“Eden?”
That voice. Cyrus. Cyrus! Her anchor. She had Cyrus. Her body calmed at the thought of him, at the thought of the man who would take care of everything. Hadn't he already? What had he done?
Blood. Mhairi. Yes, Mhairi. Mhairi's blood.
Soul eater.
She gasped. There was nothing. She searched deep inside herself, looking for the monster, for the hunger. It was gone.
The hunger was gone!
An intense, painful restlessness burst through her, like blood vessels popping one by one. The hunger was gone but in its place was something new.
Something unexplainable but true.
Something deep and knowing and unbreakable.
Something that felt like… destiny.
She had a destiny now. Her heart began to race as her mind grasped what her soul (her soul, her pure, pure soul that felt light and manageable) was telling her. She had a duty. To protect. To fight.
To hunt. Yes. She was a hunter. Her skin tingled.
I am Ankh.
With that knowledge, a kind of peace settled around her.
The war inside her was over.
*
Another tear escaped, and she felt the brush of a soft finger on her cheek.
“Eden? Can you open your eyes?”
Noah?
“Noah?” She croaked, her throat feeling dry and unused.
“Yes. You're safe. You're OK. Try opening your eyes.”
Easier said than done. Her eyes felt as though they had been glued shut. Tentatively, Eden tried, forcing the lids to rise. The light slid inside, blinding her, hurting her, and she made a soft noise, slamming them shut again.
“Eden.”
“Cyrus?”
“Yes. I am here. So is Valeria. Open your eyes, Eden. Open.” At the sound of his voice Eden smiled inside. She remembered how much she had wanted to trust this man before her transition to Ankh, how her paranoia held her back. That was gone now. There was only the connection to her Princeps and the utmost belief in his sincerity and the promise of safety in his very existence. Relaxing the trembling muscles in her body, Eden cracked her eyes open, letting them water as they adjusted to the light. At last she could make out the room she was in.
Lemon yellow walls, posters and photographs. Robert Pattinson. Wait. What?
A face swung above her drawing her focus away from the many images of the actor on the walls.
Pale violet eyes gazed down at her from a strong face. Beautiful eyes, bewitching even. Strong jaw.
Olive skin. A full lower lip that begged to be kissed. Eden felt a shudder in her chest as her brain caught up with her vision.
Noah.