Chapter 2 TWO

The silence in the auction hall was

absolute, a physical weight pressing

down on me. Every supernatural eye felt like a laser burning into my

skin. The vampire in the front row

took a single, fluid step in my

direction, his pale face a mask of

cold fury.

Then the dragon—Kaelen—moved.

The silver chains on his wrists

snapped apart like they were made

of glass. A shimmer of heat

distorted the air around him as he

rose to his full, imposing height.

The guards on the platform lunged

forward, but he didn't even look at

them. A mere flick of his wrist sent

a concussive wave of force that

threw them back into the velvet

curtains.

Chaos erupted.

The gaunt man from the elevator

was suddenly at my side, his grip

like iron on my arm. "This way.

Now." He didn't ask, he

commanded, pulling me backward

through the bronze elevator doors

just as they began to slide shut. I

caught one last glimpse of the

chamber: Kaelen, now surrounded by a corona of shimmering gold

light, and the vampire, his form

blurring into a streak of darkness,

leaping toward the stage.

The elevator shot upward. My

stomach lurched.

"What have you done?" the gaunt

man hissed, his wintery eyes wide

with something that looked like fear.

"Do you have any idea who that

was? What you have taken from

Silas Vane?"

"I—" My voice was a dry croak. I

had no words. I had just spent a

sum of money I could never

comprehend to buy a mythical

creature. A creature who was

currently unleashing hell

downstairs.

The elevator chimed. The

antechamber. The gaunt man

shoved me toward the black door

leading to the rainy alley. "Run.

Don't look back. Don't stop. If you

value your fleeting human life, you

will forget this place, forget

everything you saw."

I stumbled out into the cold, wet

night. The rain was a blessing,

washing the scent of sandalwood

and power from my skin. I ran. I

didn't know where I was going. My

apartment was out of the question.

Elara's hospital? Too obvious. I was

a mouse who had just stolen a lion

from a pack of wolves, and now the

entire forest was hunting me.

I ducked into the recessed doorway

of a closed butcher shop, my breath

coming in ragged, sobbing gasps. I

pressed my back against the cold

metal shutter, trying to become

small, invisible. The $187,432.17

debt felt like a quaint, distant

memory. I had just created a

problem infinitely larger.

A shadow fell over me.

I flinched, expecting the gaunt man,

or the vampire, or a squad of police.

It was him.

Kaelen stood at the mouth of the

alley, the rain seeming to steam off his bare shoulders. He had found a

long, dark coat from somewhere,

but it hung open, doing little to hide

his powerful frame or the fact that

he was still shirtless beneath it. His

molten gold eyes found me in the

darkness, pinning me in place.

He moved toward me with a

predator's grace, utterly silent. He

didn't stop until he was mere inches

away, the heat radiating from his

body a stark contrast to the chill

night air. He smelled of smoke, of

ozone, of ancient stone and wild,

open skies.

He reached out, and I flinched

again. But his hand didn't strike me.

Instead, his fingers, surprisingly

gentle, brushed a strand of wet hair

from my face. His touch sent

another electric jolt through my

system, a confusing mix of terror

and something else, something

warm and primal.

"You," he said, his voice a low

rumble that vibrated in my bones.

"You are full of surprises, little

mouse."

"I... I let you go," I stammered,

pressing myself harder against the

metal shutter. "The debt is mine.

We're even. Just go."

A faint, dangerous smile touched

his lips. "Even? You think this is a

transaction? A simple exchange of

currency for goods?" He leaned in

closer, his voice dropping to a

whisper. "You did not simply buy

me, human. You claimed me. By the

laws of my kind, the one who wins

my freedom, who pays the bloodprice, is bound to me. And I, to

them."

My blood ran cold. "Bound? What

does that mean?"

"It means, little mouse, that you are

now my Fated Mate."

The words hung in the air between

us, absurd and terrifying. "That's...

that's insane. I'm human. You're a...

a dragon. That's a myth, a story!"

"Is it?" he murmured. His gaze

intensified, and a wave of dizziness washed over me. For a split second,

I didn't see the alley. I saw a vast,

star-strewn sky from a great height,

felt the powerful beat of wings that

were not my own, and smelled the

crisp, thin air of a mountain peak.

The vision vanished as quickly as it

came, leaving me gasping.

"The bond is already forming," he

stated, as if commenting on the

weather. "It will only grow stronger.

Our fates are now intertwined.

Which means," his smile vanished,

replaced by a look of grim finality,

"that Silas Vane will not stop until

he has reclaimed what he sees as

his property. And he will tear you

apart to get to me."

He straightened up, his eyes

scanning the rooftops. "We cannot

stay here. They will be coming."

Panic seized me anew. "We? There

is no 'we'! I have a sister. She's sick.

I have a life!"

"You had a life," he corrected me,

his tone leaving no room for

argument. "That life is over. The only thing that matters now is

survival. My survival, and yours.

They are one and the same." He

offered me his hand. It was a large,

powerful hand, capable of terrible

destruction. "Come."

I looked from his hand to his face,

to the impossible reality he

represented. I thought of Elara, safe

in her hospital bed, unaware that

her sister had just thrown a grenade

into both their lives. If I went with

him, I was stepping into a world of

monsters and magic. If I stayed, I

was dead.

The wail of a distant siren cut

through the night, growing rapidly

closer. Kaelen's eyes narrowed.

"Choose now, mouse. Freedom with

me, or a cage—or a coffin—with

them."

Trembling, my heart pounding a

frantic rhythm of pure terror, I

reached out and placed my hand in

his.

His fingers closed around mine,

warm and unyielding. Instead of leading me out to the street, he

pulled me deeper into the alley,

toward a dead-end wall covered in

graffiti.

"This is a dead end!" I protested.

He didn't answer. He placed his free

hand against the grimy brickwork

and whispered a single, guttural

word that seemed to make the air

itself vibrate. The bricks

shimmered, their solidity wavering

like a mirage, revealing not a wall,

but a swirling, opaque darkness.

"The world is full of doors, Lena

Vance," he said, and I started at the

sound of my name. "You just have

to know how to open them."

With a final glance at the rainy,

familiar world I was leaving behind,

he pulled me forward, into the

unknown dark.