Chapter 3 Gone, just like that.
Sable POV
It was supposed to be simple.
Just… a normal feed, right?
Hera drinks from me, gets what she needs, and that’s it.
That was what I told myself, even after Killian had said we should be careful, even after the way Hera had grabbed my wrist so suddenly, so forcefully. I had brushed it off. Forced myself to.
Because this was Hera.
Because I was helping her.
Because she wouldn’t hurt me.
…Right?
My heart was racing so fast it felt like it was climbing up my throat, beating against it, loud and relentless. I could hear it in my ears, feel it in my fingertips, even as I tried to keep my breathing steady.
Everyone was watching us.
I didn’t have to look to know that.
I could feel it, the weight of their eyes, the tension sitting thick in the air around us.
It was supposed to go smoothly.
Quietly.
Controlled.
Until—
I felt it.
Her fangs.
They didn’t just touch my skin.
They sank into it.
Deep.
Sharp.
Like two burning needles driving straight through my palm.
“Ah—!”
The scream tore out of me before I could stop it, loud and raw, echoing off the bathroom walls.
Pain exploded through my hand, shooting up my arm in a way I hadn’t prepared for. It wasn’t just sharp, it was hot, like something was searing through me, spreading under my skin.
My fingers twitched instinctively, trying to pull back, but Hera’s grip tightened.
Unyielding.
Unbreakable.
Her hold wasn’t just strong.
It was desperate.
My chest heaved as I gasped, my vision blurring at the edges.
“Hera…” I tried to say, but it came out broken, breathless.
The pain didn’t stop.
It deepened.
Changed.
There was something else mixed into it now, something strange, something I couldn’t quite understand.
A pull.
Like something inside me was being drawn out, not just blood, but something warmer, heavier, something that made my head spin.
My knees almost gave out.
I squeezed my eyes shut.
And then—
Light.
A sudden flash behind my eyelids.
Blinding.
For a split second, everything disappeared.
The pain.
The bathroom.
The voices.
It was just—
White.
And before I could even process what was happening—
“SABLE!”
Dove’s voice cut through everything, loud and sharp, snapping the moment apart.
Hands grabbed at us.
Forceful.
Urgent.
Hera’s grip was torn away from me.
Air rushed back in.
I stumbled slightly, my body swaying as the connection broke.
Hera fell back into the tub with a soft, almost relieved exhale, her head tilting slightly as her chest rose and fell more steadily now.
Her lips were stained red.
Her tongue slid over them slowly, almost instinctively, like she was savoring the taste.
Like she had just woken up from something deep.
I blinked rapidly, trying to steady myself, my vision still swimming.
My hand—
My palm throbbed violently.
I clutched it to my chest, staring at Hera like I didn’t fully understand what had just happened.
What I had just felt.
What she had just done.
My breathing came fast, uneven, my chest rising and falling like I had just run miles.
I couldn’t speak.
Couldn’t think.
Then—
The bathroom door burst open.
“Sable” Astrid ran in
Her voice came first, sharp with panic.
“I heard a scream—what happened?!”
I looked up at her.
Then… down at my hand.
Blood.
Too much of it.
I said nothing.
Couldn’t.
“Fuck,” Dove muttered, already moving toward me. “We need to wrap that.”
Her hands were on me before I could react, gently but firmly pulling me away from the tub, away from Hera.
Away from… that.
I let her.
My body moved because she guided it to, not because I was fully there.
She brought me to the sink, turning on the tap quickly.
Cold water rushed out.
“Give me your hand,” she said.
I hesitated for a second.
Then slowly, I extended it.
The moment the water hit the wound—
I sucked in a sharp breath.
It stung.
Bad.
The blood diluted instantly, swirling down the drain in thin red streams, but the bite marks… they were still there.
Clear.
Deep.
Two punctures.
Angry.
Alive.
“Sable…” Astrid’s voice softened as she came closer. “Are you okay?”
I shook my head once.
Then paused.
“…I don’t know,” I whispered.
My voice barely sounded like mine.
She inhaled sharply, her eyes fixed on my hand.
“That’s… that’s a lot of blood.”
I nodded slowly.
Dove reached for a small med kit sitting near the sink, flipping it open with practiced urgency.
“We need to clean it properly before wrapping,” Astrid said quickly.
Dove nodded. “I know.”
Damon stepped closer, his brows furrowed deeply as he looked between me and the others.
“Are we sure she’s okay?” he asked. “Should we take her to a hospital?”
Dove let out a short, almost humorless breath.
“And say what?” she replied. “That she got bitten by a vampire?”
He didn’t answer.
Because there was no answer to that.
“Hold still,” Dove said to me, her tone gentler now.
She grabbed antiseptic and poured a small amount onto gauze.
The moment it touched my skin—
I flinched hard.
“Shit—sorry,” she murmured quickly. “I know it stings.”
Stings was an understatement.
It burned.
Like the wound was being reopened all over again.
I bit down on my lower lip, forcing myself not to pull away, my free hand gripping the edge of the sink tightly.
“Almost done,” she said softly.
Astrid stood close beside me, one hand hovering near my arm like she didn’t know whether to touch me or not.
“You did good,” she said quietly. “You saved her.”
I didn’t respond.
Because my mind was still stuck somewhere else.
Back in that moment.
That flash.
That feeling.
Dove finished cleaning the wound, then carefully wrapped my palm with bandage, firm but not too tight.
“There,” she said. “That should help.”
I stared at it.
At my hand.
At the place where Hera had bitten me.
My chest rose and fell slowly now, but something still felt off.
Not just the pain.
Something deeper.
Something I couldn’t explain.
I lifted my gaze slightly, looking past them—
Back at Hera in the tub.
Alive.
Breathing.
Changed.
And somehow…
So was I.
Killian POV
I stayed by the bathroom doorway for a moment longer than I needed to.
Watching.
Hera lay in the tub, her chest rising more steadily now, her skin no longer that terrifying shade of grey. It was subtle at first, easy to miss if you weren’t looking closely, but the change was there.
Her wounds.
They were closing.
Not instantly, not like magic, but slowly, steadily, like her body had remembered what it was supposed to do. The deeper gashes had begun to knit at the edges, the bleeding easing, the torn flesh pulling back together.
Alive.
She was alive.
Odin stepped forward, crouching slightly beside the tub, his eyes scanning every inch of her like he was committing it all to memory.
“…It’s working,” he muttered, more to himself than anyone else.
A breath I didn’t realize I was holding finally left me.
Behind me, Astrid let out a broken sound, something between a laugh and a sob as her hands flew to her face.
“Oh my God… oh my God…”
She stepped forward, dropping to her knees beside the tub, careful not to disturb Hera as she reached out, brushing trembling fingers against her arm.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered, her voice cracking. “I’m so, so sorry…”
Zora moved in immediately, placing a hand on Astrid’s shoulder.
“Hey… she’s okay now,” she said gently. “Look at her.”
Elsie nodded, already reaching for a towel. “We need to clean her up.”
There was a quiet shift in the room then, like everyone finally had something to do, something to focus on that wasn’t panic.
Dove was already guiding Sable out, one hand lightly on her back, the other steadying her arm.
“Come on,” she murmured. “Let’s get you out of here.”
I followed the movement with my eyes.
Sable.
She looked… off.
Not just tired.
Drained.
Her face had lost some color, her steps slower, like her body hadn’t caught up with everything it had just gone through.
And yet, there was no regret in her expression.
Just… quiet.
Something settled.
Something heavy.
“You did good,” I said to her as she passed.
She glanced at me briefly, offering a small, almost absent nod.
No words.
Dove led her out.
The girls stayed behind, already moving to clean Hera, to wipe away the blood, to make her human again, even if she wasn’t.
Astrid didn’t leave her side.
Not for a second.
I watched for a moment longer, then turned and stepped out.
The hallway felt cooler.
Quieter.
But not calm.
Not yet.
By the time I got downstairs, Sable was already seated at the dining table, her bandaged hand resting carefully on the surface in front of her. Dove sat beside her, speaking softly, though Sable didn’t seem to be responding much.
Odin walked in a second later, his gaze going straight to her.
He didn’t say anything at first.
He just pulled out a chair and sat across from her.
“You okay?” he asked finally, his voice low.
Sable looked up at him, blinking once like she was pulling herself back into the moment.
“I think so,” she said, her voice quieter than usual.
Odin studied her for a second longer.
“You don’t sound convinced.”
She gave a small, tired laugh.
“I just got bitten by a vampire, I think I’m allowed to sound a little unsure.”
That earned a faint smirk from him.
“Fair.”
I stepped closer, leaning slightly against the table.
“What do you want to eat?” I asked her.
She looked at me like I’d just asked something ridiculous.
Then she laughed again, this time a little more real.
“You guys need to relax,” she said. “I’m fine. It’s just a wound.”
“Still,” Jason chimed in from the couch, not even looking up from where he sat, “we’re allowed to be worried.”
He finally glanced over, his eyes narrowing slightly as he studied her.
“…Do you feel anything weird?”
Sable blinked. “Weird how?”
Jason shrugged. “I don’t know. Different. Strange. Like you suddenly want to drink blood or something.”
Archie’s head snapped toward him immediately.
“Are you asking because you think she’s going to turn?” he said, half amused, half offended.
Jason leaned back slightly, unfazed.
“I’m asking because we literally just watched her get bitten by a vampire, excuse me for being curious.”
“That’s not how it works,” Damon said as he walked in, shaking his head.
“Yeah?” Jason shot back. “Because last I checked, none of us knew how half of this works.”
Odin let out a quiet laugh.
“It takes more than that,” he said, glancing at Jason. “She didn’t drink Hera’s blood. That’s kind of a key part.”
Riven, who had been leaning against the wall, nodded slightly.
“Still,” he added calmly, “if you feel anything unusual, you should tell us.”
Sable nodded, giving him a small thumbs up with her uninjured hand.
“Sure. I’ll let you know if I suddenly start craving necks.”
That earned a small chuckle from a few of them.
The tension eased.
Just a little.
Damon pushed off the wall, stretching slightly.
“Alright,” he said. “Since we’re all pretending this is normal, I’ll go get you something to eat.”
Sable nodded. “That actually sounds really good.”
But even as she said it—
Her voice dipped.
Faded slightly.
Like the energy behind it wasn’t holding.
Damon didn’t seem to notice as he turned toward the kitchen.
“Sit,” he said over his shoulder. “Don’t move. I’ve got it.”
Sable exhaled softly, pushing her chair back slightly.
“I can just come—”
“Nope,” Dove cut in immediately. “You’re staying right there.”
Sable huffed a small laugh.
“Bossy.”
But she stayed seated.
For about two seconds.
Then—
She stood up.
Slowly.
“I’ll just… help a little,” she murmured, her voice trailing slightly.
I frowned.
Something wasn’t right.
Her steps were unsteady.
Too slow.
“Sable?” Odin called, already rising from his seat.
She didn’t answer.
She took one more step.
Then another.
And then—
Her body gave out.
Right there.
No warning.
No time.
She collapsed.
“Shit—!”
Odin moved first, catching her just before she hit the ground fully, lowering her carefully as the rest of us rushed forward.
“Sable!” Dove dropped beside her immediately.
Her eyes were closed.
Her breathing shallow.
Too shallow.
Damon froze halfway to the kitchen, turning sharply.
“What the hell just—”
I was already kneeling beside them, my pulse spiking all over again.
Not again.
Not another one.
“Sable, hey—” Odin tapped her cheek lightly. “Stay with me.”
No response.
The room shifted instantly.
The brief calm we had—
Gone.
Just like that.
