that fire."
Kyle had already turned toward the back door of the gym, his body almost fully changed now standing on two legs but covered in dark fur, his face a mix of human and wolf. "This way. My pack has a safe house in the woods. Even your kind are welcome there."
"Your kind?" I said as we moved toward the door, the sirens screaming just outside.
"Vampires," he said, and even through the snarl in his voice, I could hear the old hatred. "And you… you're something no one's seen in over five hundred years."
We burst through the back door into the cold October night. The sky above was dark, but there was something wrong with the moon it was huge, hanging low over the trees, and the color of dried blood.
The girl looked up at it, her face grim. "The first phase has already started. We have three days until the full blood moon. Three days to get you ready for what's coming."
"Ready for what?" I asked, even as I felt the heat building in my palms again.
She didn't answer. But as we ran into the woods, following the huge shape of Kyle's wolf form, I saw her hand move to the silver necklace around her neck and I caught a glimpse of what was etched on the back.
All blood runs red under the moon.