Gritting her teeth and clenching Andreea’s hand tightly, she heaved and kicked her prone body onwards, reaching out with her free hand until her fingertips brushed against the altar itself… then an astonishing sensation, painless but disconcerting, as if she had hit the most almighty air pocket. Lightness, emptiness… then just dull aching, weariness, thirst, hunger…
Hunger? She had not felt hunger (as such) since becoming a vampire. She looked up from the floor to behold Andreea, who was still holding her hand, lying on her back, and moaning softly. Something was distinctly different, however. Her face and skin seemed slightly darker than before, though it was hard for Antonia to be sure, as her vision seemed somewhat less acute.