Three days passed like three years.
I spent them in my room, recovering. Eating the food Seraphine brought. Staring at the walls. Feeling Lucian through the bond like a constant shadow in my mind.
His hunger grew each day. I felt it building. A slow burn that turned into an ache that turned into something sharper. More desperate. He was fighting it. I knew he was fighting it. But the bond demanded what it demanded.
On the third morning, a letter arrived.
Seraphine brought it with breakfast. A plain envelope sealed with red wax. No markings. No return address.
"A courier left this at the gate, miss. He said it was urgent."
My stomach dropped. I knew that seal. The order's seal.
"Thank you, Seraphine."
She left, and I opened the letter with trembling hands.
Rose,
Your report was received. We are pleased with your progress. However, circumstances have changed. Intelligence suggests Lord Graves is investigating connections between his brother and our order. This cannot be allowed to continue.
You will complete your mission within the next seven days. The tools you need are hidden in the east garden, beneath the statue of the weeping angel. Third stone from the base.
Do not fail us. Do not contact us again until it is done.
Sister Miriam
I read the letter three times. Then I burned it in the candle flame and watched the ash fall.
Seven days.
They wanted me to kill Lucian in seven days.
My hands shook as I dressed. A simple black dress. Hair pulled back. I needed to think. To plan. To decide what I was going to do.
Because I was not sure anymore if I could complete the mission.
Lucian had saved my life. Protected me from the court. Revealed the truth about how I had been used. And through the bond, I felt him. Really felt him. The loneliness. The guilt. The desperate hope that maybe, somehow, we could both survive this.
Was that real? Or was it just the bond making me feel things I should not feel?
I did not know anymore.
I left my room and made my way through the house. The east garden was at the back. A wild, overgrown place filled with black roses and stone statues covered in moss.
Guards nodded as I passed. They had stopped being as watchful. Stopped treating me like a prisoner. Another week and they might trust me completely.
Another week and I was supposed to kill their lord.
The garden was cold in the morning light. Frost covered the roses. My breath misted in the air. I found the statue easily. A weeping angel with broken wings. Sad. Beautiful. Forgotten.
I knelt at the base and counted stones. Third from the bottom. It was loose.
I pulled it free.
Behind it, wrapped in oiled cloth, was a small case. I opened it carefully.
Inside was a syringe. Three vials of clear liquid. And a note in Sister Miriam's handwriting.
Vampire poison. Inject directly into the bloodstream. Three doses. Use all three. He will weaken within minutes. Die within the hour. Make it look like the bond took him. No one will question it.
I stared at the poison. So simple. So easy. One injection while he fed from me. He would never suspect. The bond made him vulnerable. Trusting.
I could end this. Complete the mission. Avenge my family. Fulfill the purpose I had been raised for.
All I had to do was betray the one person who had tried to protect me.
"You look troubled."
I spun around. Marcus stood at the edge of the garden. He smiled that cruel smile. His eyes gleamed with amusement.
"Lord Marcus." I shoved the case back into the hiding spot. Replaced the stone. "I was just taking a walk."
"Were you?" He moved closer. Slow. Predatory. "Strange place for a walk. Most humans avoid this garden. They say it is haunted by the ghosts of my brother's previous failures."
"I like the quiet."
"Do you?" He circled me like a shark. "You know, Rose, I have been watching you. Curious about what my brother sees in you. What makes you so special that he would risk everything to keep you alive."
"I don't know what you mean."
"Don't you?" He stopped directly in front of me. Too close. "You are Rare Blood. Cursed. Dangerous. And yet Lucian bound you to himself. Protected you from the court. Defied centuries of law for you." His head tilted. "Why?"
"You would have to ask him."
"I have. He gives me non answers. Tells me it is about honor. Duty. Responsibility." Marcus laughed softly. "But I know my brother. And I know when he is lying to himself."
My heart hammered. "What do you want?"
"I want to offer you a choice." He reached into his coat and pulled out a folded paper. "This is a writ of release. Signed by Lady Valeria and three other court members. It states that if you willingly leave Lucian's protection, you will be granted safe passage out of the city. No execution. No punishment. Freedom."
I stared at the paper. "Why would you give me this?"
"Because I am not the monster you think I am." His smile widened. "And because I know the truth about you, Rose Thorne. I know what you are. What you came here to do."
Ice flooded my veins. "I don't know what you are talking about."
"Please. I have eyes everywhere. I know about the order. About Sister Miriam. About your mission to kill my brother." He held up a hand when I started to speak. "I am not going to stop you. In fact, I am giving you a way out. Kill him or don't. But either way, you can leave. Survive. Start over somewhere far from here."
"And why would you help me?"
"Because whether you kill him or the bond kills him, the result is the same. Lucian falls. I rise. The coven needs strong leadership. Not a lovesick fool who cannot control his own hunger." He pressed the paper into my hand. "Think about it. Seven days until your order's deadline. Seven days to decide if you want to die alongside him or walk away while you still can."
He left before I could respond.
I stood alone in the garden, clutching the writ in one hand and thinking about the poison hidden behind the stone.
Two paths. Two choices. Both led to Lucian's death.
The only question was whether I died with him.
I did not return to my room. Instead, I wandered the house. Thinking. Planning. Trying to decide what kind of person I wanted to be.
A hunter who completed her mission.
Or a traitor who protected the monster she was meant to kill.
I found myself in the library. The massive room where Lucian spent his nights. Books lined every wall. Ancient texts. Modern volumes. Knowledge collected over centuries.
I ran my fingers along the spines. Stopped at one that looked older than the others.
The History of Blood Bonds
The book Lucian had been reading.
I pulled it down and opened it carefully. The pages were brittle. The language old. But I could read enough to understand.
Stage One. Stage Two. Stage Three.
The progression toward madness. Toward death. Inevitable. Unavoidable.
But at the bottom of the page, in handwriting that was not part of the original text, someone had written a note.
Exception: If the servant dies willingly, offering their life to break the bond, the vampire may survive. The bond severs cleanly. No madness. No death. But the servant must choose it freely. No coercion. No manipulation. Only love.
I stared at the note. Read it again. And again.
There was a way out. One way. One chance.
But it required my death.
Willing. Offered. Given freely out of love.
"You should not be reading that."
I turned. Lucian stood in the doorway. He looked tired. Pale. The hunger burned in his eyes.
"I was looking for answers," I said quietly.
"And did you find any?"
"Maybe." I closed the book. Set it back on the shelf. "There is a note. At the bottom of the page about Stage Five. It says the bond can be broken if the servant dies willingly. That you would survive."
His expression went cold. "No."
"It is a way out."
"It is not a way out. It is murder disguised as mercy." He moved into the room. "I will not ask you to die for me, Rose. I will not accept that sacrifice."
"Even if it is the only way to save you?"
"Even then." He stopped in front of me. "We find another way. Or we both die. Those are the only options I will consider."
I wanted to believe him. Wanted to trust that there was another path. But the poison in the garden said otherwise. The order's deadline said otherwise. Marcus's writ said otherwise.
We were running out of time.
"It is the third day," Lucian said quietly. "I need to feed."
My stomach tightened. "Now?"
"The hunger is getting worse. If I wait any longer, I might lose control again." He gestured to the chair by the fireplace. "Sit. I will make it quick."
I moved to the chair on shaking legs. Sat. My heart hammered against my ribs.
Lucian knelt beside me. His movements were controlled. Careful. But I felt the hunger raging beneath his skin through the bond.
"I will take less this time," he promised. "Just enough to quiet the bond. You will barely feel it."
"I trust you."
The words surprised us both.
Lucian's eyes widened. "You should not."
"But I do."
Something shifted in his expression. Softened. He reached up and brushed my hair away from my neck. His fingers were cold. Gentle.
"This will hurt. I am sorry."
Then his fangs pierced my skin.
The pain was sharp. Bright. But not as terrible as before. He drank slowly. Carefully. Taking small sips instead of deep pulls.
The bond flared between us. I felt his relief. His pleasure. The way my blood sang through his veins and quieted the hunger that had been consuming him.
And I felt something else. Something warm and unexpected.
Gratitude.
He was grateful. Not just for the blood. For me. For my trust. For my willingness to let him do this even though it terrified me.
He pulled away after what felt like seconds. Licked the wound to seal it. His eyes met mine.
"Thank you."
I touched the place where he had bitten me. It was already healing. "That was not so bad."
"No." He stood. Put distance between us. "It was not. We will do this every three days. It should keep the hunger manageable."
"And when it stops being manageable?"
"Then we will face that when it comes." He moved toward the door. Stopped. "Rose. If you ever want to leave. If this becomes too much. Tell me. I will find a way to let you go safely."
"I thought you said the bond would not allow that."
"I will find a way anyway." His voice was soft. Sad. "You deserve better than this. Better than me."
He left before I could respond.
I sat alone in the library, touching my neck. The bond pulsed between us. Quieter now. Satisfied.
But the deadline still loomed.
Seven days.
Seven days to decide if I was going to save Lucian by killing him or damn us both by trying to save us both.
I closed my eyes and felt his presence through the bond.
And for the first time since this nightmare began, I admitted the truth to myself.
I did not want him to die.
Not anymore.