Three days after learning about the Eternal Linking, Arav's training with Mae Siri was progressing rapidly. He could now sense supernatural beings within a fifty-foot radius—a tingling at the base of his skull that intensified the closer they were.
"You're ready," Mae Siri announced on Friday evening. "Ready to see Bangkok's true face."
Kayen arrived to pick him up, but this time he wasn't alone. Behind him stood a woman who looked about thirty, with sharp features and golden eyes that literally glowed in the dim light.
"Arav, this is Ploy," Kayen introduced. "She's a shape-shifter. Tiger bloodline."
Ploy smiled, revealing slightly pointed canines. "So you're the famous convergence boy everyone's talking about." Her voice had a purring quality.
"Everyone?" Arav felt uneasy.
"Word spreads fast in our world," Ploy said. "A convergence bloodline bonding with Kayen? That's the most interesting thing to happen in Bangkok in decades."
Kayen shot her a warning look. "Ploy is going to guide us tonight. She knows the hidden places better than I do."
They rode deeper into old Bangkok, past Chinatown into areas Arav had never seen. The streets grew narrower, the buildings older. Finally, they stopped at what looked like an abandoned warehouse.
"This is it?" Arav asked skeptically.
Ploy laughed. "This is the entrance. Come."
She led them to a rusted door, knocked three times, paused, then twice more. The door swung open silently.
Inside, Arav gasped.
The warehouse was an illusion. Beyond the door lay a vast underground space—a entire marketplace lit by floating orbs of light. Stalls lined the pathways, selling everything from glowing crystals to bottled substances Arav couldn't identify. And the people...
"That woman has blue skin," Arav whispered.
"Water spirit," Kayen explained, his hand steady on Arav's back. "From the Chao Phraya River."
They walked deeper. Arav saw a man whose shadow moved independently. A child with flowers growing from her hair. A vendor whose eyes were completely black, no whites at all.
"Stay close," Kayen murmured. "Some beings here are friendly. Others... aren't."
Ploy led them to a tea house tucked in a corner. Inside, the atmosphere was calmer. Beings sat at low tables, drinking and talking in hushed tones.
At one table sat three people. As they approached, all three looked up, and Arav felt that tingling intensify to almost painful levels.
"Vampires," he breathed.
"My friends," Kayen corrected. "This is Jin, Preeda, and Som."
Jin was lean and elegant, probably in his late twenties in appearance. Preeda was a woman with long black hair and blood-red lipstick. Som looked the youngest, maybe nineteen, with a mischievous smile.
"So this is him," Jin said, studying Arav with ancient eyes. "The one who's captured our hermit's heart."
"Hermit?" Arav glanced at Kayen.
"Kayen doesn't socialize much," Preeda explained, gesturing for them to sit. "In the two centuries he's been in Thailand, we've barely seen him. Then suddenly, he's bonding with a human. We had to meet you."
"How old are you all?" Arav asked, then blushed. "Sorry, is that rude?"
Som laughed. "I like him! I'm the baby—only three hundred. Jin's about six hundred, and Preeda's eight hundred."
"And all of you drink...?"
"Blood? Yes," Jin said matter-of-factly. "But we're civilized. Blood banks, donations, the occasional willing human partner. We're not the monsters from movies."
A server approached—a young man with horns curling from his forehead. He took their orders in a language Arav didn't recognize.
"That's the old tongue," Kayen explained. "Used by supernatural beings before modern languages."
"There's so much I don't know," Arav said, feeling overwhelmed.
Preeda reached across the table, patting his hand. "You'll learn. And you have Kayen to protect you while you do. The bond will help too—you'll start understanding our world instinctively."
"Speaking of the bond," Jin's expression turned serious, "you both know it's nearly complete?"
Kayen nodded. "Mae Siri confirmed it."
"The full moon is in two weeks," Som said. "Are you ready for the ceremony?"
"Ceremony?" Arav looked at Kayen.
"There's a ritual," Kayen explained. "To formally complete the Eternal Linking. We don't have to do it—the bond will finish naturally. But the ceremony makes it cleaner, controlled."
"And public," Jin added. "It announces your bond to the supernatural community. Offers some protection—bonded pairs are considered sacred, off-limits."
"Some protection?" Arav caught the word.
The vampires exchanged glances.
"There are those who don't respect traditions," Preeda said carefully. "Especially when it comes to someone as rare as you."
Before Arav could ask more, a commotion erupted near the entrance. Beings scattered as a group of five figures entered—all radiating power so intense Arav's head began to throb.
"Council members," Kayen hissed, pulling Arav closer.
The figures moved through the marketplace with authority, their eyes scanning the crowd. When the leader's gaze landed on their table, he smiled—cold and predatory.
"Kayen," the leader said, approaching. He was tall, pale, with silver hair despite a youthful face. "We've been looking for you."