Eventually, we returned to the Great Hall, where the official assessment began.

This time, the moment I stepped forward, the system flickered to life. The centaur administrator from before glanced at the screen, her expression unreadable as my stats rolled across the display.

“Declan Dark,” she announced. “Fledgling Vampire.”

That much, I expected. But then-

“Clan: Undecided.”

I blinked. “Wait. Undecided?”

Jinx looked just as puzzled. “I didn’t know you could decide a clan.”

“Neither did I,” I muttered.

“Maybe it’s because you haven’t fully turned yet?” Jinx guessed. “I mean, I don’t know many fledglings who come here, so…”

“Yeah,” I said slowly. “That could be it.”

I exhaled and turned to Jinx. “Okay, what about yours?”

The screen flickered as Jinx stepped up. The Centaur glanced at the display before reading it aloud. “Jinx… no last name?” I knew she was just messing with Jinx, but it was working.

“Just Jinx,” she gritted.

The Centaur continued. “Species: Human - Undetermined. Magical Affinity: Animalis Dei.”

Jinx stiffened. “What did you say?”

The Centaur hesitated. “It appears the system can’t pinpoint your primary species-”

Jinx frowned, waving her hand. “No, not that.” Then she caught up with what the centaur had said. “Wait, that doesn’t make sense. I already know what my species is. I’m a human.”

“Why does it say - Undetermined?” I asked, already suspecting the answer.

Jinx read the lines aloud, her voice hollow. “Species: Human – Undetermined. Magical Affinity: Animalis Dei. It’s changed. My magic -how?”

She went silent, then blinked hard, as if expecting the words to change.

“That… has to be a mistake,” she said, voice suddenly unsteady.

The Centaur turned toward her. “I’m sorry, dear. What did you say?”

Jinx swallowed hard. “There -there must be some kind of mistake.”

But there wasn’t. And from the look on her face, she knew it.

She frantically scrolled through the projected display, and found nothing to assuage her growing anxiety.

The centaur administrator shook her head, giving Jinx a sympathetic but firm look. “Oh no, dear. The system is fully operational now. No more glitches.”

Jinx narrowed her eyes. “But it was glitching earlier.”

“The issue has been fully resolved,” the centaur assured her. “I can guarantee that your results are accurate.”

“Then why is it lying?” Jinx snapped, her voice sharp enough to make a few heads turn.

The administrator’s expression didn’t waver. “Lying? My dear, what do you mean?”

Jinx was about to argue when the administrator skimmed over the results again, and her brows furrowed slightly. “Ah. I see. Have you had any recent… unaccounted encounters with the Fae’Ri? Extra-dimensional beings? Devils? Gods?”

“What?” Jinx blinked. “No! I mean-”

“Hold on, what’s the big deal? What does that mean?” I asked, cutting in before things could get out of hand.

“Animalis Dei, loosely translated means -Bestial God,” the centaur helpfully provided.

“That sounds awesome,” I protested. “What’s the problem?”

“The issue is-” Jinx started to reply, before her words faltered as memory surged forward, unbidden.

Her hand instinctively went to the scar on her cheek… then drifted to her neck… then lower, over her collarbone where deep, almost imperceptible marks lay beneath her shirt. And finally, she touched her hand -the now-healed bite where the rat had sunk its teeth into her skin.

A sharp breath hitched in her throat. “I think I’m gonna be sick.”

I stepped in, trying to lighten the mood. “C’mon, it’s not that bad. I mean, you can pack a punch.”

Her gaze snapped to me, confusion laced with something darker. “What do you mean?”

I hesitated, rubbing the back of my neck. “Well… I may have noticed something before. Back when we were in the Ways.”

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Her eyes widened. “You knew?”

I winced. “I -I had a suspicion.”

Jinx’s nostrils flared, anger rising in waves. “You fucking knew and didn’t tell me?!”

I lifted my hands in defense. “I couldn’t. I know what you think about -about my kind. About non-humans. I figured finding out you were one would be… well, a lot.”

Her laugh was cold. “Oh. So you thought you were doing me a favor? By lying to my face?”

“I wasn’t lying,” I argued. “I was just… I didn’t know how to tell you. I thought maybe if I let you find out on your own-”

“Oh, screw you, Declan.” She turned away, fuming. “So all that questioning earlier? You weren’t curious. You just didn’t have the balls to tell me to my face.”

“Jinx-”

“No. Fuck this place.” She spun toward the administrator. “What now? Do I get thrown into some rat den?”

The centaur’s expression remained unreadable. “You’ll be housed in the Shifter House. A guide can take you there.”

Jinx scoffed. “I don’t need a damn guide. I was on the tour, remember?”

Before I could stop her, she whirled and stormed off.

The centaur called after her. “Your tablet-”

I grabbed them from the centaur as she stood stock still, obviously at a loss. “Thanks,” I muttered, already moving to follow Jinx.

“Jinx! Wait!”

She didn’t turn.

“You forgot this!”

She shook her head, not slowing her pace. “I don’t need it. I don’t need any of this.”

“Jinx-”

She stopped just long enough to look at me, eyes flashing with anger and something else -something raw. Betrayal.

“I knew I shouldn’t have come here.”

“But if you hadn’t, you wouldn’t have known-”

“Oh, I would’ve known,” she snapped. “The moment the moon hit. The moment I went through my first real change, I would’ve known.”

“Then isn’t it better that you’re here?” I pressed. “You’ll go through your first shift in a safe environment-”

“I don’t want to shift. Don’t you get it?” Her voice cracked. “If I change, that’s it. I’m a rat forever.”

I reeled. “There has to be something you can do. A cure-”

Her laugh was bitter. “It’s not like a fucking vampire, Declan. It’s not like I can just go track down some master and kill them before I complete the change. It doesn’t work like that.”

Her words hit harder than I expected.

“Jinx…”

“No.” She shook her head. “Whatever. I’ll catch you later.”

I stood there, watching as she disappeared into the distance, presumably heading toward the Shifter Complex.

I exhaled. “Shit.”

I looked down at the tablets in my hands.

“Great,” I muttered. “How the hell am I supposed to use this thing if I can’t even find the on switch?”

A slow, rhythmic tick, tick, tick echoed from the shadows behind me.

I turned just in time to see Priscilla stepping forward, her entourage of vampires fanned out behind her like a dark, waiting tide.

“What a dramatic exit,” she purred, tilting her head. “Poor thing. Must be so devastating to find out you’re nothing more than… vermin.”

I clenched my jaw. “Back off.”

She placed a hand over her heart, mock-wounded. “My god, I was just coming to welcome you.”

I gave her a flat look. “Yeah. Right.”

She pouted. “It’s not my fault your little furry friend is upset.” Then her lips curled upward, showing just the barest hint of fangs. “I’m not the one that bit her.”

A cold wave washed over me. “The fuck did you just say?”

“Oh, nothing, darling.” She took another step closer, her voice dripping with sugar and venom. “Now, I assume you’ve figured it out by now? That I am the Queen Bee around here?”

“I don’t give a damn.”

“Oh, but I do.”

Then she was suddenly too close.

I didn’t even register her movements, she was that fast.

I caught the scent of something rich and heady -her pheromones, thick in the air like a spell wrapping around me. My body tensed. My mind clouded.

She leaned in, her lips brushing dangerously close to my ear. “And I want to know exactly what you are.”

Before I could react, she inhaled deeply, taking me in -and then, slowly, deliberately, she licked her lips.

“My, my, you are something special,” she murmured. “Something delicious.”

The world spun.

My head felt light, my limbs unsteady, the edges of my consciousness fraying under her influence.

Then -suddenly- I blinked.

And I was somewhere else.

The entrance to the Vampire House loomed in front of me.

I jerked back, my mind snapping into place. “Wait -what the hell?”

I didn’t remember walking there.

Priscilla just laughed, a low, wicked sound. “Oh, darling,” she crooned. “You’re going to be so much fun.”

Priscilla’s smile widened as she twined her arm through mine, her touch featherlight but firm, like silk wrapped around steel.

“You know,” she mused, voice dripping with amusement, “each of our kind -each clan, tribe, house, however you’d like to categorize us- has its own unique talent.”

I exhaled sharply. “Lucky us.”

She ignored my sarcasm, her nails idly tracing a pattern against my forearm as she continued. “Some are stronger than others, of course. Some… more refined.” Her ruby lips curled. “And I am very curious to see what you’re good at.”

“Yeah, well, good luck with that,” I muttered.

“Oh, I don’t need luck,” she said smoothly. “I already checked the system.”

I stiffened. “You what?”

“Oh, don’t look so scandalized, darling.” Her voice was all honey and poison. “It’s what anyone would do if an undecided popped up on the registry.”

I frowned. “That’s… unusual?”

She scoffed. “It’s unheard of. I’ve never seen an undecided before.” Her eyes glinted with something dangerous. “You’re a fledgling, and you’re not bound to a bloodline? Fascinating.”

I pulled my arm away, but her grip was deceptively strong.

“Yeah, well, don’t get too excited,” I said. “This is a temporary problem. One I fully intend to fix.”

She blinked at me, tilting her head as if I’d just spoken in tongues. “Fix?”

I squared my shoulders. “I’m trying to cure this. I don’t want to be a vampire.”

Priscilla’s expression flickered for just a second -shock, disbelief, then a quiet, simmering amusement.

“You’re serious,” she breathed, then laughed -a rich, velvety sound that sent shivers down my spine.

“I am.”

She shook her head in mock sympathy. “You poor, misguided thing. You’d really give up this? Immortality? Power? An existence beyond the chains of mortality?”

I met her gaze, unwavering. “In a heartbeat.”

The laughter died in her throat. “How tragic.”

“No,” I said, my voice steel. “What’s tragic is the squad of dicks who did this to me. The assholes who saw me as nothing more than a midnight snack.” My lip curled. “If being undecided means I still have a choice, then I choose humanity.”

Priscilla’s expression darkened for half a second before a slow, knowing smile crept back onto her lips.

“Oh, darling,” she cooed, slipping her arm back through mine before I could react. “You only think you know what you want.”

Her grip was deceptively gentle, her words almost affectionate. But there was something dangerous in her tone -like a cat toying with its prey.

“Let’s see if I can’t change your mind.”

I scowled, trying to pull back, but she held firm.

“Maybe,” she purred, leading me toward the entrance of the Vampire House, “once I’ve shown you just what you’d be missing, you’ll realize the error of your naïve little ways.”

And with that, she guided me inside, into the heart of shadows.