Seraphina's POV
I woke wrapped in Lucian's arms as dawn light filtered through the heavy curtains, feeling transformed in ways that had nothing to do with vampire blood. My body hummed with newfound power and the lingering effects of a night that had redefined everything I thought I knew about pleasure and connection.
But something else pulled at the edges of my consciousness—a wrongness that made my skin crawl despite the warmth of Lucian's embrace.
"Someone's coming," I whispered, though I had no idea how I knew.
Lucian's eyes snapped open instantly, silver and alert. "How many?"
"Three, I think? Maybe four." I could sense them now like storm clouds on the horizon, dark presences moving through the building with predatory purpose. "How do I know that?"
"The bond. It's awakening your latent abilities faster than normal." He was already moving, pulling on clothes with inhuman speed. "Get dressed. Quickly."
I'd barely managed to slip into jeans and a sweater when the door to the apartment exploded inward, the reinforced steel crumpling like paper. Three figures stepped through the ruined entrance—two men and a woman, all beautiful in the cold, perfect way of marble statues.
All clearly vampires.
"Prince Lucian." The woman spoke with a voice like poisoned honey, her pale eyes taking in the scene with obvious disapproval. "How... domestic."
Lucian moved to stand protectively in front of me, his entire demeanor shifting from lover to lethal predator in an instant. "Lady Selene. Gentlemen. To what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?"
So this was Selene—his political fiancée. She was everything I wasn't: tall where I was average height, perfectly coiffed where my hair was still mussed from sleep, dressed in elegant designer clothes where I looked like I'd been thrown together. And the way she looked at Lucian...
"The Council grows concerned about your recent absence from court," one of the men said. He was older than the others, with steel-gray hair and eyes like chips of ice. "Lord Aldric thought it prudent to check on your welfare."
"How thoughtful." Lucian's voice could have cut glass. "As you can see, I'm perfectly well."
"Are you?" Selene's gaze finally settled on me, and I felt the weight of centuries of supernatural power pressing against my consciousness. "Or are you compromised by... base appetites?"
I stepped out from behind Lucian, ignoring his low growl of warning. "I'm sorry, I don't believe we've been introduced. I'm Seraphina."
Selene's laugh was like breaking crystal. "Oh, how precious. It speaks."
"Her name," Lucian said with deadly quiet, "is Seraphina Vale. And you will address her with respect, or not at all."
"Respect?" The second man spoke for the first time, his accent carrying traces of old Europe. "For a halfling mongrel who's seduced our prince from his duties?"
The words hit like physical blows, and I felt something dark and violent rise in my chest. Before I could think better of it, I was moving—crossing the room in a blur of speed that surprised even me, my hand wrapping around the vampire's throat with strength that made his eyes widen in shock.
"Careful how you speak about things you don't understand," I said sweetly, tightening my grip until I heard his windpipe creak.
"Impressive," Selene murmured, though her tone suggested she found it anything but. "The mongrel has claws. But strength alone doesn't make you worthy of our prince."
"Enough." Lucian's voice cracked like a whip, and the temperature in the room seemed to drop ten degrees. "Seraphina, release him."
I let go, but didn't step back. The vampire rubbed his throat, staring at me with a mixture of surprise and grudging respect.
"Prince Lucian," the older man—Lord Aldric—said carefully, "perhaps we might speak privately?"
"Anything you have to say to me can be said in front of my mate."
The silence that followed was deafening.
"Your... mate?" Selene's voice was barely a whisper, but I heard the rage underneath it. "Lucian, surely you can't be serious."
"I've never been more serious about anything in my life." He moved to stand beside me, his hand finding mine. "Seraphina is my blood-bonded mate. The choice has been made."
"Without Council approval," Lord Aldric said, his tone sharp with disapproval. "Without proper protocols. Without consideration for your existing betrothal."
"The heart knows no protocols," Lucian replied. "And my betrothal to Lady Selene was a political arrangement, not a binding of souls."
Selene's perfect composure finally cracked, revealing the fury beneath. "Do you have any idea what you've done? She's not even a proper vampire! She's an abomination, a mistake that should have been culled generations ago!"
"Watch your tongue," I snarled, feeling my newfound fangs extend. "Before I cut it out."
"You see?" Selene turned to Lord Aldric triumphantly. "She has no control, no breeding, no understanding of our ways. She'll bring nothing but chaos to our world."
"Perhaps," Lord Aldric said slowly, studying me with ancient eyes. "Or perhaps she's exactly what our world needs." He stepped closer, and I felt the weight of his power like a mountain pressing down on me. "Tell me, child—what do you know of the old prophecies?"
"I..." The question caught me off guard. "Nothing. I just learned I was part vampire two days ago."
"The timing is... interesting." Lord Aldric exchanged a meaningful look with his companion. "Prince Lucian, the Council will want to examine her. Thoroughly."
"Absolutely not." Lucian's refusal was immediate and final. "Seraphina is under my protection."
"Your protection may not be enough," the second man said quietly. "There are forces moving in the darkness, Prince. Ancient powers that have been sleeping for centuries. If she truly is the one from the prophecies..."
"Then she's in more danger than any of us realized," Lord Aldric finished. "The Council will expect her presentation within the week."
"And if I refuse?"
"Then you force the Council to choose between their future king and the laws that have governed our kind for millennia." Lord Aldric's expression was grave. "I hope it doesn't come to that."
With that ominous statement, the three vampires departed as quickly as they'd arrived, leaving Lucian and me alone in his ruined apartment.
"Well," I said after a long moment, "that went well."
Lucian pulled me into his arms, burying his face in my hair. "I'm sorry. I should have anticipated this."
"What did they mean about prophecies? And what will happen at this Council presentation?"
His arms tightened around me. "The prophecies speak of a halfling who will either save our world or destroy it. As for the presentation..." He pulled back to look at me, his expression grim. "They'll test you. Your strength, your control, your worthiness to stand beside a prince of the blood."
"And if I fail?"
His eyes flashed silver fire. "You won't. I won't let you."
But even as he said the words, I could feel his fear through our bond—not for himself, but for me. For what the Council might do to protect their precious laws and traditions.
I thought about the woman in my vision, kneeling before a dark-haired man. About destiny and choice and the price of power.
"Lucian," I said quietly, "what aren't you telling me?"
His silence was answer enough.
The real test wasn't going to be surviving the Council's evaluation.
It was going to be surviving whatever came after.