I heard Marius's voice, barely a mutter but clear as day to my enhanced hearing. "Fucking freak. Probably cheating somehow. Vampire-touched bastard. Still trash no matter what."
Rage flared hot in my chest. I locked my jaw and held that damn sword perfectly still, making sure it didn't waver even a fraction of an inch.
Five minutes.
"Time!" Cedric called.
The crowd erupted.
"He did it!"
"Five full minutes!"
"With those weights!"
"I don't believe it!"
The executioners rushed forward, taking the chains off my shoulders and relieving me of the sword. My arms dropped to my sides, trembling but unbroken.
Cedric looked at me with something that might have been an expression of approval. "You must have been working out recently."
"Something like that," I managed, my voice rough.
"Final test," Cedric said. "The test of humanity."
The crowd quieted again, tension thick in the air.
Two executioners led me to a structure I hadn't noticed before, a cylindrical chamber made of some material you could see through. Runes were carved into every surface, glowing with soft blue radiance.
"Step inside," Cedric instructed. "The chamber filters pure sunlight through magic. You will stand in it for thirty seconds. This test proves your humanity and ensures no vampire has infiltrated our ranks in disguise."
My stomach dropped.
They thought this would kill a vampire. And for most vampires, it would. But Luna had said I had immunity to sunlight.
Would this chamber be different? More concentrated?
Only one way to find out.
I stepped into the chamber.
"He's really going in..."
"If he's vampire-touched, maybe the sunlight will purify him."
"Or kill him."
"Good riddance either way."
The door sealed behind me with a heavy thunk. Then the light intensified.
It was like standing in the center of the sun. Brilliant white radiance poured down from above, surrounding me. I could feel it on my skin. It was warm and tingling, but not burning.
Not even close to burning.
I stood there, arms at my sides, and waited.
The seconds stretched out. I counted them in my head.
Ten. Fifteen. Twenty.
The tingling sensation grew stronger, almost pleasant, like lying in the sun on a warm day.
Through the walls, I could hear voices.
"He's still standing."
"Why isn't he burning?"
"Fifteen seconds... twenty..."
Twenty-five. Thirty.
The light faded. The door opened.
I stepped out, completely unharmed. Not even a hint of redness on my skin.
The crowd stared in stunned silence.
Then someone broke it.
"He passed all three!"
"The vile actually passed!"
"I've never seen anyone look so comfortable in the sunlight chamber."
"Maybe... maybe he's not cursed after all?"
"Don't be stupid. Vampires touched him as a baby. That doesn't just go away."
"But if he was truly corrupted, wouldn't the holy sunlight have affected him?"
"This makes no sense!"
"He passed," Cedric announced, his voice cutting through the chaos. "Vlad has completed all three trials. He will proceed to the bonding."
More whispers erupted across the courtyard, but Cedric silenced them with a gesture. "Join the others in line. We'll call you forward in groups of ten."
I walked to where the other candidates stood, feeling dozens of eyes tracking my every movement. Some looked curious. Others suspicious. Most are just confused.
Marius glared at me with pure hatred, but I ignored him.
Cedric called the first group of ten forward. They disappeared through a doorway at the base of the platform, led by Cedric and Kain.
Ten minutes later, they emerged. All ten walked out empty-handed, their faces showing various degrees of disappointment.
No one had been chosen.
The whispers started immediately.
"First group, and nothing?"
"The blades must be particularly selective this year."
"Maybe the quality of candidates is lower."
The second group went in. Then the third. Then the fourth.
Still nothing.
By the fifth group, I could feel the tension in the air. There were so many candidates, and the blades had rejected them all. The crowd shifted restlessly; parents looked worried, and candidates grew pale.
Then the fifth group emerged, and two of them carried weapons.
A girl with short brown hair gripped a longsword that radiated cold.
Frost gathered along the blade's edge, and the air around her shimmered with cold. She swung it, and ice crystals formed in the air, scattering like snow before melting into mist.
A boy with dark skin held a sword up. He raised his sword in front of his face, and a barrier began forming. The barrier rippled like water, pulsing.
The crowd erupted in cheers and applause.
"Finally!"
"Two chosen in one group!"
"Magnificent!"
"The blades have blessed us!"
Cedric congratulated them formally. "Welcome to the Order of Executioners. The blades have chosen you. They will serve you as you serve humanity."
The two newly minted executioners stepped aside, beaming with pride as family members rushed forward to embrace them.
The ceremony continued. The sixth group went in; no one was chosen. The seventh, one person. The eighth, none again.
My heart pounded harder with each passing group.
Finally, Cedric called out the names.
"Next group," he announced, reading from a list. "Vlad. Marius. Thomas. Sarah. Daniel. Marcus. Helena. James. Nicole. And Robert. Come forward."
My legs felt heavy as I climbed the steps to the platform. Marius walked beside me, his expression looked murderous. The other eight candidates looked nervous and excited.
Kain stood at the entrance to the doorway, his armor gleaming. As I passed, I swore I could feel his gaze burning into me through his visor. My skin prickled with the weight of his stare.
The man who stabbed me was leading me to the blades.
We descended a stone stairway, the torchlight growing dimmer with each step.
The air grew cooler, and I could smell something. Something that made my vampire senses tingle.
The stairway spiraled down, down, down. My enhanced hearing picked up sounds from below, a faint humming, like multiple voices singing in harmony.
No. They weren't singing. I heard the voice calling to me.
The other candidates seemed oblivious, but the sound grew louder with each step I took. A chorus of whispers promising power in exchange.
Then I heard it
That voice.
It was a soft, seductive female voice.
The same voice from my dreams. The one that had breathed against my ear, that had bitten into my chest, that had moaned in ecstasy.
"Come to me..."
I stumbled slightly, catching myself on the stone wall. What the hell was that?
"Keep moving," Kain barked.
I forced my legs to move, following the others down into the darkness. But that voice echoed in my mind, pulling at something deep inside me.
"I've been waiting for you..."
My skin prickled with anticipation. With a desire that I didn't understand.
Who was calling me?