Chapter 6
The conclave was held underground, because of course it was.
Cathedrals were too obvious. Ballrooms too human. The vampires of the region gathered in an abandoned subway station sealed off decades ago, rails rusted, walls dripping with old water and older magic.
Dan felt it the second he stepped onto the platform.
Power.
Not his—aimed at him.
Dozens of vampires turned as one. Ancient ones. New ones. Some dressed in suits, some in armor, some in nothing but scars and arrogance. Every eye locked on Dan.
Ashley walked beside him, jaw tight. “Don’t look scared.”
“I’m not,” Dan said.
It was a lie. But not the kind that mattered.
Colette hovered close, dimmer now, her glow flickering like a dying signal. Dan kept glancing at her, panic chewing through him.
At the center of the platform stood five thrones carved from stone and bone.
Victor sat in one.
The other four were occupied by figures Dan had never met—and somehow already hated.
Victor rose, arms wide. “We convene under ancient law.”
“Skip the speeches,” a woman with obsidian skin and molten eyes said. “We all felt the shift.”
Another leaned forward, smiling with too many teeth. “The boy broke a Binder.”
Eyes slid back to Dan.
“Impossible,” someone hissed.
Victor smiled proudly. “Yet here he stands.”
Dan’s fists clenched.
“This wasn’t supposed to be a coronation,” Ashley muttered. “Something’s wrong.”
The obsidian woman pointed at Dan. “He’s unstable.”
Victor snapped, “He’s powerful.”
“And untrained,” another countered.
The air vibrated with tension.
Then Colette screamed.
Dan spun.
She dropped to her knees, glow sputtering violently.
“No—no—no,” she gasped. “They’re pulling me.”
“Who?” Dan shouted.
Her eyes locked onto the far tunnel.
Something moved in the dark.
A shape that didn’t belong.
The ancient voice returned, layered, closer.
“You brought her to us.”
The lights blew out.
Screams echoed as shadows tore through the conclave. Vampires fell. Stone cracked. Magic detonated.
Dan lunged toward Colette—
And hands grabbed him from behind.
Silver burned into his wrists.
Ashley’s voice cut through the chaos. “DAN, LISTEN TO ME—”
She shoved something into his palm.
A ring. Warm. Thrumming.
“What—” he started.
“Run,” Ashley said, eyes blazing with tears and fury. “I’ll hold them.”
Dan stared at her. “You’ll die.”
Ashley smiled, soft and real for the first time. “I already did. Three hundred years ago.”
She shoved him backward—
Through a tear in the air.
Dan fell.
The world snapped shut behind him.
He hit marble.
Cold. Polished. Human.
Dan gasped, rolling to his feet.
Sunlight streamed through tall windows.
Students screamed.
A banner hung overhead:
CONGRATULATIONS, VALEDICTORIAN DAN CARTER
The gym.
Graduation.
“What the hell—” Dan whispered.
His parents sat in the front row, frozen, faces pale.
Teachers stood rigid.
Time stuttered.
Then every head turned toward him.
Including Colette.
Except—
She was solid.
Alive.
Breathing.
Wearing a white dress.
Dan’s heart slammed.
“Colette?” he breathed.
She smiled sadly.
“This is a construct,” she said. “They’re using your biggest moment to anchor me.”
The shadows bled through the walls.
The ancient presence coiled above the rafters.
“Choose,” it purred. “Ascend… or watch her fade forever.”
The ring in Dan’s hand burned.
Victor’s voice echoed in his head.
Loss makes leaders.
Dan stepped onto the stage.
The microphone crackled.
He looked out at everyone he loved.
Everyone he could lose.
And he smiled.
