Chapter 7: The Ties That Bind

The Ties That Bind

Myra's POV

The door clicked shut behind me with a quiet, finality that made my heart race. I stood frozen, staring at the shadow in the doorway, my fingers still gripping the blood contract as though it might offer me some form of protection.

But there was no safety here. Not now.

"Who's there?" I managed, my voice barely above a whisper. I forced my body to stay still, though every fiber of my being screamed to run.

The shadow stepped into the dim light of the study. My blood went cold.

Jenna.

Her eyes glinted in the low light, a dangerous flicker behind the carefully maintained mask of calm she always wore. She had always been too perfect, too composed, but now there was something far more sinister lurking beneath the surface. She knew.

"What are you doing here, Myra?" Her voice was low, and there was an edge to it that I hadn't heard before.

I didn't respond immediately. Instead, I glanced at the document in my hands. The blood contract. It was unmistakable. I knew exactly what it meant, but I refused to let myself believe it. They couldn't possibly be doing this. Could they?

Jenna took a slow step forward, her gaze never leaving me. "You really thought you could just uncover all of this and walk away? That you could escape your fate?"

My chest tightened, and the words felt like a punch to my gut. "What do you mean, escape? What is this?" I shook the paper in my hand. "What the hell is this blood contract?"

She tilted her head, an almost pitying look on her face. "It's exactly what you think it is. The only way to seal the bond. To ensure the prophecy is fulfilled."

I shook my head. "I'm not marrying Luke. I won't."

She smiled, but it was cold, cruel. "You don't have a choice, Myra. You've never had a choice."

I took a step back, the weight of her words pressing down on me. There had to be some kind of mistake, right? This couldn't be happening. This couldn't be my life. But it was.

"Why me?" The question slipped out before I could stop it. "Why are you doing this to me? What's so special about me?"

Jenna's smile widened, but her eyes darkened. "You've always been special, Myra. From the moment you were born. You just didn't know it yet."

I felt my knees go weak. "What are you talking about?"

Her gaze flicked to the blood contract, and then back to me. "You're the key to everything. The blood moon's curse. The prophecy. It's all tied to you."

I stumbled backward, trying to make sense of her words, but nothing clicked. Nothing fit together. My head felt like it was spinning. "You can't expect me to just accept this. You can't force me into this marriage. I won't do it."

"You'll do it," she said, her voice suddenly firm, almost commanding. "You have no choice. This isn't something you can outrun. This is your fate, Myra. You were born for this. The prophecy is clear. The old blood must awaken the forgotten."

The words hit me like a punch to the gut. I thought about the book. The passage I had read, the one that mentioned the maiden of the old blood. Was it me? Was this all about me?

Suddenly, everything felt like it was closing in on me. The walls of the study seemed to shrink, the air growing thicker with every passing second. "What's going to happen if I don't…? What happens if I don't do what you want?"

Jenna didn't answer right away. Instead, she reached into the folds of her robe and pulled out something small and glimmering. A ring. A blood-red gemstone set in a band of silver. It was identical to the one Luke had worn the first time I met him.

She held it out to me, and I felt my breath catch in my throat. "This is the final piece," she said softly. "The blood bond. The one thing that will make you ours, forever."

I couldn't move. The weight of her words hung in the air, suffocating me. I wanted to scream, to fight back, but all I could do was stare at the ring in her hand.

"What if I refuse?" I said, my voice shaky.

Jenna's expression softened, though her eyes were cold with an emotion I couldn't place. "Then the curse will awaken. And the consequences will be worse than anything you can imagine."

I felt my blood run cold at her words. "What curse? What are you talking about?"

She sighed, her eyes narrowing. "It's too late, Myra. The blood moon will rise soon. And when it does, everything will change. Your life, your future, it all depends on what happens next."

Before I could respond, a noise behind me interrupted our conversation. The sound of footsteps. Someone else was here.

I turned quickly, my heart racing. Luke.

He stood in the doorway, his face expressionless, though his eyes were hard—no trace of the charming man I had met earlier. This version of him was cold, calculating, as though he was already prepared for everything that was about to happen.

I stepped away from Jenna, feeling like a trapped animal. "You're in this too, aren't you?" I demanded. "Both of you. You're trying to control me, to force me into this marriage, into this curse. Why? What's your end game?"

Luke's lips curled into a smirk. "Myra, Myra, Myra. You don't understand, do you? This is bigger than both of us. This is about the future. About power. And you're the one who will give it to us."

I felt my stomach twist. "I'm not a pawn in your game. I won't be."

"You don't have a choice," Jenna said, her voice like ice. "The prophecy is already in motion. There's no stopping it now."

The room seemed to grow colder with every word, and the sense of doom that had been looming over me suddenly felt suffocating.

And then, as if on cue, the wind howled outside. A low, mournful sound that sent a chill down my spine.

"What was that?" I whispered, my heart pounding.

Jenna and Luke exchanged a glance, their faces suddenly grim.

"It's begun," Luke said.

And just like that, the world seemed to shift, the air thick with the promise of something dark and inevitable.