Chapter 3: The Blood Remembers

Aria.

"You're insane," I whispered, staring at Jace like he'd grown a second head.

He just sat there, calm as can be, watching me with those predatory green eyes. Like what he just said makes perfect sense. Like telling someone they're "yours" is totally normal.

"Am I?" he asked, tilting his head. "Look at your hands, Aria."

I glanced down at my hands resting on the white nurse's office sheets. They looked normal. Pale, shaky, but normal.

"I don't see anything."

"Look closer."

Something in his voice made me obey. I held my hands up to the fluorescent light, turning them over. For a split second, I swore I saw something. A faint shimmer under my skin, like moonlight on water.

Then it was gone.

"You're messing with me," I said, anger bubbling up in my chest. "This is just another way to humiliate me, isn't it? Get the weird girl to believe in fairy tales."

Jace leaned back in his chair, and for the first time since I'd known him, he looked hurt. Actually hurt.

"You think this is a game?"

"Yes! I think this is all some sick joke between you and your friends. Tomorrow everyone will know how stupid Aria Vale believed she had magical powers or whatever that is."

I swung my legs over the side of the bed, standing up too fast. The room spun, but I didn't care. I needed to get away from him.

"Sit down," Jace said, his voice sharp. "You're not ready to—"

"Don't tell me what to do!" The words exploded out of me louder than I intended. "You don't own me, Jace Storm. Nobody owns me."

He stood up too, and suddenly the school clinic felt even smaller. He was taller than I remembered, broader. There was something dangerous about the way he moved, like a predator stalking its prey.

"You don't understand what's happening to you," he said, stepping closer.

"Then explain it!" I went back toward the door, but he followed. "Stop talking in riddles and just tell me what you think is wrong with me."

"Nothing is wrong with you." His voice was softer now, almost gentle. "You're perfect. You're exactly what I've been looking for."

"Looking for?" My back hit the door. "Looking for what?"

He stopped just inches away from me. This close, I could see gold flecks in his green eyes. I could smell that expensive cologne mixed with something else. Something wild.

"You're glowing," he said quietly. "Your blood has awakened the bloodline of the Ancients. You're mine."

The words hit me like a slap.

"The bloodline of the what?" I laughed, but it sounded crazy even to me. "Ancients? What are you, some kind of fantasy novel reject?"

"This isn't a joke, Aria."

"Yes, it is!" I reached for the door handle behind me. "It's all a joke. The popular guy doesn't suddenly claim the weird girl. That's not how the world works."

"The world works in ways you can't imagine."

"Stop!" I yanked the door open. "Just stop with the cryptic mysterious guy act. I'm not buying it."

I stormed out of the school clinic, my heart pounding so hard I thought it might burst. Behind me, I heard Jace call my name, but I didn't stop. I couldn't stop.

I ran through the empty hallways, my footsteps echoing off the walls. School had ended hours ago. The building was dark except for the security lights. How long had I been unconscious?

I didn't stop running until I reached the parking lot. My bicycle was still chained to the rack where I'd left it this morning. I fumbled with the combination lock, my hands shaking so badly I could barely turn the numbers.

"Come on," I whispered. "Come on, come on."

The lock finally clicked open. I threw my leg over the bike and pedaled home as fast as I could, not looking back once.

When I finally got home, Mom's car wasn't in the driveway. She was probably working late again. Good. I didn't think I could handle questions right now.

I dumped my bike on the front lawn and ran inside, taking the stairs two at a time. My bedroom door slammed behind me, and I slid down it until I was sitting on the floor.

"Bloodline of the Ancients," I muttered, pulling my knees to my chest. "He's completely insane."

But even as I said it, I remembered the pain during gym class. The way my veins lit up like Christmas lights. The electric feeling when Jace touched my hand.

"No," I said out loud. "No, no, no. There's a logical explanation. Low blood sugar. Dehydration. Stress."

I repeated it like a mantra until my breathing slowed down and the world started making sense again.

I finally got on my feet, did my homework, and ate my dinner alone. I watched TV until my eyes burned, which was a normal human thing.

By the time I finally went to bed, I'd almost convinced myself that everything that happened today was just stress and teenage drama blown out of proportion.

---

I saw myself running through a dark forest. My feet were bare, but I didn't feel the cold ground or the sharp rocks. I was running on four legs instead of two, and it felt natural.

Around me, other shapes ran through the trees. Wolves. Huge, beautiful wolves with eyes that glowed in the darkness. They were my family. My pack.

Then the scene changed.

I saw myself standing in a circle of ancient stones. Fire burned in bowls around me, casting dancing shadows on the rock. My hands were glowing again, but this time the light was silver instead of blue.

A voice spoke, but I couldn't tell where it was coming from.

"The blood remembers," it said. "The blood always remembers."

I looked down at my arms, the symbols carved into my skin, glowing with that same silver light. They were beautiful and terrifying, like nothing I'd ever seen before.

"What are they?" I asked no one in particular.

"The marks of your people. The signs of what you are."

"What am I?"

But before the voice could answer, everything went blank.

---

I woke up gasping, my sheets soaked with sweat. My heart was racing like I'd been running through a forest all night.

"It's just a dream," I whispered, trying to reassure myself. "Just a weird, crazy dream."

But my skin still tingled where the symbols had been carved in the dream. I could almost feel them burning under my skin.

I stumbled to the bathroom, flicking on the harsh overhead light. I needed to splash cold water on my face and wake up properly.

I leaned over the sink, cupping water in my hands. When I straightened up and looked in the mirror, my blood turned to ice.

There, just visible under my skin like faint tattoos, were the symbols from my dream.

They were glowing softly along my arm, pulsing in time with my heartbeat. They were real. They were actually real.

"What's happening to me?" I whispered to my reflection.

The marks pulsed brighter, as if they were answering. I reached out to touch the mirror, and my reflection did something impossible.

It smiled back at me with eyes that glowed silver in the dark.

I screamed and stumbled backward, but when I looked again, it was just me. No glowing eyes or silver light.

But the runes were still there, written on my skin like a story I couldn't read. Like a claim I couldn't escape.