Jace woke up tangled in sweat and legs.
Lena was draped across his chest like she belonged there. Her skin was still warm, her hair a wild mess against his collarbone. One of her thighs was thrown over his hip, her breath soft against his neck.
It should've felt familiar. He'd had nights like this before. One-night stands. Late-night heat. No strings, no promises.
But this felt… different.
Not because of Lena. She was exactly who she said she was—trouble and lips and attitude. It was him. His skin still tingled. His body buzzed like he hadn't stopped moving, like there was still something coiled tight beneath the surface.
Jace stared at the ceiling.
"You'll feel it now. Desire fuels you. Connection strengthens you."
Lira's words.
His hand slid over his chest.
The mark was still there—warm, but no longer glowing. Faded like an ember, but not gone. Like it had fed on the night and gone to sleep full.
Lena stirred. Groaned quietly, then looked up with that slow, lazy smirk that meant she wasn't regretting a damn thing.
"Morning, sunshine," she said, voice raspy from sleep and sex.
Jace chuckled under his breath. "It's not even light out."
"Then why are you awake?" Her hand ran slowly down his stomach, fingers brushing his waist. "Unless you're planning on round two…"
Jace caught her hand.
He wasn't pulling away.
He just needed to think.
"You feel weird," she said suddenly, brow furrowing.
Jace tensed. "What?"
Lena sat up a little, studying him with a sharpness that hadn't been there a minute ago. "I don't mean weird-bad. Just… different. Like your body's humming."
He tried to play it off. "Still worked up, maybe."
"No," she said, fingers now pressing against his chest—right over the mark. "It's deeper than that. It's like… you've got a current running through you. Like electricity, but softer. Smoother."
Jace stayed quiet.
She didn't move her hand.
"You've got a heartbeat here," she whispered. "And it's not your heart."
Shit.
Lena looked up at him, eyes narrowing. "What are you?"
He hesitated.
Then, for some reason he couldn't explain, he told the truth.
"Something happened last night. After I left the club. This woman—Lira—she kissed me. And then… something inside me lit up. Like it cracked open."
Lena blinked. "She kissed you and gave you… superpowers?"
"I don't know what the hell she gave me. But this thing?" He touched the mark. "It wasn't there before. And now every time I touch someone—every time I feel something—it burns."
Lena leaned back slightly. She didn't look scared. More curious than anything. Her eyes flicked down to the mark again, then back up.
"Okay," she said, slow. "So… what? You're some kind of sexual energy vampire now?"
He smirked. "You saying I drained you last night?"
She snorted. "You wish. But seriously, Jace—whatever's going on with you? It's not just in your head. I felt it too. Like you were pulling something out of me. Not in a bad way, just… intense."
He nodded once, jaw tight. "It's like I absorbed it."
Lena stood, stretching her arms over her head. She was naked, confident, and completely at ease in her skin.
"Sounds like a hell of a party trick."
"It doesn't feel like a trick."
"No," she agreed, grabbing his oversized shirt from the floor and slipping it on. "It feels like you're not normal anymore."
Jace sat up slowly. "That supposed to scare you?"
She looked over her shoulder, lips twitching. "Kinda hot, honestly. But maybe I've got issues."
He smiled despite himself.
Lena crossed the room, picked up her phone, and glanced at the screen.
"Damn. I've got to bounce. Work in two hours." She looked back at him, something unreadable in her gaze. "You gonna be okay?"
"I'm always okay."
"Liar." She stepped close, leaned down, and kissed him once—soft and short, nothing like last night. "Call me if you turn into a sex demon or something."
Jace watched her go, the door clicking behind her.
And then, silence.
The second she left, the apartment felt colder. The buzz in his chest dimmed a little, like it had been feeding on her nearness.
He sat there for a minute, trying to breathe normally.
What the hell was he supposed to do with this?
He grabbed his jeans off the floor, fished out his phone, and searched:
Cultivation. Spirit energy. Awakened core.
Most of what popped up looked like cheap fantasy novels. One forum caught his eye—Urban Qi Threads—with a post titled "Signs You've Awakened Your Core in the Modern World."
He clicked it.
The first line hit too close to home:
"If you've recently felt a surge of inner heat after an intimate encounter and now feel heightened senses or notice strange patterns appearing on your skin—you're not alone."
Jace stared.
Below it, a comment:
"The city is full of cultivators. Some just haven't been lit yet."
And another:
"Desire-based paths are real. Dangerous. Addictive. But powerful."
His thumb hovered.
He didn't know what he was looking for. Answers? A cure?
But deep down, part of him already knew the truth.
He wasn't going back to normal.
And maybe… he didn't want to.