Chapter 5: The Velvet Noose (Seraphina's POV)
Dinner was a slow-motion torture of clinking silver and Silas's unyielding gaze. He didn't speak much, but his silence was louder than any shout. Every time I looked up, he was watching me, his eyes dark with a hunger that made the food turn to ash in my mouth.
When the meal ended, he didn't dismiss me. He stood and offered his arm.
"The library," he commanded.
I didn't take his arm. I walked past him, my head held high. "I hope you have something better than your company in there. I'd hate to think I was sold for a collection of dusty encyclopedias."
Silas followed me, his footsteps a heavy rhythm behind mine. We entered a room that smelled of old parchment and expensive tobacco. He walked to a desk and pulled out a small, black velvet box.
"A gift?" I asked, my voice dripping with honeyed poison. "Or the latest installment of my price tag?"
Silas opened the box. Inside was a choker—not diamonds, but a simple band of black silk with a single, blood-red ruby in the center.
"This is the mark of my house," Silas said, stepping closer until I was backed against a shelf of leather-bound books. "Wear it tonight at the gala. It tells the world that you are under my protection. And it tells everyone else to stay away."
He reached out, his fingers brushing the skin of my throat as he fastened the silk. The touch was electric, a jolt of pure heat that made my breath hitch.
"I'm not a dog, Silas. I don't need a collar."
He leaned in, his nose brushing against mine. "It's not a collar, Seraphina. It's a promise. Anyone who touches you after seeing this... dies. And I think you'll find that very comforting once you see who else is at that gala."
He pulled back, his eyes searching mine. For the first time, I didn't see the monster. I saw the obsession. And it was far more dangerous.