Bloodbound

Chapter 3 • Lights Out

"Child."

A heavenly voice reached me. I opened my eyes to see a woman bathed in white light staring down at me, her hand outstretched. I tried reaching her, but there was something holding me down.

She looked sorrowful. "You've been living in a life of lies."

Her hand was right there. I had to reach it. I had to take her hand, for reasons I didn't know. There was an insane drive to touch her porcelain fingers.

"Wake up." She called for me, voice soft like a lullaby. "Wake up, chöyena. Your friends await you."

"What friends?!" I wanted to scream, but my throat was constricted. The woman shook her head, tears streaming down her face. She began floating away, and in horror I scrambled after her, fingers biting the dirt so hard my nails fell apart.

"Wake up," she said again, then closed her eyes and disappeared in a wave a light.

What did she mean? It was my last thought before I faded away.

Wake up,

Katerina.

*

"Kat! Katherine! Wake up!"

My eyes flew open and I jerked awake, gasping for air. My vision was blurry, until it cleared into an image of a concerned, dark-haired, devastatingly gorgeous guy. His breath brushed over my nose, and I had to resist the urge to sneeze.

Until my mind reset itself and I could properly think again. And then said gorgeous guy flashed a name across my mind.

Killian.

I blinked slowly. Then blinked again. The guy was still there, so close to me our noses were almost touching.

"Hey." He sounded so far off, like a distant dream. "Kat. Kat."

Kat. . . That name sounded familiar. Sounded like. . . my name. It was like a jigsaw puzzle piece finding its perfect match; my mind snapped back into place and I reeled back, creating as much distance between me and Kil as possible.

I sucked in a sharp breath. The air smelled like dust and metal. My eyes adjusted to the dim light of the place, and now I could see with clarity everything around me. Alice was with Nate, who was (possibly) tending a wound, looking concerned. Mark was sitting on a crate, staring off into the distance.

And Kil. . . well. Kil was slowly approaching me like he's afraid I was going to run away again.

For the record, maybe I will.

"Kat, you need to take a deep breath for me," he said in a low voice, his footsteps softer than a cat's.

I stared at his face, searching for the blood red eyes I saw replacing his blue ones earlier, but he looked normal. Well, he looked worse for wear. His clothes were in tatters, his fancy pants were ripped at the ankle. He has scratches on his legs and arms, and his usually perfect hair looked windswept.

I took in the scene before me. Then I turned back to him.

"What–" My voice sounded hoarse like I hadn't spoken for days. "What happened? Where am I? Why are we here?"

He hesitated as he stopped before me, before licking his lips and saying, "Luminæ. We're in Luminæ." Then he paused to wipe his hands, which I now noticed were coated in blood. When his eyes met mine, they were filled with a kind of rage that resonated in my bones. "I got us here after a group of Defilers attacked us."