And for the first time… I could be anything I wanted.
A noise clattered from upstairs.
My tears vanished in an instant.
I was on my feet before I could think, propelled by something feral. My legs moved instinctively as I charged up the stairs; my breath caught between anticipation and dread.
I reached my bedroom and froze.
The door stood open. And beyond it—chaos.
Blood streaked the walls in violent streaks, slicking the floor. At the center of the carnage stood he.
Balthazar.
A bloodied dagger dangled from his hand. His clothes were torn, his face spattered with red. Across from him lay my sister, eyes wide, unseeing, her mouth still parted in a final, silent plea.
He turned to face me.
There was no remorse in his gaze.
No tenderness.
Just stillness. And something ancient.
I met his eyes, and for a moment, the world narrowed to the space between us.
The sunlight caught the blade in his hand, casting fractured light over the carnage.
And then—something broke inside me.
Not with pain.
But pleasure.
The euphoria came swiftly, like a fever. I should have screamed. Should have wept? Should have run. But instead, I smiled.
A wicked smile that mirrored the one forming on his face.
With my family gone… with blood spilled… we were free.
Bound not by promises, but by something deeper. Darker.
Blood.
We could be anything now. Lovers. Monsters. Rulers.
As I stepped into the room, our eyes locked like conspirators.
We had become eternal.
And I knew—whatever came next—I would never belong to anyone else but him.
Chapter 11
Balthazar
Istood still in the upstairs bedroom of Alina’s home, the stench of blood still thick in the air. My gaze drifted to her sister’s lifeless body—limp, ruined, crimson soaking the rug beneath her. My hands were still shaking, the final vibrations of the kill humming through my bones. Adrenaline pulsed hot in my veins, a strange concoction of elation and worry swirling deep in my gut.
