She wasn’t like the others. She’d seen what was coming and tried to warn the other royals that only one of them would survive, that a new kind of royalty would rise, one made of mixed bloodlines and broken castes. They called her mad and locked her away. She drowned herself in fairy wine to silence the visions.
And I—I cursed her name and spat her worth into the dirt. I thought if she was gone, they'd finally see me. Give me a real assignment and a chance to prove my worth.
After she was murdered, all I was left with was regret and self-loathing.
The Syndicate gave me purpose, and Syris gave me a way out. Under the Rossey clan, I proved myself. Over and over. I was a monster in the eyes of the civilian world—pistachio skin, slitted yellow eyes, scars that wouldn’t fade—but I earned the Syndicate’s trust with sweat and blood. So, when Nova assigned me to guard her sister and head up the security at the Winged Palace, I saw it as a second chance. A chance to redeem the sins I couldn’t wash off.
Then I met Aniyah.
I knew she’d be smart. You couldn’t run Glovefox’s empire if you weren’t, but I wasn’t prepared for the fire, the sass, the way her mouth curved around insults that somehow sounded like promises. I hadn’t expected just how gorgeous she would be. I tried to stay focused on routes, exits, weapons, but the moment she left the room, all I could think about washer, bent over,moaning, begging. Her tight little body wrapped around mine. That wicked mouth full of my cock.
She invaded everything. My mornings. My nights. My every goddamn breath.
That all changed the night I saw her with Van.
The desire. The ache. The disgusting, all-consuming hunger I had for her. I stuffed it into the darkest corners of myself like a rabid thing I had to cage, locking it behind the cold steel bars of duty and discipline. I told myself it didn’t matter who she fucked. That it wasn’t my place. Not with someone likeme. I wasn’t born to be loved or even desired. That was for the Vans of the world, the beautiful ones who fit in, who could stand beside her without looking like they’d been carved from a warzone.
Those old voices came roaring back.You’ll never be enough. Never were. Never will be. No one will love you.
Those voices were right.
So, I built my walls higher and reinforced them with routine. Surveillance. Planning. Strategy. I told myself this was what mattered—protecting her.
Not touching her. Not claiming her. Not fucking her senseless like I fantasized every single goddamn night. No.Protectionwas the point. That was my connection to her. The only one I was allowed to have.
I clung to that connection like it was the only thing tethering me to sanity.
I tried to keep my distance, to be the guard. The brute. The impenetrable wall… until my sanity left my body, and I hunted her down, taking her like she’d always been mine.
Shaking off the ghosts of the past, I pressed my ear to the wall, then the door, straining for any sound, any whisper that might justify how long this was taking.What the hell are they doing in there?This was supposed to be a quick stop. Grab the gear. Head back to her place. Nothing complicated.
The silence was too perfect, or was that all in my head? While my senses were going crazy, I still hadn’t heard anything that was concerning.
I tried to brush it off, to rationalize everything that I knew about this demon.He was vetted.Boss Calix doesn’t make mistakes like that. Maybe he lives close by because he’s always on call. Maybe he takes the equipment home to avoid disturbing the guests.
Then there was the worst excuse of all.Aniyah seems to trust him.
That one made something coil in my gut like a burning rope pulled too tight. She trustedhim… and I hated how much that mattered.
He wasn’t the only one sniffing around her anymore. They were all coming out of the woodwork, throwing the wordmatearound like it gave them license to claim her. Like she was something to win. To fuck. To own.
Starved fucking wolves that wanted to take a piece of her.
And me? I was just the goddamn wall keeping them from tearing her apart, and in a world wheremateswere everything, where the pull of that bond was sacred, binding, unshakable…where the fuck does that leave me?
The pain bloomed behind my ribs, bright and biting. I’d just started getting used to the rhythm of our lives, the quiet moments between her chaos and my duty. I'djustbegun to breathe again after surviving the fight I didn’t ever want to repeat. So, why the fuck couldn’t things just staythe same?
Then I saw it.
A shimmer across the door. Soft, subtle but unmistakable. Magic.
My heart seized. My jaw locked so hard I thought I heard a crack. That son of a bitch had spelled the door, and not just locked it, butsealedit. Made it soundproof.
My fury snapped, and I detonated from the inside out.
Neck rolled, muscles twitching, my skin already beginning to harden. Stone crept across my body—my armor—as I pulled the power from deep inside my core, feeding it into every inch of me. I didn’t care what kind of game Rasmus was playing. I didn’t care how fucking vetted he was.
He’d locked her in. Alone. With him, behind a spelled door.He hid her from me.
