Under normal circumstances, vampires turned into remnants never returned to themselves, not even for a fleeting moment. Once stripped of their soul and made into one of those mindless puppets, salvation was a myth, even for a pureblood.
But Marissa… Marissa was different.
It wasn't her blood that resisted the pull into darkness, it was her will.
For the briefest instant, she managed to claw her way back. Her body no longer obeyed her, her movements stiff and unnatural, but her mind... it surfaced. Her eyes, once bright, were now murky pools of black, barely able to make out the silhouette of her brother standing against the storm drenched sky. Yet she could feel him.
She could feel the fury, the despair, the helplessness rolling off Cassius like thunder.
And she knew what would come next, what must come next.
If she lost herself again, she would kill. And if she killed, it would shatter him. He had more to protect now. Not just her.
