---
The crimson-black cocoon stood in the dim stillness of the Void Land like a sealed heart pulled out of some ancient beast and left to pulse in the dark.
Sekhmet remained in front of it for a while after the transformation ended, his eyes fixed on the layered surface as faint lines of deep red moved beneath the shell. Mira's body was hidden now. Only the shape of change remained. The cocoon was not smooth like Lily's had been. It looked denser. Harder. Veined with scale-like ridges that caught the low light of the strange sky above and gave back almost nothing.
That meant the system had been right.
Crimson Gorgon.
Not merely another true vampire.
Something narrower. Sharper. More personal to the bloodline she came from.
Auri landed lightly near him with a small rustle sound and tilted her head at the cocoon. She had come from the direction of her little house, where she had probably been pretending not to watch from a distance until curiosity became stronger than restraint.
