Celestial_entity_

As humans, animals, and even the Earth itself begin to mutate and gain consciousness, a hidden conspiracy unravels, revealing Aurelia’s true origins and the dark forces manipulating the New Age. Alongside Lucian, a vampire with a mysterious lineage, and a cast of allies and enemies, Aurelia must navigate a world where nothing is as it seems. But as the planet awakens, so do the true villains—those who hide behind masks of virtue, their intentions far more sinister than anyone could imagine.

P.S The cover is not mine :)

The Vampire's Obsession

The world reassembled itself in jagged pieces.

Kael gasped as solid ground formed beneath him, his lungs burning from the sudden return of air. They stood in a ruined temple courtyard—not the obsidian monolith of the Veil, but a crumbling structure of weathered sandstone, its pillars carved with familiar motifs. The same hooded figure from the cavern walls loomed over kneeling supplicants, shadows pooling at its feet.

Lucian staggered against a broken column, his sword arm trembling. "Where—?"

"The beginning," came a voice from behind them.

Aurelia leaned against the temple's sole intact archway, her arms crossed. Not the hollow-cheeked prisoner from the vision, not the black-veined warrior from the cavern—just Aurelia, as he remembered her. Sharp. Smirking. Alive.

The usual dark amusement was gone, replaced by something colder. Older.

"You," Lucian breathed, his sword rising.

Aurelia pushed off the archway with a sigh. "Put that down, Lucian. If I wanted you dead, you'd be rotting in six different timelines by now."

Kael's fingers twitched toward his dagger. "Are you... her?"

"Mostly." She tilted her head, studying him. "More than she is, anyway." A jerk of her chin toward the horizon, where storm clouds gathered. "That thing wearing my face? That's the first draft. The prototype."

Lucian's fangs gleamed. "Then what are you?"

Aurelia's smile didn't reach her eyes. "The upgrade."

The ground trembled. Distant thunder rumbled, though the sky overhead remained clear.

Kael stepped forward. "She—it—said you were a failed copy."

"Failed?" Aurelia barked a laugh. "I'm the only one that worked." She tapped her temple. "They wanted a weapon. What they got was a mind of my own."

Another tremor, stronger this time. Cracks spiderwebbed across the courtyard stones.

Lucian's crimson eyes narrowed. "You're stalling."

Aurelia's expression darkened. "We have maybe five minutes before she tears through the last barrier. So listen close." She stepped forward, her boots crunching on broken stone. "That thing out there? She's not just the original. She's the concept given form. The first shadow. The end of stories."

Kael's stomach turned. "And you're—"

"A branch that grew too far from the tree." Aurelia's gaze flicked to the storm clouds, which were moving faster than natural. "I stole pieces of her power when I escaped. Lived a dozen lives across as many timelines. Got comfortable." Her jaw tightened. "But blood calls to blood. And now she's coming to collect."

The wind picked up, howling through the ruined temple. The storm clouds churned, forming shapes—a hand, reaching.

Aurelia met Kael's eyes. "Here's the part where you choose."

"Whether to help me bury her for good..." She held out a hand. "...or die here when she tears this world apart looking for me."

Lucian snarled. "After what you've done—"

"What she did," Aurelia corrected sharply. "That version of me died in the cavern when you put a sword through her chest." Her outstretched hand didn't waver. "I'm what's left."

The storm hit the temple walls. Stone shattered. Darkness poured through the gaps, forming into shapes—clawed hands, gaping mouths.

Kael looked at Aurelia's hand. At the storm. At Lucian's furious snarl.

Chapter 69: Aurelia's Gambit