The One (The Captive Hearts #3)

Chapter 1

Kate Morgan woke up surrounded by complete darkness.

Not the gentle darkness of a bedroom at night, but the suffocating blackness of a windowless space.

Her head throbbed with searing pain. She tried to sit up and immediately regretted it when nausea rolled through her stomach in waves.

The silk of an unfamiliar nightgown clung to her damp skin.

Beneath it, only her underwear remained. Her clothes were gone. All of them.

Where was she?

The last thing she remembered was leaving the Council chambers in Paris, Devon’s hand warm and reassuring against her back as they walked towards the car. They had won, Viktor had ordered Elisabeta to release Devon from their maker bond, and she had complied. They were finally, truly free.

So why did it feel like something had gone horribly, horribly wrong?

“Ah, you’re awake. Excellent.”

The voice came from somewhere to her left, cultured and familiar. Kate’s blood turned to ice as recognition hit her.

“Aleksander,” she whispered, her voice hoarse and strange in her own throat.

A soft light flickered on, a small green reading lamp. Once her eyes adjusted, Kate could see she was in a small, windowless room with archaic stone walls. The air smelled of damp earth and something else, something metallic that made her stomach churn.

Aleksander sat in an ornate chair across from her, perfectly composed in an expensive three-piece suit. His pale hair was neat, and his posture was relaxed, as if they were meeting for afternoon tea instead of whatever this was.

“Where am I?” Kate demanded, trying to sound strong even though her limbs felt weak.

“Somewhere safe,” Aleksander said with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Somewhere we can talk without interruption.”

Kate tried to stand, but discovered her legs wouldn’t support her weight. She was sitting on what appeared to be an antique settee, her body feeling heavy and disconnected.

“What did you do to me?” she asked, though part of her already knew the answer would be terrible.

Aleksander leaned forward slightly, his pale eyes gleaming in the light. “Nothing to worry your pretty head about, you’ll thank me later.”

“You’re insane.” Kate forced herself to focus despite the fog in her mind. “The Council will—”

“What? What will the Council do?” Aleksander interrupted smoothly. “By the time they discover what’s happened, it will be far too late to matter.”

Kate’s heart hammered against her ribs as the full horror of her situation began to sink in. “Devon will come for me.”

“Oh, I’m counting on it.” Aleksander’s smile widened, revealing the sharp points of his fangs. “I’m actually looking forward to our reunion. It’s been far too long since Devon and I had a frank conversation.”

“He’ll kill you for this.”

Aleksander laughed, the sound echoing off the stone walls. “Perhaps, Devon has always been sentimental about humans. It’s his greatest weakness. He sees you as something precious, something to be protected. But I see you for what you really are.”

“And what’s that?” Kate asked with trepidation.

“A tool,” Aleksander said simply. “A means to an end. A way to finally get what I’ve wanted for centuries.”

Kate felt a surge of anger cut through her fear and confusion. “Which is?”

“Everything Devon has. His territory, his status.” Aleksander’s eyes glittered with malice. “He’s had it all handed to him, you know. Elisabeta’s favor, the Council’s protection, while I’ve had to scrape and claw for every scrap of respect in vampire society, every inch of territory.”

“So this is about jealousy?” Kate couldn’t keep the disgust out of her voice. “You abducted me because you’re jealous of Devon?”

“Jealous?” Aleksander’s expression darkened. “I prefer the term ‘correcting an injustice.’ Devon has had advantages that I was never afforded, should have been afforded. It’s time for the scales to balance.”

Kate studied his face closely in the dim light. Despite his composed exterior, she could see something unstable lurking beneath the surface. A kind of manic intensity that suggested he wasn’t thinking entirely rationally.

“How old are you, Aleksander?” she asked suddenly.

The question seemed to surprise him. “Three hundred and ninety-five years,” he replied after a moment. “Why?”

Kate let out a bitter laugh, feeling a little braver, despite her circumstances. “Because for someone so old, you’re acting like a spoilt toddler throwing his fucking toys around.”

For a moment, Aleksander’s mask slipped completely. His face contorted with rage, his fangs extending fully, his eyes blazing with an inhuman light. Kate flinched, expecting him to lunge at her and tear her throat out in his fury.

Instead, he threw back his head and laughed.

“Oh, Kate,” he said, his composure returning as quickly as it had vanished. “You really are perfect for him, aren’t you? That defiant spirit, that refusal to be cowed. I can see why Devon became so… attached.”

“Let me go,” Kate said, though deep down she knew it was useless to plead. “Whatever you want from Devon, this isn’t the way to get it.”

“Isn’t it?” Aleksander stood and began to pace the small room, his movements restless and predatory.

“I’ve tried everything else, you know. Subtle manipulation, political maneuvering, even direct challenges. Nothing. Nothing worked. Devon remained stubbornly devoted to you and resistant to my influence.”

He stopped pacing and turned to face her, his expression almost conversational. “So I decided to go with a more direct approach.”

“You don’t have to do this,” Kate said, hearing the desperation creeping into her own voice. “Whatever you want, we can work something out. Devon is reasonable—”

“Oh, my dear Kate,” Aleksander interrupted, his voice soft with mock sympathy. “You still don’t get it, do you?”

He moved closer, crouching down so they were at eye level, his elbows resting on his knees. Kate could smell something wrong about him, not just the typical vampire scent of cold and stone, but something sour. Something that spoke of decay and madness.

“You’re already dead,” he said gently, as though he were delivering good news.

“I injected you with my blood while you were unconscious, along with a lethal dose of foxglove. It’s quite clinical, really, much more civilized than traditional vampire turning methods.”

Kate’s world tilted. “What?”

“The poison is already working its way through your system,” Aleksander continued in that same gentle tone. “Your heart is slowing, your breathing becoming shallow. In perhaps an hour, maybe two, you’ll slip into unconsciousness. And then you’ll die.”

“No.” The word came out as barely a whisper.

“But don’t worry,” Aleksander said, reaching out to stroke her cheek with one cold finger. “It will be gentle, quick. You won’t suffer… much. And when you wake up, you’ll be something new, something better.”

Kate jerked away from his touch, her mind reeling with shock. “You’re lying.”

“Am I?” Aleksander tilted his head, studying her with the detached interest of a scientist observing an experiment.

“How do you feel right now? Weak? Nauseous? Is your vision starting to blur around the edges?” Kate’s heart sank.

She knew he was right. The symptoms he described matched what she experienced.

The fog in her mind and the weakness in her limbs were not just fear or shock.

She was dying.

“Why?” she whispered, her question filled with deep, resounding sorrow.

Aleksander smiled, and for the first time since she’d woken up, the expression looked genuine.

“Sometimes the only way to win the game is to change the rules entirely. And soon, my dear Kate, I’ll know you better than anyone ever has. Better than Devon ever could.”

Cruel anticipation crept across his face. “The maker bond is such an intimate thing. Your thoughts, memories, deepest fears and desires, all of it will be open to me. There will be no walls between us. I can’t wait to get to know you inside and out.”

Kate shuddered at the insidious tone in his voice and the implications of being sired to such a cruel monster.

He finally stood and moved back to his chair, settling into it with the satisfied air of someone who had just completed a particularly challenging puzzle.

“Now,” he said, folding his hands in his lap, “we wait. And while we do, perhaps you’d like to hear about all the ways your beloved Devon has disappointed me over the years. We have time, after all.”

“Fuck you!” Kate shouted, the last of her fight leaving her body as she spat in his direction.

Aleksander looked at her in disappointment.

“Fine,” he said. “We’ll wait in silence then.” Kate closed her eyes, fighting against the growing weakness in her body and the despair threatening to overwhelm her mind.

Somewhere out there, Devon was searching for her.

But would he find her in time, and even if he did, would it matter?

The poison was already coursing through her veins. Aleksander’s blood was already changing her on a cellular level.

Whether Devon found her or not, Kate Morgan, the human Kate Morgan, was already gone, bound to another against her will.

All that remained was to see what would rise from her ashes. And whether that creature would still be capable of love, or if Aleksander’s violation would poison that, too.

In the dimly lit darkness of her prison, Kate began to understand that some fates were worse than death.

She was about to experience one of them.