Chapter 4
The air still hummed with her scent, warm, sweet, laced with something that was intoxicating. The bond pulsed faintly between us, a steady rhythm under her heartbeat, under mine, like the two had begun to echo each other.
Runa was curled against me, her breath unsteady, the mark of my bite a faint bloom against her neck. The sight of it made my chest ache with something primal. My body should’ve been sated, but I wasn’t. I could never be.
I brushed my fingers through her honey-coloured hair, the soft strands catching the dim light as her lashes fluttered. She looked up at me, still dazed, eyes wide and shimmering like liquid gold. For a moment, I couldn’t speak. I had centuries of words buried in me, but none of them fit this woman.
“This… this bond,” she whispered, her voice hoarse but steady. “What happens now?”
I exhaled slowly, dragging my thumb over her bottom lip. “Now?” I murmured. “You rest. You eat. You stay close to me. You don’t go anywhere near danger again.”
Her brow furrowed immediately. “You can’t just…”
“I can,” I interrupted, the words sharper than I intended. Her eyes narrowed, and I forced my voice lower, steadier. “Because I know what’s out there, Runa. You don’t. You think you’ve seen danger, but the demons you were sniffing around… they’d have torn you apart.”
She swallowed hard, pushing herself up on her elbows, the sheet falling slightly. My gaze flicked down instinctively before I caught myself, dragging it back to her face. “You knew?” she asked softly. “About the demons?”
“I’ve fought them for centuries,” I said, leaning back against the headboard. “My brothers and I…Roman, Lucien, Draugr and Viking. We are the Blood Mafia, rulers of the underworld, protectors of this city, whether humans know it or not.”
Her lips parted, disbelief flickering across her face. “So, all those stories… they’re real.”
“Every one of them,” I said quietly. “And worse. The demons, the chaos, they all feed off each other. And you…” My jaw clenched. “You were walking through their territory, following shadows, alone. No guards. No weapons. How could your father let you go there?”
“I was looking for my father,” she snapped, the defiance returning. “I didn’t have a choice.”
I turned my head slowly toward her, my voice dropping to a dangerous calm. “You always have a choice. And walking into a demon’s nest isn’t one you survive. You were lucky. You should be dead right now.”
Her chin trembled, but her voice didn’t break. “If it was your family, you’d have done the same.”
The words hit harder than I expected. I looked at her, really looked. This fragile, stubborn, infuriating woman with fire in her eyes and fear trembling just beneath it. I thought of her father. Of the empty space she’d been trying to fill with her recklessness.
“You’re right,” I said finally, the admission low and rough. “I would’ve done the same. But I wouldn’t have done it alone.”
Silence stretched between us, thick and taut. She drew her knees up slightly, wrapping her arms around them. Her skin glowed faintly where I’d marked her, and the sight made my chest tighten again.
“Volken…” she said quietly. “What happens during the day?”
My hand stilled on her thigh. “During the day, I sleep,” I said.
“Deeply. The sun burns us. Weakens us. I can wake if I must, but it takes strength. Which is why you stay here, in this room. There will be guards outside. You will not go wandering. Not even in the house. Not until I know you’re safe. ”
She looked at me, her honey eyes searching mine. “So, I’m… what? Locked up?”
“You’re protected,” I said sharply. “There’s a difference.”
Her lips curved faintly. “Feels the same.”
I growled softly, leaning closer until our faces were inches apart.
“If I thought for one second that you understood what hunts us, I’d let you walk out that door.
But you don’t. You’ve seen the surface, the scraps that humans whisper about.
You haven’t seen what those things do when they catch someone. ”
Something flickered in her eyes. “I… I saw one,” she whispered.
My chest went cold. “What?”
“A while ago,” she said, voice trembling.
“After my father disappeared. I thought I was losing my mind. I saw something in the alley by the docks, it looked too tall, too wrong. It’s eyes were like molten silver.
It looked straight at me and smiled. That’s when I started digging. That’s when I heard Malakai’s name.”
The sound that ripped from me was low and lethal. “You saw a demon alone? And you went looking for more?”
She flinched, but her chin lifted. “Yes. Because no one else was going to.”
I pushed away from the bed, running a hand through my hair, fury and fear warring in my chest. “Gods, you have no idea how close you came to never walking away.”
Runa standing too, clutching the sheet to her chest whispered, “He’s all I have left.”
I turned, closing the distance between us in one stride. My hand caught the back of her neck, not harsh, just enough to make her look at me. “Not anymore,” I said. “You have me now. And I don’t let go of what’s mine.”
Her breath hitched, her pulse fluttering against my fingers. “You can’t just decide that.”
“I didn’t,” I said softly. “The bond did. The moment our blood mixed, the choice was made. You’re mine, Runa. Which means your war is mine, too. We’ll find your father. Together.”
Her eyes softened then, confusion and something warmer flickering in them. “You’d really help me?”
“I’ll burn the world to ash if it means keeping you safe,” I said simply.
She stared at me, searching for the lie. She wouldn’t find one.
After a moment, she exhaled shakily and leaned into me, her forehead pressing against my chest. “You’re impossible,” she muttered.
I smiled faintly, resting my chin on her hair. “And you’re reckless. We’ll balance each other out.”
Her small laugh vibrated against my skin, and I felt it, that rare, quiet thing that had been missing for too many centuries…peace.
For the first time since finding her, my rage dulled, replaced by a vow as old as blood itself.
No matter what hunted us next, I would never let her face it alone.