The mirror drank his blood.
Not as water drinks salt—but as a lover drinks breath.
It pulsed once beneath his palm, a heartbeat that was not his own. The shimmer of Rose’s reflection trembled, and for a fraction of a second, her eyes met his—though she could not see him. Not fully. Not yet.
But her soul stirred.
And that was enough.
Vlad’s mouth curled into a smile as he stepped back from the mirror, the blood on the frame already vanishing into the carved glyphs etched along its edge. Runes hidden beneath centuries of ash and memory flared to life, threading scarlet veins across the blackened surface of the glass. It was a slow awakening. Not of her. Of the bond.
The one she refused to acknowledge.
He had not marked her, not truly. Not yet. But his presence was already sewn into th
