Chapter 25 · Daylight in Her Veins

The light under my skin started small. Just a glow at my fingertips, like I'd touched something phosphorescent in the dark.

Then it spread.

I was still in the ritual chamber. Edwin had backed away from me. Dorian hadn't moved, but his eyes tracked every inch of my hands as the light crawled up my wrists, into my veins. It didn't hurt. It should've hurt. Instead it felt like waking up.

"What is that?" I asked. My voice came out steadier than I felt.

Edwin's face had gone pale. For a man who'd just told me I'd be bound to this place forever, he looked genuinely scared now. "That's not possible."

"What's not possible?" I held up my hands. The light pulsed under my skin, tracing the paths of veins and arteries. It was gold. Not vampire red, not anything I'd seen in this court. Gold like sunrise. "Edwin. What is this?"

Dorian moved then. Fast. He crossed the space between us and grabbed my wrist, turning my hand over in his. The light flared brighter where he touched me.

He hissed and let go.

"It burned you," I said.

He didn't deny it.