Chapter 122: The Vampire’s Concern
Dmitri POV
The scent of dimensional magic hit me like a slap across the face as I ran through the trees toward the chaos. Three hundred years of life had taught me to recognize that particular smell - like burning copper mixed with the emptiness between stars. It meant someone was playing with forces they didn’t understand.
I burst into the area just as Caleb’s anguished howl echoed through the trees. What I saw made my dead heart clench with old fear.
Lily was flickering in and out of existence like a light in the wind. Her body phased between solid and transparent, and I could see the obvious shimmer around her edges that meant dimensional displacement. I’d seen it once before, two centuries ago, when a witch tried to open a portal to the shadow world.
She’d been lost forever.
"Get away from her!" Caleb snarled at me, his wolf form bristling with protective rage.
"You fool," I snapped, dropping to my knees beside Lily’s disappearing form. "I’m trying to help her!"
The werewolf’s eyes blazed with distrust. "Since when do vampires help anyone?"
"Since I’ve seen this before and know what happens next," I said grimly, putting my hands carefully near Lily’s flickering form. "She’s caught between worlds. If we don’t stabilize her soon, she’ll scatter across endless realities and never find her way back."
Elder Iris stumbled closer, her face pale with understanding. "You know about dimensional displacement?"
"My maker was obsessed with crossing between worlds," I explained, watching Lily’s form wobble dangerously. " He tested on dozens of creatures before the Council stopped him. Most of them simply disappeared. The few we managed to save..." I shuddered at the thought. "They were never the same."