A DEVIL'S BARGAIN

Pain coiled around Selene's limbs, a deep, unrelenting throb that flared with every breath she took.

The air was thick with the scent of old blood and burning wax, the dim candlelight casting shifting shadows along the gothic stone walls.

The bed beneath her was too soft, suffocating, like she was sinking into something that wasn't hers.

And Lucian; he sat there, calm, infuriatingly composed, watching her like she was a puzzle he was waiting to solve.

"You can't keep me here," she spat, her voice raw from overuse.

Lucian didn't flinch. He barely reacted at all, silver eyes cool as they held hers. "I'm not."

She scoffed. "Then let me go."

He leaned forward slightly, resting his forearms on his knees, and only then did she remember the bandages wrapped around his arms.

A flicker of unease skated through her anger.

She had done that.

She didn't even remember how.

And he hadn't retaliated.

A tense silence stretched between them, broken only by the soft crackle of the dying flames in the hearth.

Then, in that same maddeningly patient voice, he asked, "Where would you go?"

"The Resistance." The answer was automatic, instinctual. The only thing that made sense.

Lucian exhaled slowly, his expression unreadable. "And if they don't take you back?"

A knot tightened in her stomach. "They will."

He tilted his head slightly, something almost pitying flickering in his gaze. "Will they?"

Selene bristled, her nails curling into the sheets. The way he said it, calm, certain, like he already knew the answer; made something cold creep up her spine.

She refused to acknowledge it.

"I don't need your mind games, Lucian," she hissed. "Just let me leave."

Lucian regarded her for a long moment before he leaned back in his chair. The candlelight carved sharp angles across his face, highlighting the quiet power in the way he held himself, effortless, assured.

Then, finally, he repeated himself, "Let's make a deal."

Selene's body went rigid, muscles coiling with instinctive wariness. "What?"

"I'll give you a head start," he said smoothly. "Ten minutes. You can leave this castle. No one will stop you. If the resistance fights for you, you're free to go."

Selene narrowed her eyes. There had to be a catch. "And if they don't?"

Lucian's gaze darkened, silver irises glinting like the edge of a blade. "Then you come back. No arguments. No fights. You'll stay here and do as I say, until I sort out what's happening to you."

The weight of his words pressed down on her, suffocating, inescapable.

The walls of the castle suddenly felt smaller, the candlelight dimmer.

Her heart pounded in her ears. "And if I refuse?"

Lucian didn't blink. Didn't hesitate. "Then I'll drag you back here with your left foot... All by myself."

A shiver crawled down her spine.

She believed him.

The air between them tightened, stretched to a breaking point. This was a trap. She knew it. He knew it. And yet...

She couldn't back down.

Selene lifted her chin, forcing steel into her voice. "Fine."

Lucian inclined his head in silent acknowledgment, then rose to his full height, towering over her like a specter of the inevitable.

"Then run."

The door groaned on its hinges as Selene shoved it open, her breath ragged, her limbs aching.

Cold air seeped into her bandaged skin as she stepped into the dimly lit corridor, her heart hammering against her ribs.

Run.

Lucian's voice still echoed in her skull, but she didn't need to be told twice.

She bolted.

Her bare feet slapped against the marble floors as she ran, her pulse pounding in sync with the distant flicker of candlelight.

The castle was a labyrinth of towering stone archways and endless hallways, each passage stretching into the unknown.

Shadows pooled in the corners, shifting, breathing, like unseen eyes lurking just beyond reach.

And the vampires.

They stood motionless.

Lining the halls, stationed at the grand doorways, perched upon the spiraling staircases.

Maids in dark, modest dresses, their hands folded neatly at their waists.

Guards in sharp, ornate armor, their faces blank as statues. Their skin was pale as those in the grave, their eyes unblinking.

Watching.

Selene's breath hitched, but she didn't stop. She clenched her jaw, forcing her battered body forward, even as her legs screamed in protest.

They weren't moving.

Not a single one tried to stop her.

Lucian's command still held them in place, binding them like marionettes on invisible strings.

But that didn't make it any less disturbing, the way their heads tilted ever so slightly as she passed, the way their cold, unnatural gazes tracked her every move.

She turned a corner too fast, her shoulder slamming into the stone wall. Pain flared, but she shoved past it.

Keep going.

The castle was massive, stretching impossibly wide, its corridors lined with gothic chandeliers and tattered banners bearing symbols she didn't recognize.

The scent of old parchment and cold iron clung to the air, mixing with the faint traces of decay.

The grand stairwell came into view; a monstrous thing of obsidian and gold, its railings carved with skeletal motifs.

A pair of tall double doors loomed at the bottom, their dark wood gleaming beneath the flickering torches.

The exit.

Selene pushed herself harder, ignoring the way her breath rasped in her throat.

She stumbled down the stairs, gripping the railing as her battered limbs threatened to collapse beneath her.

Almost there.

The doors stood before her, massive and foreboding, their edges curling with intricate ironwork. She reached out, her fingers brushing the handle,

And then,

A whisper.

Soft. Low. Just behind her ear.

Selene whirled around, pulse spiking, but there was nothing.

Just the vast, hollow entrance hall.

And the figures standing along the walls, still as death.

Still watching.

The heavy double doors loomed before her, adorned with intricate carvings of winged creatures and wailing souls.

Beyond them, freedom.

Beyond them, the night stretched endlessly, whispering her name.

She didn't hesitate.

Her fingers trembled as she turned back, pushing against the heavy doors with all her strength.

They groaned under the pressure, creaking open inch by inch, the cold night air spilling through the gap.

The moment she pushed through, the cold air struck her like a blade.

The scent of damp earth and stone filled her lungs, mingling with something far older, the scent of decay. The castle grounds stretched wide before her, bathed in silver moonlight. And beyond them

Darkness.

A sprawling graveyard stretched beyond the castle's threshold, tombstones jutting from the earth like broken teeth.

A thick mist curled between the statues and mausoleums, swirling around the weathered paths that led into the unknown.

The skeletal remains of long-dead things or people that Selene didn't know, trees clawed at the sky, their branches stripped bare by time.

Selene's breath came in quick, shallow gasps.

She stepped forward.

And behind her, within the gothic halls of the castle, the vampires remained perfectly still.

Waiting.

Selene stood at the threshold of the castle doors,

It spread like a necropolis before the fortress, rows upon rows of ancient tombstones jutting out from the ground like jagged teeth.

Some were worn down to mere husks, others standing tall, adorned with statues of weeping angels and cloaked reapers.

The path winding through them was cracked and uneven, slick with moss and shadowed by twisted, gnarled trees.

And yet… none of it was more terrifying than the figures watching her.

The castle's inhabitants, maids, guards, all vampires; stood in grotesque stillness along the stone pathway.

Their eyes, wide and unblinking, followed her every move, but they did nothing.

They made no attempt to stop her.

Lucian's command still bound them.

Selene's breath came in ragged bursts, her brain thrumming like war drums in her ears.

The cold air bit at her exposed skin as she bolted down the graveyard path, her bare feet barely making a sound against the damp stone.

The mausoleums and headstones blurred past her, fleeting shapes in the night.

The silence was suffocating.

No one followed.

No one chased her.

The stillness of the watching vampires felt more unsettling than an ambush.

They could have reached out and grabbed her.

They could have torn her apart.

But they didn't.

They only watched.

A shiver crawled down her spine, but she forced herself to focus.

She needed to get as far from the castle as possible. She needed to find the resistance.

She needed to prove Lucian wrong.

And yet, as she ran through the eerie graveyard, past the ancient dead, she couldn't shake the feeling that she was running from more than just the castle.

She was running from the truth.

From the inevitable.