If there was one thing I'd learned about Nightshade Academy, it was this:
You don't survive on good grades.
You survive on instincts, allies… and never letting your guard down — especially when the vampire who likes you might also be fated to kill you.
So. Normal Tuesday.
One Day Later
I was not expecting to wake up in my dorm to the following:
Kevin (the cursed crow) snoring on my face.
A glowing warning carved onto my mirror:
"YOU'RE MARKED. THEY'RE COMING."
And Yeonjun standing at my window — casually upside down.
"Nice of you to visit like a bat," I grumbled, opening the window.
"Nice of you to almost get possessed in an ancient tomb," he shot back.
"Sarcasm helps me cope."
"Same. But also… you're in trouble."
Enter the Rival
Yeonjun landed on the floor like he weighed nothing (which, rude), and just as he opened his mouth to explain—
She walked in.
Tall. Elegant. Slightly terrifying.
Her name? Seraphine Nightbane.
A senior vampire. Heiress to one of the founding bloodlines. And apparently, Yeonjun's ex-almost-fiancée.
Of course she was.
"Amelia," she said coolly, "you're the one he's risking the prophecy for?"
Yeonjun growled. "Not now, Sera."
"Oh, I think now is perfect," she purred, eyes glittering. "She should know what happens to humans who get involved with the Crimson Link."
I crossed my arms. "Oh, I know. We end up being targets. Or sacrifices. Or worse—used for homework in Advanced Necromancy."
Yeonjun snorted.
Seraphine did not.
"You have no idea what you're doing," she hissed. "He is danger incarnate."
"I know," I replied. "And somehow, I still feel safer with him than I do around you."
For the record? Yeonjun's grin at that moment could've powered all of Underworld City.
Detention… With Perks
Turns out breaking into a sealed tomb without Headmistress permission earns you:
One week of detention
Shadow monitor duty
And… being assigned a "bond regulator," aka someone to make sure you don't accidentally fall in love and curse the school
Who was my assigned regulator?
Yeonjun.
Of course.
The Bite
It was late. We were on monitor duty, sitting near the courtyard fountain — the one that whispers when you're alone (creepy but aesthetic).
"I never asked," I said, "what does the Crimson Link actually do?"
Yeonjun looked away. "It connects two souls. Strengthens them. But if one dies—"
"The other breaks."
He nodded.
Then: "It also… calls to the blood."
My pulse stuttered.
"Meaning?"
"Meaning," he said quietly, "I can feel yours. Hear it. Taste it in the air. And sometimes… I don't trust myself."
Silence.
Then I whispered, "Do you want to bite me?"
His jaw clenched. "Yes."
"Do it."
"Amelia—"
"Yeonjun. I trust you."
His eyes darkened. His fangs extended.
He stepped closer, slower than breath, one hand cupping my cheek.
"I won't take much," he whispered. "Just enough to seal the link. Not enough to hurt."
I nodded.
And then… I felt it.
Warmth. Sharpness. The flood of something ancient and intimate.
He bit — and it was not pain.
It was fire.
It was lightning.
It was every dream I didn't know I had exploding into stars behind my eyes.
When he pulled back, his lips were stained red. His eyes? Glowing.
But he looked terrified.
"Did I hurt you?" he rasped.
"No," I breathed. "But I think you just ruined me for normal relationships forever."
He laughed, soft and broken. "Good."
But Of Course…
Nothing stays romantic at Nightshade for long.
Because right then, the ground trembled.
The moon turned black.
And a voice echoed through the shadows.
"The bite has awakened her.
The doppelgänger rises.
And she… is not alone."