"Power isn't about strength—it's about knowing when to kneel and when to make others bow."OPENING SCENE - THE VALDRIC ESTATE (Dawn)
5:00 AM
Day 5 of Elena's New Life
Elena couldn't sleep.
Not because of nightmares this time, but because of the three supernatural men currently arguing in hushed tones outside her bedroom door, apparently thinking she couldn't hear them.
"She needs to rest," Damien's voice, cold and commanding.
"She needs to train," Kael countered. "The Council meeting is tomorrow—"
"Which is exactly why she needs to be at full strength," Zane interrupted. "A tired Blood Rose is a vulnerable Blood Rose."
"Don't call her that," both Damien and Kael said simultaneously.
"Why? It's what she is," Zane replied. "Hiding from the truth won't change it."
Elena sighed and got out of bed. She'd been back from Purgatory for six hours, and in that time, the three men had argued about everything from her training schedule to what she should eat for breakfast.
It would be cute if it wasn't so exhausting.
She opened the door to find all three of them frozen mid-argument, looking like kids caught with their hands in the cookie jar.
"Good morning to you too," she said dryly. "Thanks for the wake-up call. Very subtle."
Damien had the grace to look slightly embarrassed. Kael rubbed the back of his neck. Zane just smirked.
"We were discussing—" Damien started.
"You were arguing," Elena corrected. "About me. Without including me. Again."
"We're trying to protect you," Kael said.
"By treating me like I'm made of glass?" Elena's hands sparked with frustrated energy. "I fought Nathaniel last night. I turned his shadows into light. I think I can handle a conversation about my own life."
"The Council is different," Damien said, his expression darkening. "They're not enemies you can fight with power. They're politicians. Ancient ones. They'll use words like weapons, twist everything you say—"
"Then teach me," Elena interrupted. "Don't just stand outside my door arguing about whether I need sleep or training. Come in and actually help me prepare."
The three men looked at each other, some silent communication passing between them.
"Fine," Damien said. "But you're not going to like what we have to tell you."
They filed into her room, and Elena noticed how they automatically positioned themselves—Damien by the window, Kael by the door, Zane leaning against the wall. Strategic positions. Always ready for an attack.
When did my life become a war zone?
"The Vampire Council has called an emergency session," Damien began. "All the major houses will be there. They want to meet you."
"That's good, right? We need allies—"
"They want to judge you," he corrected. "To determine if you're a threat that needs to be eliminated."
Elena's blood chilled. "They want to kill me?"
"Some do," Damien admitted. "The traditionalists see you as an abomination. A violation of natural order."
"But others are curious," Zane added. "They want to see what you can do. Whether the prophecy is real."
"And then there's my father," Damien said, and something in his voice made everyone tense.
"Your father?"
"Lucian Valdric. King of the Eastern Vampire Territories. He's... complicated."
"Complicated how?" Elena asked.
"He loved my mother. When she died in the massacre, something in him broke. He's been different since then. Colder. More ruthless." Damien met her eyes. "He might see you as a chance for revenge, or as a reminder of what he lost. I honestly don't know which."
"Great. So I'm walking into a room full of ancient vampires who either want to use me or kill me."
"Don't forget the werewolf delegation," Kael added helpfully.
Elena stared at him. "What?"
"The packs heard about the Council meeting. They're sending representatives. They want to make sure the vampires don't claim you for themselves."
"Claim me? I'm not property!"
"To them, you might as well be," Zane said bluntly. "You're a weapon, Elena. The ultimate weapon. Whoever controls you controls the future of all supernatural species."
"No one controls me," Elena said firmly.
"We know that," Kael said. "But they don't. To them, you're either an asset or a threat. There's no middle ground."
Elena sank onto her bed, suddenly exhausted despite just waking up. "So what do I do?"
"You show them who you really are," Damien said, sitting beside her. His cool presence was oddly comforting. "Not what you can do, but who you are. Make them see Elena, not just the Blood Rose."
"How?"
"By being yourself," Kael said, sitting on her other side. His warmth balanced Damien's cold. "You're not just powerful. You're compassionate. Brave. Stubborn as hell."
"Don't forget reckless," Zane added with a smile.
"I'm not reckless—"
"You literally caught ancient shadows with your bare hands last night," he pointed out.
"That was... intuitive."
All three men laughed, and for a moment, the tension broke.
"This is weird," Elena said suddenly.
"What is?" Damien asked.
"This. All of you. Being here. Getting along." She looked between them. "A week ago, I didn't even know vampires existed. Now I have three supernatural... what even are you to me?"
"Protectors," Kael said immediately.
"Guardians," Damien added.
"Allies," Zane offered.
Elena noticed none of them said what they were all thinking. What hung in the air between them like a living thing.
More.
They all wanted to be more.
A knock at the door interrupted the moment.
"Come in," Elena called.
Mia entered, and Elena immediately noticed the distance in her best friend's eyes. The same distance from last night.
"Hey," Mia said, not quite meeting Elena's gaze. "Selene wants to see you. Something about preparing for the Council."
"Mia, can we talk—"
"Later," Mia said quickly. "You should go. It sounded important."
She left before Elena could respond.
"She's scared," Zane observed.
"Of me," Elena said miserably.
"For you," Damien corrected. "There's a difference."
"Is there? Because from where I'm sitting, my best friend can barely look at me."
"Give her time," Kael said gently. "Her world changed overnight. Humans don't adapt as quickly as we do."
Humans.
The word stung because Elena realized she no longer included herself in that category.
SCENE 2 - THE PREPARATION
Selene's workshop was a wonder of organized chaos.
Books floated in mid-air, organizing themselves. Crystals hummed with power. Herbs grew in pots that shouldn't exist, considering they were three stories underground.
The witch herself stood before a massive mirror that showed not reflections but memories—scenes from past Council meetings, vampire politics, ancient ceremonies.
"You're late," Selene said without turning.
"I didn't know we had an appointment," Elena replied.
"We always have an appointment. Every moment you're not training is a moment wasted." Selene waved her hand, and the mirror shifted to show Elena herself—but different. Older. More powerful. Dressed in elaborate black and silver robes, standing before a crowd of supernatural beings who knelt before her.
"What is that?"
"A possible future. One of many." The image shifted. Now Elena was dead, her body torn apart, blood painting ancient stone. "Another possibility."
"Cheerful."
"Reality often isn't." Selene turned to face her, and Elena noticed the witch looked exhausted. "The Council meeting tomorrow will determine which path becomes more likely."
"No pressure."
"Immense pressure. Which is why we need to prepare." Selene gestured to a table covered in objects. "Choose three."
Elena looked at the items—a silver dagger, a vial of red liquid, a black rose, a golden ring, a leather-bound book, a wolf's tooth, a vampire fang, and a crystal that swirled with rainbow light.
"Why?"
"The Council will test you. These items will reveal your instincts, your priorities. Choose."
Elena studied them carefully, then selected the crystal, the book, and surprisingly, the black rose.
Selene's eyebrows rose. "Interesting choices."
"What do they mean?"
"The crystal represents potential—power undefined. The book is knowledge—the desire to understand rather than simply act. And the rose..." She smiled mysteriously. "The rose is sacrifice. Beauty with thorns. Love with pain."
"I just thought it was pretty."
"Nothing is ever 'just' anything with you, child." Selene waved her hand, and the items vanished. "Now, we need to discuss what you'll face tomorrow."
"Damien said they're politicians—"
"They're survivors," Selene corrected. "Every vampire on that Council has lived for at least five hundred years. They didn't manage that by being nice. They'll test you, push you, try to make you reveal your true nature."
"Which is?"
"That's what they want to know. Are you salvation or destruction? Peace or war? Hope or devastation?"
"Can't I be both?"
Selene studied her. "Perhaps. But they fear ambiguity. They want clear answers, defined roles."
"And if I don't fit their definitions?"
"Then they'll try to eliminate you."
"Damien won't let that happen."
"Damien is one voice among many. His father rules, yes, but the Council isn't a monarchy. It's a careful balance of power, favors, and fear." Selene pulled out a chart showing various vampire houses and their relationships. "You need to understand the players."
She spent the next two hours explaining vampire politics—the major houses, their alliances, their feuds. It was like Game of Thrones but with fangs.
"House Valdric is the strongest, but House Ravenclaw has been challenging their authority for decades. House Bloodmoon is neutral but opportunistic. House Darkwater hates everyone equally."
"This is giving me a headache."
"Now add the werewolf politics," Selene said, producing another chart.
"Kill me now."
"That's what they're trying to prevent. Or cause. Depending on their agenda." Selene set aside the charts. "But here's what really matters—you need to show them you're not a weapon to be wielded. You're a person. A bridge. Someone who can unite without conquering."
"How?"
"By doing something no one expects."
"Which is?"
Selene smiled. "You'll know when the moment comes. Trust your instincts. They haven't failed you yet."
Before Elena could respond, the door burst open.
Jonas, Kael's uncle, stood there, breathing hard, blood dripping from a gash on his forehead.
"We have a problem," he said. "The Council moved up the meeting. They're here. Now. And they've brought an army."
SCENE 3 - THE ARRIVAL
Elena had never seen so many vampires in one place.
They filled the estate's grand ballroom—hundreds of them, all impossibly beautiful, all radiating power and danger. They stood in clear house divisions, each group wearing their colors like armor.
House Valdric in black and silver.
House Ravenclaw in deep purple.
House Bloodmoon in crimson.
House Darkwater in midnight blue.
And at the center, on a raised platform, sat five ancient vampires—the Council Elders.
But what made Elena's breath catch wasn't the vampires.
It was the werewolves.
Three packs had come, standing on the opposite side of the room like an opposing army. She recognized some from the Silvermoon pack, but the others were strangers. They all stared at her with intense, evaluating eyes.
"They weren't supposed to be here," Damien said quietly beside her. He'd changed into formal attire—a black suit that made him look like a dark prince from a fairy tale. "This complicates things."
"It's fine," Elena said, though her heart was racing. She'd put on the dress Selene had provided—black silk with silver threading that seemed to move like living shadows. "We knew they'd find out eventually."
"The Blood Rose."
The voice came from the center platform. One of the Council Elders had spoken—a woman who looked thirty but whose eyes held millennia.
"Approach."
It wasn't a request.
Elena walked forward, feeling every eye in the room track her movement. Damien started to follow, but the Elder raised a hand.
"Alone."
"She doesn't go anywhere alone," Kael said, stepping forward from where his pack stood.
"The wolf speaks in vampire business?" Another Elder said, male, with silver hair and cruel features. "How... modern."
"She's my mate," Kael said firmly. "That makes this my business."
Gasps rippled through the room.
"Mate?" The female Elder's eyes sharpened. "A werewolf claims the Blood Rose as mate?"
"And I claim her as mine," Damien said, stepping forward. "By blood and choice."
More gasps. Some vampires actually hissed.
"This is unprecedented," a third Elder muttered.
"I'm not anyone's," Elena said, her voice carrying despite not shouting. "I'm my own person. And I'm here because you requested my presence, not to be fought over like a prize."
Silence fell.
Then, surprisingly, someone laughed.
A man rose from the Valdric section—tall, imposing, with Damien's dark hair but silver eyes. Lucian Valdric. The Vampire King.
"She has spine," he said, descending from his seat. "I like that."
He circled Elena slowly, and she forced herself not to move, not to react, even though every instinct screamed danger.
"You look like her," he said finally.
"Like who?"
"Your mother. Seraphina. I knew her, briefly. Before she chose that wolf." His lips curled in distaste. "Such potential, wasted on inter-species breeding."
"That breeding created me," Elena said evenly.
"Yes. The impossible child. The bridge. The weapon." He stopped in front of her. "Which are you, I wonder?"
"I'm Elena."
"That's not an answer."
"It's the only answer that matters."
They stared at each other—the ancient vampire king and the teenage girl who shouldn't exist.
Then Lucian smiled. A real smile that transformed his face, making him look almost like Damien.
"You remind me of someone else too," he said softly. "My late wife. She had the same fire, the same refusal to be categorized." He turned to address the room. "I approve of the Blood Rose."
"Your approval isn't required," the female Elder said coldly. "The Council will vote—"
"Actually," a new voice interrupted, "I think you'll find the voting unnecessary."
Everyone turned toward the entrance.
Nathaniel Darkhaven walked in, flanked by dozens of vampires Elena didn't recognize. But she could feel their power—old, dark, wrong.
The Shadow Court.
"Hello, everyone," Nathaniel said pleasantly. "I hope you don't mind us crashing the party. We heard you were discussing the fate of dear Elena, and well..." He smiled, showing fangs. "We couldn't let you make such an important decision without all the facts."
"You're not welcome here," Lucian said, his voice deadly.
"Oh, but I am. Council law states any vampire over a thousand years old has the right to speak at emergency sessions." Nathaniel's smile widened. "And I have so much to say."
He looked directly at Elena.
"Starting with the truth about what she really is. What her blood really does." He paused for dramatic effect. "And why she needs to die before the next full moon."
The room erupted in chaos.
Vampires shouting.
Werewolves growling.
Witches chanting protective spells.
But Elena stood perfectly still, staring at Nathaniel.
"You're scared of me," she said, her voice somehow cutting through the noise.
Everyone went quiet.
"What?" Nathaniel asked.
"You're terrified. I can feel it." She stepped closer to him, and he actually stepped back. "All this planning, all this manipulation, and you're still just a scared little man who's afraid of change."
"I'm trying to save our species—"
"You're trying to save your power," Elena interrupted. "Because in a united world, in a world of peace, what use is there for someone who thrives on conflict?"
"You don't understand—"
"I understand perfectly." Her power began to rise, subtle at first, then building. "You killed my parents. You orchestrated a massacre. You've spent twenty years preparing for this moment." She smiled, and it wasn't kind. "And you're going to fail."
"Am I? Look around, child. This room is split. Half want you dead. The other half want to use you. No one actually wants you to succeed."
"I do."
The voice was quiet, but it carried.
Mia stepped out from behind a pillar where she'd been watching.
"I want her to succeed," Mia continued, walking to stand beside Elena. "Because she's my best friend. And because she's right. This whole vampires-versus-werewolves thing? It's stupid. You're all so busy fighting each other that you don't realize the real enemy isn't another species. It's fear."
"A human dares—" one of the Shadow Court vampires started.
"Yeah, a human dares," Mia said. "Because apparently, I'm the only one here who remembers that Elena was human too. Three days ago, she was worried about calculus tests. Now she's supposed to save or destroy all of you?" She looked around the room. "Maybe instead of deciding her fate, you should let her decide yours."
"The human has a point," Zane said, materializing from the shadows with his contingent of Outcasts. "We keep talking about Elena like she's a thing, not a person. But she's already done more to unite species than any of us. Look around. Vampires, werewolves, witches, outcasts, and humans. All in one room. Not killing each other. Because of her."
"Pretty words," Nathaniel sneered. "But words won't change nature. Vampires and werewolves are enemies. They always have been—"
"Because of you."
The new voice made everyone freeze.
A figure stepped from behind the Shadow Court delegation. Cloaked, hooded, moving with an strange, fluid grace.
"You," the figure continued, lowering their hood to reveal a face that made Elena gasp.
It was like looking in a mirror. If the mirror aged her twenty years and showed her with silver-white hair.
"Hello, daughter," the woman said. "I think it's time you learned the truth. The real truth. About why they fear you. About what you can really do."
"Mom?" Elena breathed.
Seraphina Nightblood smiled. "Surprise. Reports of my death were... carefully orchestrated."
The room exploded again, but this time, Elena didn't notice.
She was too busy staring at the mother she'd thought was dead.
The mother who'd let her believe she was an orphan.
The mother who had some serious explaining to do.
SCENE 4 - REVELATIONS
"IMPOSSIBLE!"
Nathaniel's composure finally cracked. "You're dead! I killed you myself!"
"You killed a projection," Seraphina said calmly. "A very convincing one, infused with enough of my blood to fool anyone. Even you."
"But the massacre—"
"Oh, that was real. The deaths were real. Marcus..." Her voice caught slightly. "Marcus really died. But I survived. Barely. Long enough to hide Elena and disappear."
"Where have you been?" Elena asked, her voice shaking. "Twenty years. You've been alive for twenty years and you never—"
"I was sleeping," Seraphina interrupted. "The spell to hide you, to bind your powers, it required a sacrifice. I had to bind myself too. I've been in magical stasis, hidden where no one would think to look."
"Where?"
Seraphina smiled slightly. "Beneath the very council chambers we're standing in. Lucian knew. He's been protecting my body for two decades."
Everyone turned to stare at the Vampire King.
Damien looked shocked. "Father?"
"I made a promise," Lucian said simply. "To your mother, before she died. To protect any innocent who needed it. Seraphina qualified."
"But she's an abomination—" one of the Elders started.
"She's evolution," Lucian corrected. "As is her daughter. The mixing of bloodlines isn't corruption—it's growth. It's the future."
"Pretty speech from someone whose son is claiming her," Nathaniel said viciously. "Tell me, Lucian, did you plan this? Your son and the Blood Rose? Another hybrid to continue the pollution?"
"I didn't plan anything," Lucian said. "But I'm not opposed to it either."
"Of course not. Your wife's death taught you nothing—"
Lucian moved so fast even the other vampires seemed surprised. One moment he was standing calmly. The next, Nathaniel was pinned against the wall, Lucian's hand around his throat.
"Mention my wife again," Lucian said quietly, "and Council law or not, I'll remove your head."
"Do it," Damien said coldly. "Save us all the trouble."
"Violence won't solve this," Seraphina said. She looked tired, Elena noticed. Whatever had woken her had taken a toll. "But truth might."
"What truth?" Elena asked.
"The truth about the prophecy. It's been mistranslated. Misunderstood. Deliberately, in some cases." She looked directly at Nathaniel. "The Blood Rose isn't meant to choose between species. She's meant to become something new. Something that transcends the limitations of vampire, werewolf, or human."
"What does that mean?"
"It means, my dear daughter, that you're not just a hybrid. You're the prototype. The first of what we all could become. If we're brave enough to evolve."
"Evolution," one of the werewolf alphas spat. "You mean corruption. The weakening of pure bloodlines—"
"Pure bloodlines that have been killing each other for a thousand years?" Seraphina asked. "How's that working out for you?"
"Better than your alternative. Look what happened to Marcus. The first hybrid, dead at thirty—"
"Marcus isn't dead either."
This time, the silence was absolute.
Seraphina smiled sadly. "Did you really think I'd let my mate die? He's been sleeping too, healing from wounds that should have been fatal. But hybrid blood is remarkably resilient."
"Where?" Kael asked urgently. "Where is my uncle?"
"Safe. Hidden. Waiting." She looked at Elena. "Waiting for you to be ready."
"Ready for what?"
"To awaken him. Your blood, Elena, it doesn't just bridge species. It heals them. Completes them. You could wake your father. You could heal the rift between vampires and werewolves. You could—"
"She could destroy us all!" Nathaniel broke free from Lucian's grip, his own power flaring. "Don't you see? This is how we end! Not in war, but in dilution. In the loss of what makes us unique!"
"What makes us unique is also what makes us weak," Elena said, stepping forward. "Vampires can't walk in sunlight. Werewolves are slaves to the moon. Humans are fragile. But together? Combined? We could be more."
"Abomination," several voices whispered.
"Evolution," others countered.
The room was splitting, Elena could feel it. Not just vampire versus werewolf, but progressive versus traditional, future versus past.
"Enough talk," the female Elder said. "We vote. Now. Does the Blood Rose live or die?"
"You don't get to vote on my life," Elena said.
"Actually, we do. Council law—"
"Your laws don't apply to me. I'm not a vampire. I'm not a werewolf. I'm not fully human." Elena's power began to rise, and this time she didn't hold it back. "I'm something new. Something you can't control with your rules and traditions."
Fire danced along her right arm.
Ice crystallized on her left.
And something else—something that felt like lightning and shadow combined—crackled around her like armor.
"I came here in good faith," she continued, her voice echoing with power. "To meet you. To understand you. To offer peace. But if you want war..."
She let the threat hang.
"You can't threaten the entire Council," an Elder said, but there was fear in his voice now.
"I'm not threatening. I'm stating facts. You can accept me, work with me toward peace. Or you can try to kill me and see what happens when the Blood Rose decides to fulfill the darker side of the prophecy."
"What darker side?" Damien asked.
Elena looked at him, then at Kael, then at Zane. Her three protectors. Her three possibilities.
"The prophecy says I'll unite or destroy. Everyone assumes those are different outcomes." She smiled, and several vampires stepped back. "But what if they're the same? What if the only way to unite you is to destroy what you were and build something new?"
"You wouldn't," Nathaniel said, but doubt crept into his voice.
"Try me."
Mother and daughter stood side by side—two impossible beings facing down centuries of tradition and fear.
"I vote for life," Lucian said loudly. "The Blood Rose lives."
"As do I," Kael's uncle Jonas said. "The Silvermoon pack stands with Elena."
"The Outcasts were always with her," Zane added.
One by one, voices rose.
Some for.
Some against.
The room split almost evenly.
Until Damien spoke.
"I challenge the Council's right to vote."
Everyone turned to stare at him.
"On what grounds?" his father asked.
"On the grounds that Elena Blackwood is under my protection. As my chosen consort, she falls under House Valdric immunity."
Gasps. Shouts. Chaos.
But Kael's voice cut through it all.
"She's also under Silvermoon protection. As my true mate, she has pack immunity."
More chaos.
Then Zane, not to be outdone: "The Outcasts claim her as our champion. She has sanctuary with us."
"This is ridiculous!" Nathaniel screamed. "She can't have immunity from everyone!"
"Apparently she can," Mia said cheerfully. "It's like diplomatic immunity, but make it supernatural."
"The human is right," Selene said, appearing with several other witches. "Elena Blackwood is claimed by three factions. Council law is clear—no one claimed by multiple groups can be voted on unilaterally."
"Then what do we do?" an Elder asked.
"We give her time," Lucian said. "Time to prove herself. Time to show us what the future could be."
"How much time?"
"Until the blood moon," Seraphina said. "Three weeks. If Elena can't prove the prophecy's promise of unity by then, the Council can vote."
"And if she proves it?"
"Then we evolve. All of us. Into something better."
"This is madness—" Nathaniel started.
"This is hope," Elena interrupted. "Something you've forgotten the meaning of."
She looked around the room at all the faces—vampire, werewolf, witch, human, outcast.
"Three weeks," she said. "Give me three weeks to show you that we're stronger together than apart. That peace isn't weakness—it's strength. That evolution isn't death—it's life."
"And how will you prove this?" the female Elder asked.
Elena smiled. "By waking my father. By healing him with blood freely given from volunteers of each species. By showing you that hybrid doesn't mean less—it means more."
"Impossible," someone muttered.
"I'm getting really sick of that word," Elena said. "Three weeks. Yes or no?"
The Elders looked at each other.
Finally, reluctantly, they nodded.
"Three weeks," the female Elder said. "But if you fail—"
"I won't."
"Such confidence."
"Such determination," Elena corrected. She looked at Nathaniel. "You have three weeks too. To run. To hide. Because when I succeed, when I prove the prophecy true, you'll answer for your crimes."
"We'll see about that, little rose," Nathaniel said, his form already dissolving into shadow. "Three weeks to corrupt them all. I think you'll find tradition harder to break than you imagine."
He vanished, taking the Shadow Court with him.
Slowly, the room began to empty. Vampires and werewolves eyeing each other warily but not fighting.
Progress.
Finally, only Elena's inner circle remained.
Seraphina approached slowly, hesitantly.
"I know you must hate me," she said softly.
"I don't know what I feel," Elena admitted. "You're alive. Dad might be alive. Everything I believed was a lie."
"Not everything. Our love for you was real. Is real."
"But you left me."
"To protect you. To give you a chance at normal life."
"Normal?" Elena laughed bitterly. "I've never been normal. I've always known something was different. Wrong."
"Not wrong. Special."
"Same thing when you're seventeen and trying to fit in."
Seraphina reached out slowly, touching Elena's face. "You were never meant to fit in, my darling. You were meant to stand out. To lead. To change everything."
"No pressure or anything."
"All the pressure. But also..." Seraphina smiled. "You're not alone. You have them." She looked at Damien, Kael, and Zane. "All of them, if I'm reading the situation correctly."
Elena blushed. "It's complicated."
"The best things always are."
"Can you really wake Dad?"
"With your help, yes. Your blood, combined with willing donations from each species, could heal him. But it's dangerous. If even one person's blood is given unwillingly, it could kill him."
"Then we'll be careful."
"We?"
Elena looked at her mother—this stranger who shared her face. "We. You're not disappearing again."
"I wasn't planning to."
"Good. Because I have questions. So many questions."
"And I have answers. Some of them, anyway."
They stood there, mother and daughter reunited, surrounded by vampires, werewolves, witches, and one very confused human best friend.
"So," Mia said, breaking the moment. "Can we talk about how Elena's mom is hot? Like, extremely hot? Is that weird to say?"
"Yes," everyone said simultaneously.
"Just checking. Also, Elena, you have three weeks to basically create world peace. No big deal."
"When you put it like that..."
"You'll do it," Kael said confidently. "We'll help."
"All of us," Damien added.
"Even if we have to drag the entire supernatural world kicking and screaming into the future," Zane finished.
Elena looked at them—her protectors, her possible loves, her friends, her family.
Three weeks to change the world.
Three weeks to prove prophecies true.
Three weeks to wake her father and unite the species.
"Well," she said, squaring her shoulders. "We better get started."
END OF CHAPTER 5
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"The first volunteer has to be genuine," Seraphina explained. "Someone who truly believes in unity, not just playing politics."
Elena looked around the room at the gathered representatives. Vampires on one side, werewolves on the other, mistrust thick in the air.
"I'll go first," a voice said.
Everyone turned to stare at the young vampire who'd spoken. He couldn't be more than a century old, practically a child by vampire standards.
"You don't even know her," an Elder vampire hissed.
"No," the young vampire agreed, walking forward. "But I knew my sister. She died in the massacre, believing peace was possible. If there's even a chance..." He looked at Elena. "I offer my blood freely."
And with that single act of faith, everything began to change.