The first thing I noticed was the cold.
It seeped into my bones, wrapped itself around my skin, and settled into my chest like a second heartbeat. I tried to move, but my body felt heavy, unresponsive, as if it no longer belonged to me.
In the dim light, shadows twisted across the high ceilings. The bed beneath me was impossibly soft, the silk sheets cool against my bare skin. The air smelled of old stone, candle wax, and something darker... something metallic.
I wasn't home.
Panic surged through me as the memories crashed back—the forest, the golden-eyed stranger, the feel of his breath against my neck, the sharp sting of his teeth.
I bolted upright with a cry, clutching at my throat.
"You're awake."
The voice was velvet and steel, sliding across the room like smoke.
I turned sharply, heart hammering against my ribs.
He stood near the window, bathed in silver moonlight. His hair was dark as night, falling in soft waves around his angular face. His eyes, those terrible, beautiful eyes, glowed faintly—a molten gold that seemed almost alive.
"You should rest," he said, moving toward me with the lethal grace of a predator.
I shrank back instinctively, the sheet pulling tighter around me.
"Who are you?" I rasped, though some part of me already knew the answer.
He stopped at the edge of the bed, studying me with an expression I couldn't read. "My name is Kael," he said finally. "And you, Kyra, are mine."
The sound of my name on his lips made my blood run cold. I hadn't told him. I hadn't told anyone here.
How does he know?
"You don't belong to me yet," Kael continued, as if hearing my frantic thoughts. "But you will."
I shook my head, forcing my voice past the terror tightening my throat. "I don't belong to anyone."
A small smile curved his mouth, but it was not a kind smile. "In this world," he said softly, "everyone belongs to someone. Especially you."
I threw the sheet aside and scrambled to stand, ignoring the way my legs trembled. "I'm not staying here," I hissed. "You can't keep me."
Kael tilted his head, regarding me almost curiously.
"I already have."
Before I could take a step, the room seemed to tilt around me. A sharp, burning pain lanced through my chest, making me gasp. I clutched at my heart, stumbling backward.
Kael was at my side in an instant, steadying me with hands that were both gentle and unyielding.
"You feel it, don't you?" he whispered. His breath was cool against my ear. "The bond forming."
"No," I managed to choke out, but even as I denied it, the pain pulsed deeper, tying itself to the very core of me.
"You cannot fight what is already written," he murmured. "You are awakening, Kyra. Awakening to what you were always meant to be."
Tears blurred my vision as I stared up at him.
"What are you doing to me?" I whispered.
Kael's golden eyes gleamed with something dangerous.
"Claiming you."
And as the last word fell from his lips, the world around me shattered into darkness
"Before dawn, Kyra," kael whispered, his breath cold against my skin, "you will swear yourself to me — or watch everything you love burn."