VIVIAN
The chair creaked as I leaned back, looking from the brittle, yellowed pages of the ancient book to the glowing, crisp lines of my tablet. The intricate runes on the parchment seemed to shimmer. Magical wards. The mystical version of firewalls, only infinitely more temperamental and stubborn. But I was starting to crack their logic, seeing the threads of connection between their mana flow and the circuits I’d spent years mapping in tech.
I spun the stylus between my fingers, hovering over the schematics displayed on my tablet. I was so close to a breakthrough that could be my ticket out of this gilded prison. If I could successfully merge tech and magic into NexusCore, I could rewrite systems, control enchanted objects, maybe even counteract the damn bond between me and Raffaele.
Like clockwork, my brain went where I didn’t want it to go. Raffaele’s face flashed in my mind, the memory of his touch searing hot and lingering. Heat pooled low in my belly, and I clenched my jaw, forcing the thoughts away.
Focus,Vivian.
But it was no use. I couldn’t stop thinking about his lips against mine, the hunger in his touch, or the maddening pull ofthe bond as our emotions tangled together. I slammed the stylus onto the desk and squeezed my eyes shut, willing the heat in my chest to dissipate.
He was a monster. A beautiful, devastating monster. And I couldn’t afford to lose myself in him.
I took a deep breath to center myself. Suddenly, the bond pulsed.
No, it wasn’t a pulse. It was an electric jolt that slammed into my chest and left me gasping. A wave of suffocating dread rolled over me. It wasn’t my fear. It was sharp, jagged, and foreign.
“Raffaele,” I whispered, my voice catching.
The tether between us wasn’t just emotional, it was like a live feed, a direct connection that I’d tried to ignore but could never sever. Now, that connection was sparking wildly, signals firing off like a corrupted network.
“Shit,” I muttered, shoving back from the desk so hard the chair toppled behind me. The room tilted, and I had to grip the edge of the desk to steady myself as his emotions overwhelmed me. My heart raced, my pulse pounding in my ears as I fought to catch my breath.
Something was terribly wrong.
The bond pulled me toward him like an invisible leash. I didn’t even think—I was already moving. I sprinted out of the room and down the hallway.
The farther I ran, the stronger the pull became, each step sending a sharper pang through my chest. When I turned the corner, I froze.
He was there, crumpled in a heap outside his bedroom door.
“Raffaele,” I gasped, rushing to his side. My knees hit the floor, and I shook his shoulder with trembling hands. His body was slack, blood dripping from his temple and staining the marble beneath him. His breathing was shallow, but at least he was alive.
“Raffaele,” I said again, louder this time, desperation creeping into my voice. “What happened? Who did this to you?”
He grunted in response, his head lolling to the side. His face was a mess of bruises and blood, and the sight of him so broken shook me to my core.
“Stay with me.” I cradled his head as I looked around wildly. “Guards! Someone, help!”
Within seconds, heavy footsteps approached. Two guards rounded the corner, their eyes widening at the sight before them.
“Get him to his bed,” I ordered. They didn’t question me as they quickly lifted Raffaele between them. I scrambled to my feet. “Be careful with him!”
The guards carried him into the bedroom and gently placed him on the bed. I hovered next to it, wringing my hands as I watched his chest rise and fall, the motion uneven but steady enough to keep me from panicking completely.
“Fetch Eldora,” I told one of the guards. “And bring water and clean cloths.”
The guard rushed out of the room. I sat next to him on the bed and brushed a strand of blood-matted hair from his forehead.
“Raffaele,” I murmured. “Please. Talk to me.”
His eyelids fluttered, but all he managed was a groan, his face twisting in pain. My chest ached in tandem, the bond amplifying every ounce of his suffering.
What the hell had happened to him? Raffaele was untouchable, so seeing him like this felt wrong. It chipped away at the anger and resentment I’d been clinging to, leaving something raw and unfamiliar in its place.
The guard returned with a basin of water and a stack of clean cloths. Eldora followed close behind, her face pale but determined as she crossed the room.
“What happened?”
