The hunger was getting worse.
I stood in my study, hands braced against the mahogany desk, trying to focus on anything other than the burning in my throat. The ancient texts before me blurred. The words meant nothing. All I could think about was her.
Rose.
Her blood sang to me through the walls. Sweet. Intoxicating. Cursed.
I had been a fool to bind her. I knew it the moment her blood touched my tongue in that alley. Rare Blood. The kind that drove vampires mad with want. The kind that had started wars centuries ago.
And I had tied myself to her for eternity.
"You look unwell, brother."
I did not need to turn around to know who had entered. Marcus had a way of appearing when he was least wanted.
"Leave."
"So hostile." His footsteps crossed the room. I heard him pour himself a drink from the crystal decanter by the window. "I merely came to check on you. The entire coven is buzzing with news of your new pet."
Pet. As if she were some trinket I had acquired on a whim.
I straightened and turned to face him. Marcus looked as he always did. Cruel smile. Cold eyes. The same face we had shared before death claimed us both, but twisted by centuries of bitterness.
"She is not a pet. She is under my protection."
"Protection." He laughed. "Is that what we are calling it now? You bound a human, Lucian. A blood servant. Something you swore you would never do after..." He paused, letting the unfinished sentence hang in the air. "After what happened before."
I felt my jaw tighten. "That was different."
"Was it?" He took a sip of his drink. "You saved a dying girl. You bound her to yourself against all reason. And now you will watch history repeat itself. Only this time, when you lose control and kill her, the court will have grounds to remove you from power." His smile widened. "How convenient."
So that was his angle. He wanted my position. He had always wanted it.
"The court will not remove me."
"Won't they?" Marcus set down his glass. "Lady Valeria has already visited your little Rose. Did you know that? She went to assess the situation personally. The court meets tomorrow night. They will demand the girl's death. And if you refuse..." He shrugged. "Well. There are rules, brother. Even for you."
I moved before thinking. One moment I was by the desk. The next I had Marcus pinned against the wall, my hand around his throat.
"Stay away from her."
He smiled even as I squeezed. "There it is. The loss of control. It has already begun, hasn't it? The bond. The hunger." His eyes gleamed with triumph. "How long do you think you can fight it? A month? A week? Days?"
I wanted to crush his windpipe. Wanted to watch the smugness drain from his face along with his stolen blood. But he was right. I could feel it. The slipping. The fraying of the control I had maintained for two centuries.
I released him and stepped back.
Marcus straightened his collar, still smiling. "You should have let her die, Lucian. It would have been kinder. For both of you."
He left before I could respond.
I stood alone in my study, hands shaking. The hunger roared louder now. Rose's blood called to me. The bond pulled tight between us. I could feel her fear. Her confusion. Her determination to survive.
And beneath it all, something else. Something I had not felt in so long I almost did not recognize it.
Hope.
She still believed she could escape this. That there was a way out. That death was not the only ending written for us.
Foolish girl.
A knock sounded at the door.
"Enter."
One of my guards stepped inside. Tall. Broad. Loyal for three decades. "My lord. The human is asking for you."
My chest tightened. "Asking?"
"She says she needs to speak with you. Urgently." He hesitated. "She seems distressed."
Of course she was distressed. Lady Valeria had no doubt filled her head with images of her own death. The court was good at that. Intimidation disguised as concern.
"Tell her I will see her tomorrow."
"She said it cannot wait, my lord."
I closed my eyes. The bond pulsed. I felt her anxiety spike. She was afraid. Not of me, I realized. Of something else.
"Very well. Have her brought to the west drawing room. I will meet her there."
The guard bowed and left.
I took a moment to compose myself. To push down the hunger. To rebuild the walls that kept the monster at bay. Then I left the study and made my way through the silent halls of my home.
The house was old. Gothic. Built in an age when vampires did not hide what they were. High ceilings. Stone walls. Shadows that seemed alive in the candlelight. It had been my sanctuary for a hundred years.
Now it felt like a prison.
I reached the drawing room before Rose arrived. It was smaller than my study. More intimate. A fireplace dominated one wall, though no fire burned there tonight. Velvet chairs. Dark wood. Books lining the shelves.
The door opened.
Rose stepped inside, flanked by two guards. She had changed into one of the dresses I had provided. Deep green. Simple but elegant. Her red hair fell loose around her shoulders. Her green eyes found mine immediately.
And I felt her fear spike through the bond.
"Leave us," I told the guards.
"My lord, is that wise?"
"Leave. Us."
They bowed and departed, closing the door behind them.
Rose and I stood alone in the drawing room. The bond hummed between us. I could feel her heartbeat as if it were my own. Fast. Nervous. She clasped her hands in front of her to hide their shaking.
"You wanted to speak with me."
She lifted her chin. Brave, despite the fear. "Lady Valeria came to see me."
"I know."
"She said the court will demand my execution tomorrow night."
"Yes."
"And if you refuse to hand me over, they will remove you from power."
I moved to the window. Looked out at the gardens below. "That is a possibility."
"A possibility?" Her voice rose. "She said they would kill you. That protecting me would cost you everything."
"It might."
Silence. Then, quieter, "Why would you do that? Why would you risk everything for someone you just met?"
I turned to face her. "Because the alternative is handing you over to die. And I find I cannot do that."
"Why not?" She stepped closer. "I am nothing to you. A stranger. A burden. Why does my life matter more than your position? Your power? Your..." She faltered. "Your safety?"
Because you feel like sunlight in a world that has been dark for too long. Because when I look at you, I remember what it was like to be human. To care about something other than survival.
But I could not say those things. So instead I said, "Because I made you a promise. When I bound you to me, I took responsibility for your life. I do not break my promises."
She stared at me. I felt confusion ripple through the bond. And something else. Curiosity.
"Lady Valeria said I could save you. That if I offered myself to the court willingly, they would spare you. That it would be a noble sacrifice."
Cold anger washed through me. "Valeria has no right to ask that of you."
"But she is right, isn't she?" Rose's voice was steady now. "My death would solve everything. The court would be satisfied. You would be free of the bond before it drives you mad. Everyone wins."
"Everyone except you."
"I was supposed to die in that alley." She said it softly. Matter of fact. "You said so yourself. I should have bled out before you found me. So what difference does it make if I die now or in six months?"
I crossed the room in three strides. Stopped just in front of her. Close enough to see the gold flecks in her green eyes. Close enough to smell the sweetness of her blood.
"It makes a difference to me."
The words came out rougher than I intended. Raw. Honest.
Rose's breath caught. I felt her pulse quicken through the bond. Fear. Confusion. And something else. Something warm and dangerous that neither of us should be feeling.
"I don't understand you," she whispered.
"I don't understand myself anymore." I reached up slowly, giving her time to pull away. She did not. My fingers brushed a strand of red hair from her face. "But I know this. You will not die tomorrow. You will not offer yourself to the court. And you will not sacrifice yourself for me."
"What if I want to?"
"You don't."
"How do you know?"
"Because I can feel you, Rose." My hand fell away. "I feel your fear. Your confusion. But beneath it all, you want to live. Desperately. There is something you have not finished yet. Something that brought you to this city. You will not die before you complete it."
Her face went pale. I felt panic flash through the bond.
"I don't know what you are talking about."
"Liar." The word was soft. Not an accusation. A statement of fact. "The bond does not allow lies. Not between us. I can feel every spike of guilt. Every flash of fear when I get too close to the truth." I tilted my head. "What are you hiding, Rose Thorne?"
She took a step back. "Nothing."
"Another lie."
"Stop it." Her voice shook. "Stop reading me. Stop feeling everything I feel. I did not ask for this."
"Neither did I." I turned away, giving her space. "But we are bound now. There are no secrets between us. Not really. Sooner or later, I will know everything."
Silence stretched between us. Heavy. Uncomfortable.
Finally, Rose spoke. "What happens tomorrow night? At the court meeting?"
"I will refuse their demands. I will invoke the Right of Protection. It is an old law, rarely used, but it states that a lord may protect any being under his domain from execution without trial."
"Will they accept that?"
"No." I looked back at her. "But it will buy us time. Force them to follow proper procedure. They will have to prove you are a threat before they can order your death."
"And how long will that take?"
"Weeks. Perhaps a month if we are fortunate."
"And then?"
"And then we find a way to break the bond without killing us both. Or we run. Or..." I stopped.
"Or you lose control and kill me yourself."
The bluntness of it cut through the room like a blade.
"Yes," I said quietly. "Or that."
Rose wrapped her arms around herself. I felt her despair through the bond. The crushing weight of inevitability. No matter which path we took, death waited at the end.
"I am tired," she said finally. "May I return to my room?"
"Of course." I moved to the door. Opened it. The guards waited outside. "Escort Miss Thorne back to the east wing."
She walked past me without looking up. I felt her exhaustion. Her fear. Her desperate, aching need to be alone.
But just before she reached the door, she stopped.
"Lucian."
It was the first time she had used my name. The sound of it in her voice did something strange to my chest.
"Yes?"
She turned to face me. "Thank you. For trying to save me. Even if it is impossible."
Then she was gone.
I stood alone in the drawing room, listening to her footsteps fade down the hall. The bond stretched between us. Still connected. Still binding.
And the hunger grew stronger.
I pressed a hand to the doorframe. Closed my eyes. Fought against the need to follow her. To taste her. To take what the bond demanded.
How long could I hold out?
Marcus's words echoed in my mind. A month? A week? Days?
I opened my eyes and stared into the darkness.
Not long enough.
Not nearly long enough.