CRAVES

THE SECRET INSIDE

Nobody moved.

The council chamber had gone completely silent.

The silver-haired stranger was gone, but the feeling he had left behind remained.

Amelia stood beside Bryan with one hand still wrapped around the pendant.

She could feel everyone's eyes on her.

Not curious anymore.

Afraid.

She looked around the room.

The council members who had been questioning her minutes ago were now watching the necklace as though it were something dangerous.

The woman at the head of the table slowly stood.

"Seal the chamber."

The guards immediately moved toward the doors.

Bryan turned.

"No."

The woman looked at him.

"We don't know what that was."

"I know."

"Then you understand why she cannot leave."

Bryan's expression hardened.

"She is leaving with me."

"Bryan."

He ignored her.

His hand reached for Amelia's.

She hesitated for only a second before taking it.

The council erupted into quiet voices.

The woman struck the table with her palm.

"Enough."

Silence returned.

Her gaze settled on Bryan.

"If that pendant is what I think it is, taking her out of this building may put every vampire in this city at risk."

Bryan looked down at Amelia.

She was staring at the necklace.

"I don't understand."

The woman looked at her.

"You weren't supposed to."

Bryan's jaw tightened.

"Explain."

The woman walked around the table.

She stopped several feet away.

"That necklace belonged to your mother."

Amelia nodded.

"Bryan told me."

"Then he also told you she disappeared."

"Yes."

The woman looked at Bryan.

"Did you tell her why?"

He didn't answer.

Amelia turned toward him.

"Why?"

Bryan's gaze remained on the council leader.

"Because we never knew."

The woman shook her head.

"You never knew because your father made sure you didn't."

Bryan went still.

"My father?"

"Your father knew exactly what your mother carried."

Amelia frowned.

"What did she carry?"

The woman looked at the pendant.

"Not what."

She touched the raven symbol.

"Who."

The room seemed to grow colder.

Bryan stared at her.

"You're saying there's someone inside it?"

"No."

She looked directly at Amelia.

"I'm saying there is a bloodline inside it."

Amelia didn't understand.

The woman continued.

"Your necklace was created centuries ago. It was passed through one particular line of vampires. Each generation carried a fragment of something ancient."

Bryan's voice was quiet.

"What fragment?"

"Power."

A murmur passed through the room.

The woman continued.

"Not the kind you use to fight. Not strength. Not speed. Something older."

She looked at Amelia.

"Something that can alter the balance between humans and vampires."

Amelia's fingers tightened around the pendant.

"Why is it with me?"

The woman didn't answer.

Bryan did.

"Because my mother gave it to you."

"She didn't give it to me."

He looked at her.

"I did."

Silence.

Amelia stared at him.

"You knew?"

"I knew it belonged to my mother."

"But you didn't know what it was."

"No."

"Then why did you give it to me?"

Bryan's expression shifted.

"I thought it would protect you."

She looked down at the necklace.

The silver raven suddenly felt much heavier.

The woman approached.

"May I?"

Amelia instinctively stepped closer to Bryan.

He moved slightly in front of her.

The woman stopped.

"I won't touch her."

Bryan remained guarded.

The council leader looked at the pendant from a distance.

"That's good."

"Why?"

"Because if it has awakened, touching it may trigger something none of us can control."

Amelia's eyes widened.

"Awakened?"

The woman nodded.

"Did it feel warm?"

Amelia hesitated.

"Last night."

Bryan looked at her.

"When?"

"After I woke up."

"Anything else?"

She shook her head.

"Just warmth."

The woman looked toward the council.

Several members exchanged worried glances.

Then she turned back.

"Did you dream?"

Amelia's stomach tightened.

She thought of the forest.

The trees.

The hand around her wrist.

She nodded.

The woman closed her eyes briefly.

"It has begun."

Bryan's hand tightened around Amelia's.

"What has begun?"

"The awakening."

...

They left the council chamber nearly an hour later.

Bryan didn't say a word.

Amelia didn't either.

They walked through the long corridor together.

The guards opened the doors.

Cold air touched her face.

She stepped outside.

The car waited at the curb.

Bryan opened the door.

She didn't get in.

He looked at her.

She looked back at him.

"What happens now?"

His expression was tired.

"We go home."

"That's not what I meant."

"I know."

She folded her arms.

"You said the contract was simple."

"It was."

"It clearly isn't."

"No."

She stared at him.

"You gave me that necklace without knowing what it was."

"Yes."

"You brought me into a council full of vampires."

"I didn't know they'd attack."

"You didn't know that man would come."

"No."

"You don't know what the necklace does."

"No."

She shook her head.

"Do you know anything?"

A faint smile appeared.

"Apparently not enough."

She tried not to smile.

Failed.

It disappeared quickly.

Her eyes dropped to the pendant.

"Are you scared?"

Bryan's expression changed.

He didn't answer immediately.

"Yes."

She looked at him.

"Of the necklace?"

"Of what happens if I can't keep you safe."

The honesty caught her off guard.

He looked away.

She studied him for a moment.

Then climbed into the car.

Bryan closed the door.

He walked around to the other side and got in.

The car pulled away.

...

Halfway home, Amelia fell asleep.

She didn't realize it.

Her head slowly tipped toward the window.

Bryan noticed.

He reached over and adjusted the seatbelt so it wouldn't press against her neck.

She shifted.

Her head fell against his shoulder.

He froze.

For several seconds, he didn't move.

Then he looked down.

She was asleep.

Peaceful.

Unaware of the world he'd dragged her into.

Bryan carefully placed his hand against the side of the seat, making sure she wouldn't slide forward.

He stared out the window.

The city passed in silence.

He should have moved her.

He didn't.

When the car finally reached Ravenwood Manor, Amelia was still asleep.

The driver stopped.

Bryan looked at her.

Then at the house.

He made a decision.

He slipped one arm beneath her knees and the other behind her back.

She stirred.

Her eyes opened slightly.

"What..."

"Go back to sleep."

She closed them again.

Bryan carried her inside.

The servants immediately stepped aside.

He took her upstairs.

He placed her gently on the bed.

For a moment, he stood there.

The necklace glimmered against her skin.

His eyes narrowed.

Something was different.

The raven pendant was no longer silver.

A faint red line had appeared beneath its surface.

Bryan stepped closer.

His expression changed.

He reached toward it.

The instant his fingers came within an inch of the pendant, it pulsed.

Once.

Strongly.

He pulled his hand back.

Amelia's eyes opened.

"Bryan?"

He looked at her.

"Go back to sleep."

She sat up.

"What happened?"

"Nothing."

She looked down.

The pendant was normal again.

She frowned.

"You keep saying that."

He almost smiled.

"I know."

She studied him.

"Stay."

The word was quiet.

Bryan went still.

She looked embarrassed almost immediately.

"I mean..."

"I understand."

He pulled the chair beside her bed closer.

He sat.

She lay back down.

Neither spoke.

Within minutes, her breathing became steady again.

Bryan remained in the chair.

He watched the necklace.

He didn't know what his mother had left behind.

He didn't know why the pendant had chosen Amelia.

And he didn't know who the silver-haired man really was.

But one thing was becoming painfully clear.

The stranger hadn't come for the necklace.

He had come for her.

...

Far from Ravenwood Manor, beneath the oldest part of the city, a door opened.

The silver-haired man stepped inside.

A dozen candles lit at once.

A woman waited at the end of the room.

She wore a long black dress and a silver raven around her neck.

The man stopped before her.

"She has it."

The woman smiled.

"Good."

"Bryan gave it to her."

Her smile disappeared.

"Then he has no idea what he's done."

"He'll find out."

She walked toward a stone table.

On it lay an old book.

Its pages were yellow with age.

She opened it.

A drawing filled the first page.

A woman wearing the same raven pendant.

Beneath the drawing was a name.

She placed her finger over it.

"The bloodline has returned."

The man looked at her.

"And the girl?"

The woman closed the book.

"Bring her to me."

"And Bryan?"

Her eyes darkened.

"Leave him alive."

A pause.

"Why?"

She smiled.

"Because when he discovers what she really is, he'll come to us himself."