The boardroom of Valerius Corp didn't smell like expensive cologne or old money today. It smelled like ozone and impending death.
"Sign the merger, Elara," my uncle hissed, his hand hovering over the mahogany table. "Or the Board will ensure you never walk out of this skyscraper. We both know you don't have your father's 'gift.' You're just a girl playing CEO."
I looked at the silver pen, then at the thirty men staring at me with predatory eyes. They thought I was the weak link in the Valerius bloodline—the only one born without the ability to manipulate kinetic energy. They were wrong. I wasn't powerless; I was a ticking time bomb.
"I'm not signing," I said, my voice steady.
My uncle's face contorted. He slammed his palm onto the table, sending a shockwave of kinetic force that shattered the heavy crystal water carafes. Shards of glass flew toward my face like jagged diamonds.
Time slowed. I didn't flinch. Instead, I felt the familiar, searing heat crawling up my throat—the secret I had kept buried for twenty-three years. I didn't push energy away; I swallowed it. The glass shards stopped inches from my skin, suspended in a vacuum of sheer heat, and melted into harmless droplets of liquid silicone.
The room went silent. My uncle stumbled back, his eyes widening. "That's impossible. That's not kinetic manipulation. That's—"
"Pyromancy," I finished, standing up. The floor beneath my heels began to glow a dull, dangerous red. "And I'm not just the CEO. I'm the predator you forgot to cage."
Before he could summon another strike, the massive double doors of the boardroom swung open. A man stepped in, draped in a charcoal suit that cost more than a mid-sized sedan. He was tall, with hair the color of midnight and eyes that held the cold, calculating stillness of a winter storm.
Julian Vane. The CEO of Vane Investments and the man rumored to be the "Cleaner" for the supernatural underworld.
"Am I late for the execution?" Julian asked, his voice a smooth baritone that sent an unwanted shiver down my spine. He didn't look at the cowering board members. He looked straight at me, his gaze lingering on the flickering embers in my eyes.
"The execution is over, Mr. Vane," I said, stepping over the melted glass. "I was just leaving."
"I'm afraid not, Miss Valerius," Julian said, blocking my path. He leaned in, his scent of sandalwood and rain overpowering the smell of smoke. "Your uncle just sold your debt to me. Including the debt of your soul. You don't work for Valerius Corp anymore. You work for me."
He held up a contract etched in glowing, ethereal runes. It wasn't paper. It was a Blood Binding.
"I'll burn that paper to ash before you can blink," I threatened, my hands sparking.
Julian smiled, a sharp, dangerous tilt of the lips. "Try it. But if I die, the seal on your father's prison breaks, and whatever is inside that vault comes for you first. Shall we go, Elara? We have a world to reclaim."
I looked at the contract, then at the man who now owned my life. The heat in my blood roared, demanding I strike, but the mention of my father stayed my hand.
I walked past him, my shoulder brushing his. "If you touch me, I'll melt the skin off your bones."
"I look forward to the challenge," he whispered.
As we stepped into the elevator, the lights flickered and died. The city below us screamed. A dark, rhythmic thumping began to echo from the basement levels—something was waking up, and it sounded hungry.
Julian gripped my arm, his touch surprisingly cold. "Change of plans. We're not going to my office. We're going to the armory. The hunt has started early."
The elevator plummeted, not toward the lobby, but toward the dark heart of the city where the monsters lived.