My pulse pounded as I watched the other vampires sink to their knees at the sight of Ethan. I was still so weak from blood loss that I could hardly move. I managed to gather just enough strength to crawl half a foot to the edge of the roof. Ethan gazed at me only for a moment. It seemed like he was trying to communicate so much to me in just that one glance, but I couldn’t decipher any of it.
In quick succession, he murdered all five of the vampires on the roof in the same way he killed Whitfield. He snuffed out their lives with not the slightest bit of effort. Then he strode to the edge of the roof, close to where I sat. He stood right on the precipice, his body so composed that there wasn’t a single possibility of him falling.
I pulled myself up and looked down where there were still hundreds of vampires going wild, unaware that their leader had just been decapitated. Ethan let out an almighty roar that echoed, not just throughout the street but throughout the entire city. The vampires below instantly stopped what they were doing to stare up at him in shock and awe. Ethan roared again, his body pulsating with his change, with my blood running through it, and just like the others, the vampires fell to their knees, their heads bowed. They all recognised that Ethan wasn’t like any vampire they had ever seen before. They also seemed to silently accept that he was their leader now.
This thought sobered me. In one night, Whitfield and Pamphrock were no more. The two rulers who fought a war over this city had both been taken down. Theodore had always been the most powerful of the three, but even he fled when he saw the change in Ethan. This meant that Tribane now belonged to the vampire standing next to me, looking down upon his people and showing them that they now belonged to him,
Over on the roof across from us, I saw Finn and the others staring at Ethan. They weren’t kneeling like everyone else, but they were certainly awe-struck.
Only minutes ago, Ethan and I confessed our love for one another, but did that love still exist now that he was changed so irrevocably? And was it true that consuming too much of my blood not only caused a vampire to strengthen but also to decline? I didn’t know whether Ethan drank just enough to become immortal, or if he drank too much. Only time would tell.
His old self had died. He was reborn as a new vampire.
Feeling a little less weak in body, but very much weaker in my mind, I gazed again at the vampires below us, each bent over as though worshipping the one who stood above them. At that moment, I could barely conceive of what the future might hold.
All I knew was that things would never be the same again.
Thank you for reading Witching Hour. The story concludes in Sunlight, book #4 in the Blood Magic Series. Read on for a sneak peek at chapter one.
P.S. If you are curious to read Florence’s story, make sure you’re subscribed to my newsletter HERE and you’ll be the first to hear news of when her book is being released.
1.
Tegan
My view of reality was foggy.
Ethan stood on the edge of the roof, his body shimmering with a silvery glow. Hundreds of vampires on the street below bowed to him as though he was a miracle made into flesh.
My magic showed me a vision of the entire city, where it seemed like every vampire had sensed Ethan’s change into this indestructible, extraordinary being. No matter where they were, they bowed. Some in fear, others in awe.
The blood that rushed through his system wasn’t merely his, but mine, too. And I felt his power like a physical pulse. The black chaos mist retreated from the humans, called away by its master, Theodore. I suspected he’d gone to regroup, laying low until he could figure out how to approach this turn of events.
Ethan’s strong, familiar voice shouted orders, commanding the vampires to cease their violence on the human population. His Romanian accent was more dominant than it had been before; the modern cadence less evident.
The vampires stood to attention, taking his orders with renewed enthusiasm, their eyes staring up at him in amazement, like he was the ruler they’d been waiting for all this time. Gone were the days