Claimed by the vampire prince

Chapter 266: Chapter 266

The dream took her gently this time.

Circe did not jolt awake into the cave as she had before. There was no sharp pull, no breathless fall through darkness. One moment she slept, and the next she was standing barefoot on cool stone, the air damp as the familiar cerulean pool stretched out before her.

She exhaled slowly, steadying herself.

"So," she said into the quiet. "You finally decided to stop skulking around in my head."

The cerulean pool lay ahead, its surface unbroken, casting rippling light along the cave walls. Everything felt as real as it always did—the faint echo of dripping water, the sharp scent of damp stone, the subtle pull in her chest that told her she had crossed into a place thick with magic.

"You came quickly," the woman said.

Circe turned. The woman stood near the pool, her hands folded behind her back.

"You summoned me," Circe replied evenly. "I don’t have much of a choice."

A faint smile touched the woman’s lips.

"You always have a choice. You could have blocked me from doing so like before but I think you don’t really know how you did it in the first place."

Circe said nothing, choosing to neither confirm or deny what the woman said. She stepped closer instead, stopping a careful distance away. Her gaze flicked briefly to the shadows beyond the pool, then returned to the woman’s face.

"What is this about?" she asked. "If you’re going to teach me, then say so."

Her aunt studied her for a moment, something unreadable passing through her eyes. "Very well," she said. "Today, we start at the beginning."

Circe felt the shift immediately. The air grew denser, pressing gently against her skin. The faint hum she had come to associate with this place deepened, resonating somewhere beneath her ribs.

"I can feel your fear. It clouds the air around you like the smell of incense." the woman continued calmly.

Circe bristled. "I am merely cautious. Given that I can’t be sure if anything out of your mouth is true, I would be a fool not to be a little wary bit of you."

"Call it what you wish. Fear and caution often share the same root. You are only cautious because you know that there is something to fear." The woman gestured toward the pool, at the slow, gentle sway of the water. "You might be death but that is not where your powers begin. Your powers also manifest as the gap that exists between the living and the dead. You will come to learn that the two of them are connected, not opposites. There is no life without death and similarly, there won’t be death without life. Death is not the end of life, merely a continuation of it. A soul continues existing long after death."

Circe followed the gesture, her eyes drawn to the glowing water. "Then where does my powers begin?"

"With awareness," the woman said. "With perception. Before you can touch a soul, you must learn to recognize one."

"I already can." Circe said, recalling how easily she had sensed the absence of a soul in that raven.

The woman arched a brow. "You sensed the bird, yes. You sensed my sister. That does not mean you understand what you are sensing."

Before Circe could reply, the woman turned and gestured toward the far end of the cave. As they moved away from the water, the air grew heavier. Circe hesitated only a fraction of a second before following behind her aunt once more.

Each step she took made her heart race as she willingly walked into the unknown. The deeper they went, the more aware Circe became of herself and her surroundings. She became aware of something quiet stirring beneath her skin, and the faint humming in the air.

They stopped before a low stone platform

Upon its flat surface lay a small animal.

A Possum, Circe realized. Its fur was matted with dark blood along its flank, its chest barely moving.

Her stomach tightened as she stared down at it.

Noticing the hint of disgust on Circe’s face, the woman clicked her tongue.

"I did not summon you to make you comfortable," the woman said. "Look at it."

"So you brought me here to watch something die?" Circe asked, offering her a skeptical look.

The woman inclined her head. "No. I brought you here to learn how a soul frees itself from its body."

Circe stepped closer despite herself. The possum’s eyes were squeezed shut. Whatever wound it had suffered was fairly recent, but it was deep enough that even Circe could tell it would not recover from it.

"It’s still alive," Circe said as she felt its soul pulse, albeit weakly.

"Yes."

"I can see its life force." It was right in front of her that she could just reach out and touch it. "But it feels..." She trailed off, frowning.

The woman’s eyes sharpened. "Finish the thought."

Circe swallowed. "Thin," she said finally. "Like it’s already halfway gone."

A flicker of approval crossed the woman’s face.

"Good. You are sensing its soul."

Circe stiffened. "But I didn’t do anything."

She did not understand any of it. Her aunt had spoken like she had accomplished a feat when in truth, what Circe did had felt as innate as drawing breath.

"You did," the woman corrected. "When you sensed its life force, you didn’t fight or resist your instincts."

She stepped aside, granting Circe a clear view of the possum. "You and I share certain affinities. We can both perceive the boundary between life and death. We can feel the weight of a soul within a body." She paused. "But where my magic can only touch that boundary from the outside, yours was born within it."

Circe looked at the possum again. The feeling was still there. The pulsing of its soul felt like a quiet pull, like a tide drawing back.

"What am I supposed to do?" Circe asked, feeling uncertain of where to go from here.

"For now?" the woman said. "Nothing. Just observe." freeωebnovēl.c૦m

Circe shot her a sharp look. "That’s it?"

"Did you expect to master everything in a single moment?" the woman asked mildly. "Sit."

Circe wanted to protest but chose to keep her words to herself in the end. Reluctantly, Circe lowered herself onto the stone opposite the platform. The cold seeped through her legs, and it took her a moment to adjust to it.

"Close your eyes," the woman said. freёweɓnovel.com

Circe hesitated, then obeyed.

The woman continued. "Let your magic rise on its own. It already knows where to go."

Circe focused on her breathing. At first, there was only darkness. Then slowly a sensation bloomed in her chest. She felt pressure like hands pressing outward from beneath her ribs.