Chapter 1: The Transaction of Souls (Seraphina's POV)
The rain was a cold, relentless weight against the windows of the Thorne estate. My brother, Leo, was on his knees, sobbing at the feet of the man who had just dismantled our lives in a single hour.
Silas Vane didn't look like a man who had just committed a corporate massacre. He looked like a god made of shadow and ice. He sat in my father's favorite armchair, a glass of amber liquid in his hand, his eyes fixed on me—not the trembling boy on the floor.
"He didn't mean to do it, Silas," my father pleaded, his voice breaking. "The money... we can get it back."
Silas didn't blink. He set his glass down on the table with a slow, deliberate click. "I don't care about the money, Arthur. I have enough to buy this city ten times over."
His gaze raked over me, a slow, predatory burn that made my skin crawl. "I want the only thing in this house that is actually worth something."
He stood up, his massive frame casting a shadow that seemed to swallow the room. He walked toward me, stopping only when he was close enough for me to smell the woodsmoke and expensive whiskey on his breath.
"You're a beautiful liar, Seraphina," he rasped, his voice a low, dangerous vibration. He reached out, his thumb grazing the line of my jaw with a gentleness that was far more terrifying than a blow. "Your brother took my peace. So, I'm taking his heart. You."
I didn't move. I didn't beg. I looked him dead in his flint-cold eyes and tilted my head. "If you think a cage will make me your heart, Silas, then you've wasted your money. You can buy my presence, but you can't buy the way I look at you. And right now? You're just a man with a checkbook and a very large ego."
Silas leaned in, his lips brushing against my ear. "I'm not a man, Seraphina. I'm the consequence of your family's greed. And I've always been a very thorough collector."
He grabbed my wrist, his grip like a band of heated iron, and pulled me toward the door.