Chapter 4

The fortress walls closed in on me.

Every stone, every torch, every pair of glowing eyes made me feel smaller, weaker, more out of place. I had never felt so painfully human in my life.

Kael Draven had claimed me in front of his people—mine, he’d said, his voice echoing in my head like a brand. I wanted to scream that I wasn’t his, that I would never belong to him. But the words stuck in my throat.

Because part of me knew the truth.

Here, in this place, he had all the power.

Two guards escorted me through winding corridors, their faces expressionless, their eyes glimmering faintly in the torchlight. The air was thick with silence, and the sound of my own heartbeat felt deafening.

At last, they stopped before a set of doors carved from black wood, etched with silver patterns that seemed to twist in the firelight. One of the guards pushed them open.

Inside was a chamber larger than my entire apartment. Velvet drapes hung heavy over tall windows, though no light filtered through. A bed draped in black silk stood at the center, too large, too ominous.

“This is your room,” one guard said curtly.

Room. Prison. Cage. It didn’t matter what they called it.

The doors shut behind me with a final thud, and I was alone.

I pressed my back against the wall, my chest rising and falling too quickly. My mind raced with every impossible event of the night. The rogue vampire. The King. The flight through the storm.

And his words.

You are mine.

“No,” I whispered to the empty room. My voice cracked, but I forced the words out again. “No. I won’t let him decide my life.”

I pushed away from the wall and stalked to the window, yanking the heavy drapes aside. My stomach dropped.

Outside was nothing but darkness. The fortress perched high on jagged cliffs, the sea crashing violently below. Escape wasn’t just dangerous—it was suicide.

I cursed under my breath, pressing my forehead to the cold glass.

“You look lost.”

I spun, my heart leaping.

A woman stood in the doorway, tall and elegant, her black gown shimmering like liquid night. Her skin was pale as moonlight, her lips painted crimson. But it was her eyes—sharp, golden, inhuman—that made my blood run cold.

She smiled, though it didn’t reach her eyes. “Don’t worry. We all were, the first time.”

“Who are you?” I demanded, though my voice wavered.

She glided closer, every movement graceful and predatory. “Selene,” she said smoothly. “Advisor to the King.” Her gaze swept over me, assessing. “And you… you’re the girl who made his heart stir.”

I froze. “He told you that?”

Her smile sharpened. “He doesn’t need to. The entire court can feel it. You’ve broken something in him. Something that should have stayed broken.”

I swallowed hard. “Then you know I don’t belong here. You have to help me leave.”

Selene tilted her head, studying me like a specimen under glass. “Leave?” A soft laugh slipped past her lips. “Oh, little mortal, you don’t understand. You’re the most valuable thing in this fortress right now. Every eye is on you. Half will want to use you. The other half will want you dead.”

The room spun. “Dead?”

Her golden eyes glittered with amusement. “You think Kael Draven is feared because of his throne? No. He is feared because he cannot be undone. His curse made him untouchable. Unkillable. But now…” She leaned closer, her voice dropping. “…now that he has a weakness, there are those who will strike at it. And you, little mortal, are that weakness.”

My stomach twisted, bile rising in my throat.

Selene straightened, smoothing her gown. “Sleep while you can. Tomorrow, the court will want to see you. And believe me, you’ll wish the King’s claim was the only danger you faced.”

With that, she turned and glided from the room, leaving the air colder in her wake.

I sank onto the edge of the bed, my hands trembling. My mind screamed at me to find a way out, but the truth gnawed at me: there was no escape. Not from Kael. Not from his court.

Not from whatever fate my blood had dragged me into.

The door creaked again, and I jumped.

This time, it wasn’t Selene. It was him.

Kael filled the doorway, his presence a storm in itself. His crimson gaze swept over me, sharp and unreadable.

“You spoke with Selene.”

It wasn’t a question.

I lifted my chin despite the tremor in my hands. “She told me the truth. That your people want me dead.”

His jaw tightened. “They will not touch you.”

“You can’t protect me from all of them.”

He crossed the room in two strides, his hand gripping my chin, tilting my face up to his. “I can. And I will. Because you are mine.”

I wanted to slap him, scream at him, anything to break his terrifying calm. But his gaze held me captive, and for one dangerous heartbeat, I felt something beneath the fear—something warmer. Something I hated myself for feeling.

His voice dropped, low and certain. “Do not waste your strength fighting me, little one. Fight them instead. They are the true threat.”

Before I could answer, he released me and turned toward the door.

But then, just before he vanished into the corridor, he said the words that froze my blood.

“Tomorrow, the court will test you. Survive it… and you live. Fail… and you die.”

The door slammed shut.

And I was left trembling in the dark, waiting for a dawn I wasn’t sure I’d see.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***