As he reached the base of the main staircase, he felt the last of his strength crumble.

“Jonathan!”, Charlotte shouted in surprise and her and Sadie rushed towards him.

He handed them the artifact. “Go! Hasn’t Sergeij not arrived yet?”

“He hasn’t but we can’t leave you here!”, Charlotte said.

“I can’t return to the Council.”

“Why? What do you-?”, Sadie began, but she sucked in her breath sharply after Jonathan had raised his head to look at her.

“What happened to you?”, she asked nervously clutching his face, as if it were a mask that she could just tear off.

“It seems that I am half vampire. The vampire lord gave me the artifact and blood, so that I could give it to you.”

“It wasn’t a trap?”

“I thought so as well, but it seems that everything he said was true. But you can’t take me with you.”

“But we can’t leave you here!”

“Is there anything we can do for you?”, Sadie asked, as she cradled Jonathans head on her lap.

“No”, he moaned in pain, as his body shook violently again. “I think this is the transformation. It shouldn’t last for longer than a few hours. Are you two alright?”

“Yes, Charlotte did everything she could to heal us both. We should be fine in a couple of days.”

“I’m back!”, Sergeijs voice echoed through the hall as he stormed in. “I couldn’t get help, the hunters from the outpost were- “

He then stopped right in his tracks, as he got closer to the others. “Move away from him”, Sergeij then ordered. He had drawn his gun and pointed it at Jonathan.