I glance around the lab like it holds the answer to her question. The damage is horrific. The metal table I was lying on is bent; there are blood-streaked surfaces, the remnants of my shattered body still littering the floor. I realize then that the lab smells like death. My own death.
But my eyes slide closed, and I focus my attention inward.
This feeling. Oh, this feeling…
“I feel…” I run my tongue over my teeth again. It’s so strange that even my teeth are different. My canines are sharper, more elongated. Not as dramatic as Ares’, but certainly not what theywere before. And they aren’t retracting—yet another thing that is different from the Born.
A slow, wicked smile pulls at my lips. “Amazing.”
Clementine relaxes, just slightly, as if a little convinced that I’m not going to attack the love of her life. Her eyes still blaze brilliant yellow, though.
Florence lets out a breath. It isn’t quite relief, but not exactly fear, either.
Movement across the space catches my eye, and I note the massive mirror across from me. Neither Clementine nor Florence stops me as I cross to it.
The reflection that stares back is mine—but not.
I tilt my head, studying myself. My hair is the same. My skin has the same golden undertone—but it’s flawless, smooth. The little scar that used to be above my left eyebrow is gone. I glance down at my hands and realize every single scar that used to be there is gone as well.
Regeneration. The basis for Florence’s madwoman concoction.
I look back up at my reflection. My lips are still full, but when I part them, sharper, more pointed canines greet me. My teeth generally look different, and I realize they literally are. I lost all of them in the transformation process. These new teeth are all sharper, more deadly.
But as I look over myself, I can’t see any other new physical differences. I imagine tearing through evil flesh, picture drinking blood, anything. But my eyes don’t flare red or yellow like the Born or the Bitten. They’re still my own natural shade of mahogany.
“You’re still you, Lana,” Clementine says. There’s such compassion in her voice. “Just… upgraded.”
It almost feels ludicrous for her to say that when I feel like this. When I feel so raw and primal and perfect. But as I lookinto my eyes in the mirror, I search for her. Lana Kincade. Vengeance.
And there, I see her.
I am still in there.
I drag my gaze back to Florence. “Where is everyone? This place wasn’t so dead when you gave me the tour.”
“Thankfully, everyone had already gone home for the day,” she answers, her gaze darkening slightly. “I’ve given everyone a mandatory day off tomorrow, just to be safe.”
“Wait, it’s still Monday?” I gape, shaking my head as I blink hard. “How… how long was I out?”
Florence folds her arms and steps out from behind Clementine, apparently assured I’m not going to attack her and try to drain her of blood. “Two hours.”
I blink again. My body has completely rebuilt, like every inch of me has been burned away and reformed into something wildly superior. I was human. I died. And intwo hours, I became something else entirely.
Two hours to rewrite my future.
Two hours to become… this.
“That sounds fucking impossible,” I say honestly.
That familiar smirk forms on Florence’s lips. “Told you I was making a better vampire. No more lifetime to grow a Born and a four damn day long Resurrection process. Two hours, Lana.”
The woman standing before me has always amazed me. That doesn’t change now. But I realize the power she holds, the wild things she’s capable of.
All she needed was two hours to make me into the first of my kind, a Made vampire.
“How in control do you feel?” Florence asks as she takes just one step toward me. There isn’t a trace of fear left in her eyes.
I straighten, standing a little taller. I scan myself internally, searching for any feral urges, any desire to grab her and drainher blood. There is no rage, no cloud of confusion. I feel grounded. Aware. Ready.
