I woke up choking on oxygen. Which is funny, considering I used to breathe fire.
My chest rose and fell like a broken accordion, and every inhale tasted sterile, chemical, human. A fluorescent light stabbed my eyes. For one terrifying moment, I thought I'd landed in some pit of purgatory. Then the beeping sound reached me, the frantic pulse of a heart monitor.
A hospital.
I was in a fucking hospital.
"Congratulations, Seraphina," I muttered to myself. "Dark Angel of the Apocalypse reduced to… patient number whatever-the-fuck."
I glanced down. Tubes in my arm. A flimsy gown covering a body that wasn't mine. No wings, no shadow, no black fire. Just soft, fragile flesh.
And then I saw it, the bracelet. My name, apparently:
Arina Kana.
Who the hell was that supposed to be?
Certainly not me.
Before I could scream, the door opened. A man stepped in, tall, immaculate, the kind of man who didn't belong in a place full of disinfectant and dying mortals. Suit perfect, jaw carved by money, not gods. His gaze swept over me like I was a business deal.
"Good," he said. His voice was deep, smooth, with the weight of someone used to being obeyed. "You're awake."
I narrowed my eyes. "And you are…?"
He adjusted his cufflinks. "Damien Blackwood. Your husband."
Excuse me?
"I think you've got the wrong room," I said, sitting up, wincing at how weak my limbs felt.
"I don't do husbands. I do destruction, vengeance, occasionally plagues, but marriage? No."
His expression didn't flicker. "You don't remember."
Oh, the arrogance. Like he was explaining my own existence to me.
"Enlighten me, Mr. Blackwood," I drawled. "Why exactly do you think I belong to you?"
He slid the folder onto the tray table. Paperwork. Stamped, signed, legal. Even I could recognize a marriage contract when I saw one.
My jaw dropped.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me."
"The contract was arranged before your accident," Damien said calmly, like people arranged marriages every day. "Your family signed. Legally binding. You are my wife."
I wanted to laugh. Cry. Stab him with the IV needle. Mostly laugh. Because once upon a time, the world bent to my will. Now some corporate ice king was claiming me as his possession.
"Right," I said finally. "And let me guess. You're older, richer, and think I'm some docile little thing who'll play house?"
His gaze hardened. "No. I think you're reckless, spoiled, and in desperate need of control."
… Oh, he did not just say that.
---
I swung my legs out of the bed, determined to storm out, but nearly collapsed. Damien caught me without hesitation, strong arms steadying me like I was breakable glass.
"Don't touch me," I snapped. The words sounded strong in my head, but my voice cracked. Weak. Human.
His brow arched, annoyingly calm. "You can barely stand."
Humiliation burned through me. Once, I could level cities with a gesture. Now I could barely keep upright in a hospital gown. My knees trembled, and not helping, my new body felt… different. Softer. Curvier. My chest shifted in a way that made me realize I had boobs now.
Boobs. On me.
I groaned. "This is a nightmare."
Damien's lips twitched, almost a smirk, but too controlled to be one. "You're alive. That's more than most people get."
I glared at him. "I'm not most people."
Something flickered in his eyes then, like he could sense the truth. But no, impossible. He was just a man. A very rich, annoyingly attractive man, but still a man. He couldn't possibly know who I really was.
Could he?
---
Hours later, I was out of the hospital, shoved into a sleek black car with tinted windows and Damien sitting beside me like a stone statue.
The contract sat in my lap. My name, Arina Kana, spelled out in perfect ink beside his. Husband and wife.
"This is ridiculous," I muttered, flipping through it. "I didn't sign this shit."
"You did," Damien said without looking at me. "Before the accident. Your family arranged it."
"My family is dead." The words slipped out before I could stop them. Because technically, they were. I didn't have a family anymore.
His eyes finally cut to me, sharp and unreadable. "Then I suppose I'm all you have left."
Cold. Unshakable. And utterly infuriating.
I hated that my stomach did a weird flip when he said it.
---
By the time we reached his penthouse, I'd decided three things:
1. I hated Damien Blackwood.
2. I hated being powerless.
3. And I really, really hated the fact that the contract was real.
The elevator opened to reveal glass walls overlooking the city, a palace in the sky. Damien strode ahead, not waiting for me, as if I'd simply follow. And of course, I did, because my legs were still weak.
As I stepped into his world of marble and steel, something made me freeze.
Shadows gathered in the corner of the room, twisting unnaturally. My blood went cold. I knew that presence, intimately.
Not human. Not Damien.
Something else had followed me here.
The shadows formed eyes. Red, glowing, hungry.
"Found you, Seraphina," a voice hissed from the dark.
And for the first time in my existence, I had no power to fight back.