Chapter 2

Kane let out a sharp, mocking huff. He shifted, pressing closer until I could feel the heat radiating off him. It wasn't human. It was a furnace. He leaned down, lips brushing the shell of my ear.

"Silas is a liar. He told me you were worthless. A broken thing with no spark," Kane whispered. "But your blood... it just shut up the screaming in my head. For the first time in a decade, it's quiet."

I froze. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Liar."

He spun me around in one fluid, brutal motion. My back hit the stone wall with a thud that knocked the wind out of me. Before I could gasp, his hand was around my throat—not squeezing, but holding me up. Marking the boundary of my world.

His eyes weren't human. They were glowing, a predatory crimson that drank the dim light of the cellar.

"Tell me," he commanded. "What is your father's name? Who were you born from?"

"I don't know!" I choked out, grabbing his wrist. "My mother died young. Silas raised me. I don't know anything about my father!"

Kane leaned in, face inches from mine. I could smell iron and ozone—the scent of a storm about to break. His gaze dropped to my neck, then snapped back to my eyes. Suffocating. He wasn't just looking at me; he was searching my veins.

"You're lying," he murmured, his thumb tracing my jaw. The touch was almost tender. Which made it a thousand times worse. "You're terrified, but you're not breaking. Most girls would be sobbing by now. Why aren't you sobbing, Elara?"

"Because I've spent my whole life being broken by people like you," I snapped. "You're just another monster in a bigger castle."

A smirk curled his lips, revealing teeth that were just a bit too sharp. "A monster. I like that. At least you're honest about the view."

Across the room, Silas cleared his throat. He looked bored. "Kane, enough with the foreplay. She's a defective unit. If you're bored, just kill her. We can discuss the northern pass trade agreements."

Kane didn't look at him. He didn't move a muscle, but the air suddenly grew heavy. Like the gravity had doubled.

"Shut up, Silas."

Silas blinked. "Excuse me?"

"I said shut up." Kane’s voice dropped an octave, vibrating through the floorboards. "You brought me a gift. I've decided to keep it. That means she's mine. Not yours. Not the city's. Mine."

"I'm not a gift!" I yelled. "I'm a person!"

Kane finally looked at me. Predatory. "You're whatever I say you are. Right now? You're a curiosity. A cure. A toy."

He released my throat and yanked me toward the center of the room. I stumbled, boots scuffing the grit. He stopped abruptly, reaching into his leather coat to pull out a cuff—a thick, blackened metal band engraved with glowing red runes.

My heart hammered. "What is that?"

"A leash," Kane said. "You're too valuable to wander, and too volatile to trust. This ensures that if you run, or if you hide your little secret... I'll find you."

"I won't wear that," I whispered, backing away.

"You will," he said, cold and absolute. "Or I let Silas take you back. We both know how 'kind' your dear brother is."

I looked at Silas. He was grinning. A cruel, thin-lipped expression. He loved this. Trapped between two nightmares.

"Just put it on, Elara," Silas mocked. "Be a good little pet for the King. Maybe he'll feed you twice a day if you're obedient."

I turned back to Kane, eyes stinging. "You're just as bad as he is."

"Worse," Kane whispered, stepping into my space. He was so close I could feel his breath on my lips. No touch, just a physical wire pulled tight between us. "I don't just want your obedience. I want to know why you're the only thing in this gods-forsaken city that can make the noise stop."

He grabbed my wrist. Absolute power. I tried to yank away, but it was like fighting a mountain. He snapped the cuff shut.

*Click.*

Electricity surged through my arm. I gasped, knees buckling. But it wasn't just pain. It was a connection. I could feel him—his anger, a starving hunger, and a loneliness that mirrored my own.

Kane stiffened. His eyes widened. He felt it too.

"What... what did you do?" he demanded, voice strained. He stepped back, staring at the cuff.

"I didn't do anything!" I cried. "You put it on me!"

For the first time, I saw something other than hunger in his eyes. Confusion. And a hint of fear.

"The mark... it's not just a leash," Kane muttered. He reached out, fingers hovering over the metal. "It's feeding back. I can feel your heartbeat. I can feel your fear."

"Get it off!" I yelled. "Take it off now!"

"I can't," he said. "Once a blood-bond cuff is locked, it requires both parties' consent. Or a key that was destroyed a century ago."

I stared in horror. "I'm stuck to you?"

"It seems so." The predatory smirk returned. He stepped closer, his scent filling my lungs. He leaned down, his voice a dangerous caress. "Which means you're not just my cure, Elara. You're my shadow. Every breath you take, I'll feel."

He turned to Silas, lethal. "Get out. Now. Before I decide the trade agreement isn't worth your tongue."

Silas scoffed, but he didn't argue. He shot me one last look—half-pity, half-hatred—and vanished through the cellar doors.

Silence fell. Thick. Suffocating. I stood there trembling, the cold metal biting into my skin. Kane just watched me, red eyes glowing.

"Now," he said. "We're going to find out exactly who you are. And if you lie to me again..."

He didn't finish. He didn't have to. He grabbed my shoulder, pulling me flush against his chest. The heat was staggering. I could feel the hard line of his muscles, the erratic thrum of his heart.

"I can feel it," he whispered, gaze locked on mine. "Your pulse is racing. Are you scared, Elara? Or is it something else?"

I opened my mouth to tell him I hated him, but the words died. Because the roar in his mind—the one I could feel through the bond—didn't go quiet.

It purred.

He leaned in, lips a fraction of an inch from mine. He wasn't just holding me prisoner. He was starving, and I was the only thing that could feed him.

"Tell me," he breathed, grip tightening, "do you feel it too? That pull?"

I tried to pull away, but my body betrayed me, leaning in. Just as I opened my mouth to answer, the heavy doors above us slammed open with a crash that shook the foundation.

"Kane!" a voice boomed from the stairs, dripping with malice. "I know you've taken the girl. Give her back, or we start burning this place to the ground."