All the while, the pull keeps intensifying. It feels like someone tied a line to my sternum from across the room and is yanking as hard as they can.
My eyes follow the invisible string.
And that’s when I seeher.
Dark hair that’s not black or brown but something in between falls in smooth waves down her back. Her blue eyes are clear and bright and almost glacial under the chandelier lights.
She’s standing near the base of the staircase, next to a large marble statue, and her posture only showcases grace. She’s downright beautiful as she laughs at something a man behind a mask whispers to her.
The pull tightens so hard my hand goes to my chest.Fuck me.
“Kane.” My brother Cal’s voice is in my ear. He’s closer now, but I can’t even look at him.
Because I’m not really here.
Because the second I saw her, something inside me locked.
It’s not attraction or curiosity. It’sneed—for survival. Like every fucked-up cell in my vampire body has decided it will revolve around her for the rest of my fucking life.
Mine.
The room dulls. The music fades into static. And all the while, she hasn’t looked at me a single time. But she doesn’t need to. This thing—the thing that’s happening to me—doesn’t require eye contact. It only requires proximity.
She turns slightly, stepping away from one of the masked men, and the movement drags my attention with it like gravity just rewrote itself.
Cal steps in front of my line of sight deliberately. “Hey,” he says quietly. “What are you doing?”
“Appreciating the art.”
“There’s no fucking art on that side of the room.”
My quiet laugh comes out thin.
Cal tries to search my eyes because I’m probably acting like a total dumb fuck right now, but the pull just keeps growing stronger the more I look at her.
And that’s when it clicks—she’s here, at this preview, with the vampire elite.
She’s a part of it.
And she doesn’t look afraid. She looks…excited and proud. Sheisexcited and proud. Her intentions stem from believing this is her purpose. She believes this is her version of a fairy tale.
She thinks this is a good thing.
She takes a few steps, and the magnetic force between us snaps tighter.
I can’t look away.
For the first time in my life, I understand exactly what Rook meant when he said it was immediate.
I know, without a doubt, that I am absolutely, undeniably, catastrophically screwed.
Because it’sher.
And I’ve found her in the middle of an event surrounded by elite vampires who want to kill me, and not only does she naïvely want to be here—want to be fucking mated to an elite vampire—she doesn’t even know I exist.
Blair
Tonight, I’m meant to beseen.
