---- Before I could respond, he moved his soft fingers over the syringe rooted in my temple.

His eyes narrowed in concentration.

I flinched at the contact and his eyes steered to mine.

What is his name, little one? Whose name? What is he asking me? His eyes steer down to my neck along with his fingers.

And the realisation hits hard.

The mark.

He was caressing the marking on my neck.

He was asking me about my mate.

Da-Damien.

T half whisper stutter and he humm to bring his finger up to my lips.

There was a strange darkness in his eyes.

The kind of darkness that could make even the demons of death bow down to him And T involuntary flinched.

---- eee My skin crawled at his contact.

This....

This is the last time you will be taking his name, little one.

You will soon forget him and everyone else in your present life.

Letting go of the past is difficult, but one needs to let go to move ahead.

No- Before I could even protest.he pressed something against my necka syringe, smaller than the others but no less cruel.

The liquid burned its way into my bloodstream, our eyes stay connected and soon I feel all the energy leaving my body.

To new beginnings little one.

His lips move as he whispered.

And that's all I heard before my senses go numb and dark spots claimed my vision.

The last thing T saw was the look on his face.

And unlike what I expected.

---- It wasn't satisfaction.

It wasn't victory.

It was hope.

Something I had given up on.

3 Rd person pov The hum of the machine filled the sterile air, a rhythmic and ominous pulse that mirrored Vincenzo's own racing heart.noveldrama

He stood motionless there, eyes fixed on her pale face.

Ter chest rose and fell shallowly, each breath more fragile than the last The machine beside her displayed the percentage of her transition: 77...

78...

a cruel countdown to either her survival or her end.

And Vincenzo stared at those closed eyes with a bated breath.

His thumb hovered near her cracked lips, brushing the edge with a touch so faint it barely stirred her skin and then it dropped.

His hands clenched into ---- eee = fists, nails biting into his palms.

She looked so small, so breakable, lying beneath the monstrous contraption that had siphoned the humanity from countless before her.

But this was different.

She was different.

His little one wasnt so easy to break.

"Come on, little one," he whispered, his voice barely audible over the hum of the machine.

Tt wasn't a plea; it was a demand, spoken more to himself than to her.

The display ticked higher85...

88...

Her breaths tured more erratic, her body twitching against the straps that bound her.

And Vincenzos jaw tightened, his eyes burning with a mix of desperation and fury.

Desperate for her to live...

to be like him.

And fury at himself.

For making her go through all