I froze mid-step, every muscle in my body locked, the rage inside me threatened to explode outward, my vision bleeding to red around the edges.
“There you go,” Trevor said, his voice smooth and satisfied. “Good boy. Didn’t take you long to figure out the rules of this game, did it?”
“Let her go,” I said. “Now.”
Trevor’s lips curved into a smile that never reached his eyes. “I don’t think you’re in a position to make demands.” He tightened his grip on the knife, pressing it more firmly against Jade’s skin until she winced, a tiny sound escaping her that sent fresh waves of fury through me.
“What do you want?” I asked, keeping my tone level despite the storm raging inside me.
“Smart question,” Trevor replied, seeming pleased with himself. “Simple answer.” He gestured with his free hand toward something on the floor between us, a circle, I realized. Not just any circle, a binding circle. Warlock symbols arranged in patterns I recognized with bone-deep terror, glowing faintly blue against the concrete.
My stomach dropped as understanding crashed over me. The trap at Jade’s apartment, the fire, the lure all of it had been leading to this moment. This wasn’t just about Jade or Trevor’s obsession with her, it was about me and vendetta passed down through generations of a warlock family that had once owned a demon and lost him.
“Let me be absolutely clear,” I said. “If you harm her, there will be no place in this world or any other where you can hide from me. I will hunt you until the stars burn out. I will tear your soul from your body and ensure it never finds rest.”
Trevor’s expression flickered briefly with what might have been fear before his smug confidence reasserted itself. He pressed the knife harder against Jade’s throat, drawing a thin line of blood that gleamed wet and bright against her skin.
“Big words from someone who’s about to be on a very short leash,” he replied. “Now, shall we discuss terms? Either you step willingly into this circle, or I cut her throat and you watch her die."
“How did you know?” I asked, buying time while frantically evaluating options.
Trevor’s expression brightened at the question, pleased to show off his knowledge. “Family journals. Detailed records going back generations, hidden and preserved.”
“If you think I’ll willingly walk into those chains—“ I began, but Trevor cut me off with a dismissive wave.
“Save the dramatics. You’ll do exactly what I want because of her.” He pressed the knife harder against Jade’s throat, drawing another thin line of blood that made my heart stutter. “The mate bond is so predictable. Such a useful weakness.”
My mind raced through options, each more desperate than the last. I could attack but Trevor’s hand was already in position. One reflexive jerk of his wrist and Jade would bleed out before I reached them. I could attempt magic, try to immobilize him from a distance, but the wards he‘d created around Jade would interfere with any spell I cast. I could stall, try to negotiate, but the manic gleam in his eyes told me patience wasn’t his strong suit. Push him too far, and he might decide a dead hostage was better than an uncooperative one.
Every scenario ended with unacceptable risk to Jade.
“Don’t do it.” Her words were strained but clear, her remaining good eye locked on mine, there wasn’t a trace of fear in her expression. Only resolve.
“Don’t you dare step into that circle,” she continued. “Not for me. Not for anything.”
Trevor yanked her head back by her hair, exposing more of her throat to the blade. “Shut up,” he hissed. “This isn’t your decision.”
“It is exactly her decision,” I growled, claws flexing at my sides. “The choice you’re offering involves her life.”
“And I’m saying no,” Jade insisted, her gaze never leaving mine even as tears welled in her eyes. “I know what it would mean for you. What you survived before.” Her voice broke slightly. “I would rather die than be the reason you go back to that. I won’t let you trade your freedom for my life.”
The selflessness of her decision made my eyes misty, she was choosing death over seeing me enslaved again.
Trevor‘s face contorted with fury. “This isn’t how this works!” he shouted. “You don’t get to play the martyr, Jade. You’re supposed to beg for your life, to convince him to save you.”
“You never understood me,” she replied, her voice steady despite the tears now sliding down her cheeks. “Not during our relationship, and certainly not now. I don’t bargain with people I love.”
Love. The word hung in the air between us, a declaration made in the worst possible circumstances yet perfect in its timing. I stared at her, this remarkable human who had somehow become the center of my universe in mere days. The weight of my history pressed down on me. Freedom had been hard-won. Precious beyond measure. I had sworn never to be bound again.
But Jade was worth more than freedom.
Our eyes locked across the warehouse, a silent communication that needed no magical thread to convey its meaning. In her gaze, I saw both permission and plea—permission to save myself, to flee this trap and preserve the freedom I’d fought so hard to win; plea to understand that she couldn’t live with beingthe cause of my re-enslavement. The selflessness of it humbled me, this human willing to die rather than see me suffer.
But her life was not a price I was willing to pay. Not for freedom. Not for anything.
Trevor watched our silent exchange with growing frustration, the knife in his hand wavering slightly against Jade’s throat. “Enough of this,” he snapped. “Make your choice, demon. The circle or her life. You have ten seconds before I start cutting deeper.”
The decision settled over me like a second skin—immediate and absolute. There had never really been a choice, not from the moment I’d burst through that warehouse door. Not from the moment I’d first seen Jade on that rooftop, our threads connecting with a snap that had reverberated through centuries of loneliness. My eyes fixed on her face, deliberately ignoring Trevor and his knife, his ultimatum, his circle of binding sigils. None of that mattered now. Only she did.
