Mia stumbled backward, her pulse crashing in her ears."No—no, this is insane. You can't be serious," she gasped. "You expect me to believe vampires are real? That you—"
Asher's eyes flared crimson for the briefest second, proof so stark it stole the air from her lungs. "Still think it's a myth?"
Mia shook her head violently. "Stay away from me." She spun toward the door, but two figures appeared instantly, silent as mist. Their eyes gleamed the same eerie red.
Trapped.
Her heart hammered. "Please… I didn't see anything. I won't tell anyone—just let me go."
Asher's voice was calm, almost tender. "You already breathe my world's air, Mia. It's too late to leave it."
He moved closer. His presence filled every inch of space until the room itself seemed to bend around him. "Sign, and you're under my protection. Refuse, and they'll tear you apart before sunrise."
Her knees weakened. She looked from him to the parchment, the black ink swirling like smoke. "You're forcing me."
He lifted a hand and touched her chin lightly. "I'm giving you a choice in a world that offers none."
Something inside her snapped—fear mixing with defiance. "I won't be part of this!" she cried, jerking free and bolting toward the hall. But before she reached the threshold, the air thickened. The torches flared blue.
An unseen force seized her. The vampires of the court murmured, their power pressing like gravity.
Asher's voice cut through the haze. "Enough."
Instantly the pressure vanished; the court fell silent. He strode to her, every step measured. "You're shaking," he said softly. "You think I enjoy frightening you?"
Her breath came in ragged gasps. "You could stop."
"I could," he admitted. "But then you'd be dead by morning."
He took her hand again. This time she didn't fight. The contract pulsed faintly beneath her trembling fingers. The ink shimmered, drawing in her reflection.
"What happens when I sign?" she whispered.
"You live," he said. "You belong to me, and by that bond, no other can touch you. It is law."
Tears burned her eyes. She thought of her brother, of debts and hunger and streets that offered no mercy. What waited beyond these walls was worse.
With a shaking breath, she pressed the pen to the parchment. The ink hissed—alive, eager. Her name bled across the page in crimson light.
The ground trembled. A faint warmth coiled around her wrist, forming a thin band of glowing red that sank into her skin.
Mia gasped. "What—what is that?"
"The mark of the Valerius bride," Asher said, voice low. "Now, nothing in this world or mine can harm you… except me."
The hall erupted in murmurs. Power rippled through the air. Mia swayed, her vision swimming.
Asher caught her before she fell, one arm around her waist, holding her upright. "Breathe, kitten," he murmured. "It's done."
Her vision cleared just enough to see the crimson ring fade beneath her skin, leaving a faint glimmer like moonlight.
She wanted to scream, to demand it undone—but his hand rested against her pulse, steady, commanding.
"You made your choice," he whispered. "Welcome to my world."
Outside, thunder rolled over the horizon, echoing like a vow.
The mark still burned beneath Mia's skin, a faint glow like a phantom brand. She clutched her wrist, staring at the spot where the crimson band had vanished into her flesh. It wasn't just a mark. It pulsed faintly—like a second heartbeat that didn't belong to her.
The hall seemed to shift around her, shadows moving as if alive. She blinked hard, her stomach lurching. The air smelled different now—thicker, darker, tinged with copper and smoke. She felt as though a veil had been torn away, revealing a world she had never seen but that had always been there, just beyond sight.
Asher stood before her, the weight of his presence a force all its own. Even in silence, he ruled the hall. The vampires who had gathered were no longer merely elegant figures in dark finery—they were predators, their eyes glinting like shards of rubies, fangs flashing when they murmured to one another. She realized she had been surrounded all along.
She tried to take a step back, but the ground felt soft under her feet, as though she were standing on something alive. Her breath came fast. "What… what's happening to me?" she whispered.
"You're seeing it," Asher said softly. "Truly seeing it. The contract opened your senses. No more human blindfolds. This is my world, Mia. Our world, now."
"I didn't—" She swallowed hard. "I didn't want this."
He moved closer, and the crowd melted back like shadows at his approach. "You signed, kitten. You're mine now. And that mark on your skin? It binds you to me, body and soul. The court knows it. The law knows it."
Her pulse spiked. "Body and soul?" she echoed. "What does that even mean?"
"It means no one can touch you without my permission." His voice lowered, intimate. "It also means your life is tied to mine. As long as I live, you live. As long as I reign, you're under my protection."
Mia's knees weakened. "You're insane," she whispered. "You're all insane."
Asher's lips curved faintly. "Perhaps. But the insane rule the night." He reached out and brushed his thumb across her cheek, his touch cold yet somehow burning. "And now you rule it beside me."
She flinched at his touch, but the mark on her wrist pulsed at the same moment, a surge of warmth sliding up her arm and into her chest. Her breath caught. It wasn't just a mark. It was a connection. She could feel him—an echo of his calm, a flicker of his hunger—like a phantom heartbeat against her own.
"What did you do to me?" she demanded, voice cracking.
"I tethered you," he said simply. "Tradition. Protection. A bond that no mortal can break."
"You—you didn't even ask me!"
"I gave you a choice." His eyes darkened, flickering crimson again. "You could have refused. The court would have devoured you, and I would not have stopped them. But you signed. You chose survival."
Mia trembled. She wanted to scream at him, claw at him, break the bond—but something deeper inside her whispered that he was right. That she had been marked for death the moment she stepped into his world. And now… now she belonged to him.
Asher turned toward the court. "Leave us."
At once, the vampires bowed and drifted away, their whispers fading into the shadows like mist. The hall emptied until it was only the two of them beneath the black marble ceiling and the flickering blue torches.
He turned back to her. "You need to understand what you've agreed to," he said. "This world runs on laws older than your species. Blood pacts, shadow bonds, courts older than kings. By signing that parchment, you didn't just agree to marry me. You agreed to enter this world. To live in it. To abide by its laws."
Mia's throat tightened. "And if I break them?"
His eyes locked on hers, unblinking. "Then you die. Instantly."
Her stomach dropped. "You're serious."
"Always." He reached into his coat and drew out something small and metallic—a ring, black as obsidian with a single drop of red at its center. He held it between two fingers. "This seals it. The world will know you are mine."
She stared at it. "I'm not wearing that."
"You don't have a choice." His voice was velvet, but beneath it was iron. "The bond marks you inside. This marks you outside. Without it, they'll think you're unclaimed. And then you'll be prey."
Her hands shook. She wanted to run, but her legs wouldn't move. The mark on her wrist pulsed again, stronger, like it was calling to the ring. She hated it. She hated him. And yet… she felt something like safety in his presence. Safety wrapped in chains.
"Put it on," he said softly.
"No."
His lips curved into a small, dangerous smile. "Kitten," he murmured, stepping close enough for his breath to brush her ear, "do you want me to do it for you?"
Her heart thundered. "You're a monster," she whispered.
"I am." His hand caught hers—gentle, but firm as iron—and he slid the ring onto her finger. It fit perfectly, cold at first, then warm, as if it had melted into her skin. The red droplet glowed faintly before fading.
"There," he said, still holding her hand. "Now you're marked twice. Inside and out."
Mia felt sick. "Why me?" she whispered. "Why not someone else?"
He tilted her chin up until their eyes met. "Because you're not like the others. Because your scent pulls me. Because you burn and break and still stand. And because my parents want a bride, and you are the only one who can survive me."
She shuddered. "Survive you?"
He smiled faintly, fangs glinting for the first time. "I am the prince of this world, kitten. The most powerful vampire alive. Everyone else breaks. You… haven't. Not yet."
Her breath caught. "Prince," she repeated, the word small in her mouth.
"Yes." He leaned close, his voice a whisper against her pulse. "And now you are the prince's bride. Do you understand what that means?"
"No."
"You will." His eyes flared crimson once more, and for a heartbeat, she thought she saw something behind him—an expanse of black marble halls stretching into infinity, arches carved with runes, rivers of red winding through underground catacombs. His world. His kingdom. All of it waiting for her.
The vision vanished, leaving only his face, his eyes, his breath against her skin.
"You belong to me now," he murmured. "But more than that—you belong to this world. And this world does not let go."
She trembled. "I don't want it."
"You don't have to want it," he said, brushing his thumb across her lips. "You just have to survive it."
He straightened, his voice snapping back to command. "We leave at dawn. My court will expect a public ceremony. You will be trained, clothed, protected. You will learn the rules. Break them, and the bond won't save you."
Mia stared at him, fear and fury warring in her chest. "You think you've won," she whispered.
His dark smile returned. "Kitten," he said softly, "this isn't a game. This is survival. And you're already playing."
He turned away, his coat swirling like shadow, and for the first time she felt the weight of the bond between them stretch—like a tether pulled taut, a string of blood and shadow connecting them across the space. She hated it. She feared it. And somewhere, in the deepest part of her, she wondered if she wanted it.
Because the moment she had signed, something inside her had shifted. She could smell the copper in the air, hear whispers that weren't words, feel the cold heartbeat of the world beneath her feet. She wasn't just Mia anymore. She was something else.
And as Asher vanished into the shadows, his voice brushed her mind like a ghost:
Welcome to the dark, kitten. Now you're mine.