Page 14 of Take Her to the Grave

Instead of answering, he glances at my phone, still displaying Lisa's text. "Abandoning your human connections already?"

"How could I face her now? They don't feel real anymore," I admit. "Nothing does, except..."

"Except?" he doesn't hesitate to ask.

"Except this.You. The alternate world you’ve introduced me to," I stand, moving closer to him. "Everything else feels like I'm playing a role. Pretending to be a version of myself I can no longer relate to."

"And who are you becoming instead?"

"I don't know yet," I whisper, close enough now to feel that paranormal chill radiating from his body."Something feral. Something that craves the lightless nights with you."

His hand comes up to cradle my face, thumb brushing across my bottom lip. "Tell me about this craving."

"It's... constant. Growing. Not just for blood or darkness, but for everything you represent. Power. Freedom. The truth behind all the stories I've been writing."

"And what truth is that?"

"That monsters are real. That darkness can set you free. That sometimes..." I meet his bright eyes. "Sometimes surrender is the greatest power of all."

A low growl rumbles in his chest. "Dangerous words, little ghost. Especially when you don't fully understand what you're surrendering to."

"Then show me," I beg, furrowing my brows.

Instead of answering, he pulls me closer, one hand tangling in my hair while the other traces the line of my throat. "Your pulse is racing," he observes. "Fear or desire?"

"I don't know anymore." And it's true – the emotions swirling through me are too complex to name. Fear and desire have become so intertwined I can't tell where one ends and the other begins.

"You're changing faster than I expected," he murmurs, inhaling deeply. "I can smell it in your blood – it’s growing, transforming you from within. Soon you won't be able to pass for human at all."

"What do you mean?"

He steps back slightly, studying me with those predator's eyes. "Look at yourself. Reallylook."

I turn to the full-length mirror on my office wall and freeze. My reflection is... different. Subtle changes I've been too close to notice. My skin is smoother, almost luminescent in the fading light. My eyes seem darker, with hints of amber in the brown. Even the way I move has changed – more fluid, more graceful, more powerful.

"What's happening to me?"

"You're becoming," Torrin says, appearing behind me in the mirror. "The darkness in your blood is awakening, calling to mine. Soon you'll start noticing other changes. Enhanced senses. Stronger instincts. A deeper connection to shadow and night."

"Because of you? Because of what we've been doing?"

"Because of what you've always been," he corrects. "I didn't create this darkness in you, Elena. I merely recognized it. Called to it and encouraged it to grow."

I watch our reflections – the powerful predator and his willing prey. But that's not quite right anymore, is it? I'm becoming something else. Something between.

"I can feel it," I whisper. "Especially at night. The hunger. The power. The way shadows seem to reach for me now."

"Show me."

I close my eyes to show him what I’ve been experiencing, reaching for that far place inside me that's been getting closer every day. The shadows in the room respond, curling around my feet like affectionate cats. The temperature drops further as darkness gathers, drawn to the pull of my efforts.

"Beautiful," Torrin breathes, and there's genuine wonder in his voice. "You're a natural at this. As if you were always meant for a life of shadow and night."

"Maybe I was." I open my eyes, watching the shadows prowl around us both. "All those stories I wrote... maybe they weren't fiction at all. Maybe they were prophecies. Memories. My blood remembering what it was always meant to become."

His hands slide down my arms, leaving trails of icy chills. "There are legends among my kind," he says softly, "of humans born with ancient night in their veins. Mortals whose souls remember the darkness from which all life emerged. We call them Shadow-Kissed."

"Is that what I am?"

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