Page 60 of Discovery of the Vampire
"Sombras de mi alma, vengan a mí." Shadows of my soul, come to me.
At first, there was nothing. Then, slowly, the mirror no longer reflected the empty room. Instead, it showed only darkness that shifted and moved like living smoke. Within that darkness, shapes began to form.
Suddenly, I was in the mirror. Fire burned all around me, and I spun on my heel. I was in my house in Mexico as it burned. A moment later, screams erupted, so loud I thought my eardrums would rupture.
I wasburningwith my family.
The flames licked at my skin, but I couldn’t move. My family’s screams echoed in my ears. Their faces appeared in the blaze, contorting in agony as the fire consumed them. The smell of burning flesh made my stomach heave. My mother reached for me, her fingertips brushing mine before she was swallowed by the inferno.
“No!” I screamed, but the sound was swallowed by the roar of the fire. I stumbled back, the burning floor scorching my feet. The heat was unbearable, but the grief—oh God—it was so much worse.
I turned, desperate to escape, but the flames shifted, and I was no longer in the house.
My chest tightened as the darkness swirled and shifted, morphing into new fears. I would fail again. Brogan would die because of me. Everyone who tried to help me would suffer the same fate as my family.
"No!" I screamed when Brogan appeared in front of me. I didn't want him here! I didn't want him to get hurt. My heart pounded as he prowled toward me. However, I wasn't afraid anymore as I watched him come for me, his green eyes bright with hunger, my pulse racing and a heavy tension low in my stomach as I exposed my throat to him.
But as he drew closer, his face changed. His fangs elongated, his eyes darkened with hatred, stamping out any tenderness that was once there. He lunged at me, and I stumbled back, only to feel hands grab me from behind. I spun around to find Marcus, a cruel smile twisting his features. “You’re weak,” he hissed, his voice slicing through me. “You’ll never be strong enough to stop me.”
When he spun me back around, Brogan's body was lying on the street, broken and bloodied, his eyes staring lifelessly at nothing. I slapped my hands over my mouth as I screamed, closing my eyes. When I opened them again, more bodies littered the street. Lizzy. Killian. Elias. Kenya. Jamal. All of them.
People stepped over them like they weren't even there as the shadows whispered accusations, reminding me that death followed in my wake like a faithful dog. I couldn't escape it, couldn't outrun the curse that seemed etched into my very soul.
"No," I whispered, my voice breaking. "I won't let that happen."
The mirror's surface rippled again, showing me alone in the darkness as Brogan turned away from me in disgust after learning what I truly was—not just abruja, but someone willing to use blood magic, to walk the edge between light and shadow.
My hands trembled as I gripped the talisman. "Acepto mis sombras. Son parte de mí.Acepto mis sombras. Son parte de mí.Acepto mis sombras. Son parte de mí." I accept my shadows. They are part of me.
The mirror's surface began to pulse with each of my heartbeats. Pressing my bloodied palm against it, I continued, "Entrego mis miedos al talismán. Los contendrá por mí." I surrender my fears to the talisman. It will contain them for me.
The shadow talisman grew hot and heavy against my skin as the darkness from the mirror flowed upward, twisting around my wrist, crawling up my arm toward the pendant. I felt each fear as it passed through me and into the stone around my neck—the guilt, the inadequacy, the terror of losing more people I cared about.
"Soy más que mis miedos," I declared. I am more than my fears.
When the last tendril of shadow disappeared into the talisman, it pulsed once, twice, three times. And when it was over, I lifted it with a shaking hand toward the candlelight. It had been transformed, the black stone lightened to a deep midnight blue with veins of silver running through it, like shooting stars in the night sky.
I felt different—lighter, but stronger. And I needed to be stronger still if I had any hope of doing what I needed to do to find the book and use it against Marcus before he knew I had it.
Everything hurt as I slowly got up from the floor. My muscles screamed, my head swam, and my mouth was dry. But the Trial of Shadows was over, and I'd survived. Barely. Even if it would haunt me forever.
But there was no time to dwell on what I’d seen in the mirror. I couldn’t. I needed to get out of that room.
After I blew out the candle, I picked up the mirror and returned to the quiet solitude of Ancient Magicks, the light too bright for my sensitive eyes. The familiar surroundings provided a sense of comfort though, grounding me after the nightmares I'd just endured. After shutting the door to the secret room, I walked over to the shelf to return the mirror, unsurprised that there was no trace of my blood or shadows on its surface. A wave of dizziness washed over me and I reached out to steady myself.
Once it passed, I set the mirror down where I'd found it and grabbed my shirt and pulled it up to my nose. There was no trace of smoke or fire, but I still felt gritty, so I went back to the restroom and washed my face, brushed my hair, and reapplied my lipstick. Staring into the mirror, I felt a little more like myself again.
The bell above the door jingled. Fresh from the trial I'd just endured, ice cold fear froze the blood in my veins. I didn’t move, didn’t breathe, my hands still gripping the edge of the sink as I listened.
Footsteps. Slow, deliberate, and heavy. Not Lizzy’s light, quick steps.
My stomach dropped. Lizzy had locked the door. I was sure of it. No one else should have been able to get in. I swallowed hard, forcing myself to think. The door to the hidden room was shut. I couldn't retreat back there. Besides, I’d be trapped until Lizzy showed up tomorrow morning and I’d have no way of warning her. No, I needed to stay calm. Maybe it was nothing. Maybe someone had broken in. A thief. Or a drunk tourist wandering in from the street.
Carefully, I cracked open the bathroom door just a crack, peering out into the back storage room. I saw no one, but my skin prickled with awareness.
I stepped out of the bathroom, listening. The shop was still, the only sound the faint hum of the heat coming on.
“Hello?” I called out, my voice trembling despite my efforts to steady it.
