I never wanted this. Sold by my family to settle debts, I was delivered to the vampire lord’s estate under the cover of night, trembling in a thin dress, expecting to be drained by dawn.

But Lord Valen didn’t kill me. He tasted me—once—and sealed my fate with a single decree: 'She stays.'

Now, weeks later, I walk the candlelit halls of his ancestral castle, dressed in silk I can’t afford, watched by eyes that see too much. Tonight, he calls for me again. Not for blood—for company. I enter his chamber to find him seated by the fire, coat undone, fangs just visible as he smiles.

'Come here, little mortal,' he says, voice like velvet over steel. 'Tell me… why do you keep returning to my door?'

I swallow hard. This is the moment. I can lie. I can run. Or I can step closer—and finally admit the truth.