Chapter 3 My fate was sealed

Nearly an hour later, after my mother had cornered Kael Draven, Pierce, and me inside her office, I began to seriously consider that I should have shattered that cursed mirror the moment it spoke.

The room felt suffocating.

Giles and Wynn had taken Thierry elsewhere, likely to prevent another confrontation. Giles had looked furious enough to start one himself, while Wynn, as always, had chosen silence over chaos. If there was even the smallest chance to avoid bloodshed, she would take it—even if it meant supporting something as reckless as this.

As reckless as me.

My mother and Pierce exchanged another strained look, the kind that didn’t need words to carry meaning. They thought I had lost my mind. Worse, they thought I had dragged the vampire king down with me.

I couldn’t entirely blame them.

Because I still didn’t understand it myself.

I sat rigid in my chair, my hands clasped too tightly in my lap, trying to steady the storm inside my chest. Across from me, Kael Draven stood in composed silence, his presence filling the room in a way that made everything else feel distant and irrelevant.

The moment he had accepted my proposal, something in him had changed..

His expression was calm—too calm. Controlled to the point of being unreadable. But every so often, his gaze flickered toward me, quick and almost careful, as if he didn’t want to be caught looking.

And each time, something in his face softened.

Only for a second.

Then it was gone again, like it had never existed.

It unsettled me more than outright hostility would have.

I tore my gaze away, annoyed at myself for even noticing.

Why did I care what he was thinking?

He didn’t know me. He had no reason to care about me. Men like him—powerful, untouchable didn’t make decisions based on emotion. There had to be something else behind his agreement. Something calculated.

Something I couldn’t see yet.

And I didn’t like that.

“Explain it again,” Pierce said finally, his voice tight with restrained frustration. “Because I’m still waiting for this to make sense.”

I exhaled slowly, already exhausted by the idea of repeating myself.

But before I could speak, Kael did.

“The situation is not as irrational as it appears,” he said evenly.

His voice was low, controlled, and carried a quiet authority that made the room still without effort.

He didn’t look at me as he spoke. His attention remained on Pierce, though I couldn’t ignore the subtle shift in his stance as he moved just slightly—placing himself between us.

It was small.

Barely noticeable.

But it wasn’t accidental.

“The intention,” he continued, “is to interrupt escalation. A public union between our factions forces both sides to hesitate. It reframes the narrative. Cooperation, rather than conflict.”

Pierce let out a disbelieving scoff. “A marriage isn’t a strategy. It’s a gamble.”

“Most strategies are,” Kael replied calmly.

My mother said nothing, but I saw the way her fingers tightened slightly against the desk.

She was considering it.

That alone made something cold settle in my stomach.

I swallowed, forcing myself to speak. “It buys time. That’s all I need.”

All I need to do something insane enough to work.

Or fail spectacularly.

“And then what?” Pierce pressed. “You think whoever is behind the killings is just going to stop because of a ceremony?”

No.

They would come closer.

Closer to me.

But I kept that part to myself.

“They’ll make a move,” I said instead, keeping my voice steady. “And when they do, we’ll be ready.”

It wasn’t entirely a lie.

Just not the whole truth.

Silence followed.

Then my mother leaned back slightly, studying me in a way that made me feel like I was being weighed and measured all at once.

“If you go through with this,” she said, “there is no stepping back. You will not be an outsider anymore.”

My chest tightened.

“I know.”

“You will stand beside him,” she continued, her gaze sharp. “You will represent this coven whether you feel prepared or not. You will be seen. Judged. Expected to act.”

Each word felt like it landed heavier than the last.

Because she wasn’t wrong.

This wasn’t just a plan.

It was a life I had spent years avoiding.

“I don’t even have magic,” I said quietly, unable to keep the edge out of my voice. “I can’t even stand near half the things you do without something going wrong. What happens when I ruin something important?”

A flicker of surprise crossed Kael’s face at that.

Subtle, But real.

He hadn’t known, Of course he hadn’t.

We had kept it hidden.

My mother’s expression didn’t soften. “Then you will learn where you can stand,” she said. “And where you cannot.”

“That’s not an answer.”

“It’s the only one you’re getting.”

Pierce muttered something under his breath, clearly unimpressed.

But Kael spoke again before the tension could snap.

“It changes nothing,” he said.

This time, he did look at me.

Directly.

His gaze was steady, unwavering in a way that made it impossible to look away.

“You do not need magic to stand where you choose to stand.”

The words were simple.

But something about the way he said them made my chest tighten in a way I didn’t understand.

I looked away first.

Because holding that gaze felt like stepping too close to something dangerous.

And not in the way I had expected.

“This still shouldn’t work,” Pierce said, shaking his head.

“It might,” my mother replied quietly.

That got everyone’s attention.

She folded her hands on the desk, her expression thoughtful now instead of rigid.

“The coven believes the vampires are indifferent to our deaths,” she said. “That belief is what fuels this conflict. But this—” her gaze flicked between Kael and me “—challenges that.”

I didn’t like how calm she sounded.

“How?” Pierce asked.

“Because it forces the king himself to take a public stance,” she said. “And symbols matter. More than people like to admit.”

Kael inclined his head slightly. “Then we proceed.”

Just like that.

Like we were discussing something trivial.

Not binding our lives together.

Not walking straight into something neither of us fully understood.

My mother exhaled slowly. “It will take a few days to arrange. A small ceremony.”

Then she looked at me.

Waiting.

Everything inside me twisted.

For a moment, doubt surged up so strongly it nearly swallowed me whole.

Images flashed through my mind—too fast, too sharp.

Blood. Silence. Loss. Everyone I cared about, gone.

Because I hesitated. Because I failed.

My hands curled into fists.

I didn’t have the luxury of doubt.

“I agree,” I said.

My voice came out quieter than I intended.

But it didn’t shake.

Kael’s gaze snapped to me again, sharper this time. Searching.

As if he could see straight through me.

I forced a smile anyway, even though it felt wrong on my face.

“Looks like you’re stuck with me,” I added lightly.

For a second, something unreadable crossed his expression.

Not annoyance. Not regret.

Something else. Something deeper, Then it was gone.

“Then it is settled,” he said.

Simple and Final.

And just like that, my fate was sealed.