“Don’t you know how to fucking knock?”
I ignored her outburst as my gaze drifted over her form. Since she couldn’t see my eyes through the veil of shadows, I let myself drink in the sight of her. For a moment, I wondered what it would be like to see her without the anger, without the fear. What would it take to break that fiery spirit of hers?
“Has my personal assistant been here to measure you yet?” I asked, forcing casual indifference into my tone.
“No,” she snapped.
That was unlike Eldora. I would have to speak with her. “I’ll send her straight up,” I said, turning to leave.
Before I closed the door, I couldn’t resist one last jab. “I’m proud of you for following my instructions like a good little wife,” I mocked.
Her glare was hot enough to melt steel, and I couldn’t help the dark chuckle that escaped me.
Vivian grabbed a vase from her bedside table and threw it at my head. I took a step to the side and shook my head as the crystal crashed into the wall, shattering into hundreds of tiny shards.
“Quite the temper you have, Vivian.” I smirked. This woman had more tenacity than half my staff combined.
I shut the door behind me, her muffled scream of frustration bringing a twisted smile to my lips. She was a firecracker, but in the end, all fires burned out.
And I would be there to watch her flames die.
6
VIVIAN
Iturned slowly in the room. The sheer size of it was almost disorienting, like being placed in the middle of a cavern filled with gold. It wasn’t what I’d expected, not by a long shot. I had been prepared for a cold, damp space. A dungeon with rats scurrying around. But this? This was the opposite of everything I had imagined.
The bed, a monstrosity draped in crimson silk, practically dominated the space. The golden accents on the headboard glimmered and seemed to taunt me.
Look how easy it is to trap you.
I ran my fingers along the carved wooden posts, wondering if the gold was real. It probably was, since The Shadow had obviously convinced the majority of The Below to bow before him. I closed my eyes, remembering how the audience at the convention had stopped talking when he approached the stage. Even Ciro hadn’t attempted to argue with him when he’d insisted on taking me as his prisoner. The son of a bitch was probably the richest man—or monster—in The Below.
Every piece of furniture, every fixture, was designed to impress and intimidate. Dark woods, plush carpets, velvet drapes… it was luxury dripping with menace.
The crackling of the fireplace was all that broke the oppressive silence in the room. There was an ornate sitting area to one side, with a dark mahogany table and wingback chairs that looked like they’d been ripped straight from some ancient castle. It was all toocomfortable. The kind of comfort that felt like a trap, a velvet-lined cage designed to lull me into a false sense of security.
Sighing, I wandered over to the windows and pulled open the heavy drapes. The view outside was nothing short of depressing. His territory was just as decayed and lifeless as I remembered from the drive in. Buildings crumbled like old bones, streets covered in a perpetual mist that clung to everything like a disease. I wasn’t sure what I expected—flowers and sunshine?
I scoffed. The Shadow’s world was as bleak as his heart.
The thought almost made me laugh, but a knot of bitterness twisted in my chest. My eyes stung, but I blinked rapidly, forcing the tears back. No. I had no more tears left. Not for him. Not for this.
I turned away from the window, pacing the length of the room as my mind raced. Why had he brought me to a place like this? It was practically a palace suite. Certainly not what you’d offer a prisoner. Then again, maybe that’s what he wanted. To remind me I was at his mercy, even if the bars of my cell were lined with gold.
Fiancée. The word tasted bitter on my tongue.The Shadow’s fiancée.I almost gagged at the thought. Suddenly, a far worse possibility came to mind, and I froze mid-step.Will he expect me to consummate this so-called marriage?
A shudder ran through me. The idea of him—whatever he truly was—touching me sent a wave of revulsion through my entire body. Did he even have a physical form? A cock? Or was he just a mass of swirling shadows, as cold and untouchable as the darkness he wielded? I had never glimpsed his face, neverseen anything but those dark clouds that clung to him. For all I knew, there was nothing that remotely resembled a human beneath those shadows.
I dropped down on the edge of the bed, burying my face in my hands. I had been running on pure adrenaline since the convention. The reality of my situation was crashing down on me now, like a thousand-ton weight.
I’m engaged to a monster. A monster who could snap his fingers and reduce me to ash if he wanted to.
But no, he didn’t want to kill me. Not yet. He wanted something else. Control? Power? Some twisted sense of ownership? Whatever it was, I wasn’t going to make it easy for him. Maybe he’d grow tired of me after a while and decide I wasn’t worth the effort.
Taking a deep breath, I forced myself to focus. No more crying, no more falling apart. I was in his territory now, but that didn’t mean I was helpless. I’d survived in The Below before, and I could do it again. If I could just get through this damn dinner with him and play along with whatever game he was playing, I might find a way to escape.
If I could make it past his guards, past the wards that probably surrounded this place like a magical fortress, I could reach Vincenzo and Celeste. They’d know what to do. Hell, they’d probably enjoy tearing The Shadow to pieces if it meant getting me back.
