Chapter 3: The Blood Remembers

Aria.

"You're insane," I whisper, staring at Jace like he's 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 asks, tilting his head. "Look at your hands, Aria."

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

"I don't see anything."

"Look closer."

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

Then it's gone.

"You're messing with me," I said with 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 leans back in his chair, and for the first time since I've known him, he looks 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 this is."

I swing my legs over the side of the bed, standing up too fast. The room spinned, but I don't care. I need to get away from him.

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

"Don't tell me what to do!" The words explode 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 ven smaller. He's taller than I remembered, broader. There's something dangerous about the way he moves, like a predator it's stalking prey.

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

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

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

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

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

"You're glowing," he says 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 sounds 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 yank the door open. "Just stop with the cryptic mysterious guy act. I'm not buying it."

I stormed out of the school's clinic, my heart pounding so hard I think it might burst. Behind me, I hear Jace call my name, but I don't stop. I can't stop.

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

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

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

The lock finally clicks open. I throw my leg over the and pedal home as fast as I can, not looking back once.

When I finally got home, mom's car isn't in the driveway. She's probably working late again. Good. I don't think I could handle questions right now.

I dump my bike on the front lawn and ram9 inside, taking the stairs two at a time. My bedroom door slams behind me, and I slide down it until I'm sitting on the floor.

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

But even as I say it, I remember 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 repeat it like a mantra until my breathing slowed down and the world starts making sense again.

I finally got on my feet, did my homework, and ate my dinner alone. I watch TV until my eyes burn, which is a normal human thing.

By the time I finally went to bed, I've 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 are bare, but I don'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 run through the trees. Wolves. Huge, beautiful wolves with eyes that glow in the darkness. They're my family. My pack.

Then the scene changed.

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

A voice spoke, but I can't tell where it's coming from.

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

I looked down at my arms, the symbol carved into my skin, glowing with that same silver light. They're beautiful and terrifying, like nothing I've 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 can answer, everything went blank.

***

I woke up gasping, my sheets were soaked with sweat. My heart was racing like I was 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 tingles where the symbols were carved in the dream. I can almost feel them burning under my skin.

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

I leaned over the sink, cupping water in my hands. When I straighten up and look in the mirror, my blood turns to ice.

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

It was glowing softly along my arm, pulsing in time with my heartbeat. They're real. They're actually real.

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

The marks pulsed brighter, as if they're answering. I reach out to touch the mirror, and my reflection does something impossible.

It smiles back at me with eyes that glow silver in the dark.

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

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