Zara's POV
I felt him before I saw him.
A pulse of cold fury hit my chest like a fist, stealing my breath. Not my emotion—his. Dante's rage crashed through me like a wave, and suddenly I knew exactly where he was.
Behind me. Twenty feet back. Closing fast.
I spun around in the crowded street, and there he was.
Dante Ashcroft looked even more dangerous in person. Tall, broad-shouldered, moving through the crowd like a predator. Those dark eyes locked onto mine, and the connection between us flared hot and painful.
I felt his determination. His suspicion. His... confusion?
He felt mine too. I saw it in the way he stumbled, pressing a hand to his chest.
"You," he said, voice rough. "You're early."
"You said midnight. It's barely noon."
"I know what I said." He moved closer, and the bond between us intensified. My heartbeat matched his. Fast. Too fast. "But you felt it too, didn't you? The pull. Like something was dragging you toward me."
I had. All morning, I'd felt this weird tug in my chest, leading me across the city. I'd thought I was going crazy.
"The curse is accelerating," Dante said. "We need to talk. Somewhere private."
"I don't know you. I'm not going anywhere alone with you."
His jaw tightened. "I'm trying to help you."
"By stealing the ruby first? By getting us both cursed?"
"I didn't know you existed!" His anger spiked, and I felt it tear through my own chest. "I stole the ruby to destroy it, to end the curse forever. How was I supposed to know the magic would bond me to some thief I'd never met?"
"I'm not a thief anymore," I shot back. "I went straight three years ago."
"Then why did Viktor give you instructions for stealing it?"
"Because your people are hunting me! Because I have nowhere else to go!"
We were shouting now, drawing stares. Dante grabbed my arm and pulled me into an alley. The moment he touched me, electricity shot through us both.
We jerked apart, gasping.
"Don't touch me," I hissed.
"Don't plan to." But his eyes said something different. I felt his attraction mixing with anger, and it made my head spin. "Where's the ruby?"
"You said you have it."
"I did. Until someone broke into my apartment last night and stole it." He stepped closer, eyes narrowing. "Where. Is. It?"
"I don't have your stupid ruby!"
But even as I said it, heat blazed in my pocket. I yelped and jumped back, pulling out a small velvet pouch I'd never seen before.
"That's not mine," I said quickly. "Someone must have planted it—"
The pouch burst open. The Blood Moon Ruby tumbled into my hand.
It was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. Deep red, glowing with inner fire, warm against my palm. Almost alive.
"Give it to me," Dante demanded.
"I'm trying!" But when I held it out, the ruby burned hotter. I dropped it with a cry.
Dante lunged forward and caught it. The moment the stone touched his skin, he screamed.
I reached for him instinctively—and the second we both touched the ruby, the world exploded.
We were falling through darkness.
No—not falling. Being pulled. Dragged through time and space and something else entirely.
Then we hit ground that wasn't ground. A void of pure red light.
"What's happening?" I gasped.
"The curse," Dante said beside me. His hand was still on mine, both of us gripping the ruby. "It's showing us."
Images flooded our minds. Not memories—prophecies.
I saw myself lying on cold stone, blood pooling beneath me. Dante knelt beside me, holding my hand as life drained from my eyes. The ruby glowed between us, pulsing with each fading heartbeat.
Then the vision shifted.
Dante was the one dying. A sword through his chest. I was screaming his name, trying to heal him with hands that couldn't stop the bleeding. The ruby fell from his fingers, already searching for its next victims.
More visions. More deaths. Each one showing us dying together, dying apart, dying in a hundred different ways.
"Thirty days," a voice whispered from everywhere and nowhere. "Complete the three trials, or share this fate."
The visions changed. We saw the trials now:
A dark forest where our worst nightmares came alive.
An altar where we'd have to sacrifice what we valued most.
A final choice between saving ourselves or each other.
"Face your fears. Sacrifice your pride. Choose love over life." The voice faded. "Or die together, as all the cursed have died before you."
We slammed back into reality.
I was on my knees in the alley, gasping. Dante was beside me, looking as shaken as I felt. The ruby sat between us, glowing softly.
"We're going to die," I whispered.
"Not if we break the curse."
"You saw those trials! They're impossible!"
"Nothing's impossible." Dante stood, offering his hand. "We work together, we survive. We don't..." He didn't finish, but I felt his fear. Real, raw fear that matched my own.
I took his hand. The spark was still there, but bearable now. Like we were getting used to it.
"Twenty-seven days," he said. "We find out who put the curse on the ruby in the first place. We complete the trials. We break this thing."
"And then?"
"Then we go our separate ways and pretend this never happened."
But even as he said it, I felt his lie. Through the bond, I felt everything.
He didn't want to go separate ways.
Neither did I.
God help me, I was already falling for a man I'd known for ten minutes.
Dante's phone buzzed. He checked it and went pale.
"What?" I asked.
"The museum just reported the ruby stolen. They're blaming me." His voice went flat. "My career is over. My family's name is destroyed again. And in three hours, every cop in the city will be hunting us both."
"So what do we do?"
He looked at me with those intense dark eyes. "We run. Together."
My phone buzzed. A video message from an unknown number.
I opened it and felt my blood freeze.
It showed Marcus and Lila, tied to chairs in a dark room. Both crying. Both terrified.
A figure in a black mask stood behind them.
"Hello, Princess," the masked figure said. "I have your enemies. Bring me the Blood Moon Ruby by midnight, or I kill them both. Oh, and Zara?" The figure laughed. "Your boyfriend Dante works for me. This was all a trap. Sweet dreams."
The video ended.
I looked at Dante. Through the bond, I felt his shock. His confusion.
His betrayal.
He felt mine too.
"I don't work for anyone," he said quickly. "Zara, that's a lie—"
"Then why can I feel you hiding something?" My voice shook. "What aren't you telling me?"
His face went blank. "We don't have time for this. We need to—"
"Tell me the truth! Right now!"
He closed his eyes. "Fine. You want the truth? The Prince didn't just kill your mother. He killed mine too. And I've spent the last seventeen years planning to destroy him." He met my eyes. "I needed the ruby to do it. That's why I stole it. Not to break the curse—to use it as a weapon."
The world tilted.
"So you're using me."
"I was. Before the bond formed. Before I felt..." He stopped, jaw clenched. "It doesn't matter. Someone's setting us both up, and we need to figure out who before—"
An explosion rocked the alley. Fire bloomed behind us.
We ran.