THE KING OF NIGHTMARES

Chapter 15

The King of Nightmares

The night cracked open like a fresh wound. The scent of blood and magic thickened the air, pressing against Evelyn's lungs as she gasped awake. Her fingers trembled as they traced the still-healing marks on her neck—Damien's bite, his claim.

But something was wrong.

Damien stood at the foot of the bed, his broad frame rigid, breath shallow. His normally dark eyes burned an unnatural crimson, pulsing like molten coals. The raw hunger in them was different this time—not just the thirst of a vampire. Something else lived inside him now. Something older.

His shirt was torn, his hands slick with blood—not his own. Shadows curled around his body, licking at his skin like eager tongues, whispering in a language Evelyn couldn't understand.

"Damien?" she whispered.

His head snapped up, fangs bared. The air between them crackled. He was more than a vampire now. He was something else. Something terrible.

A monster of legend.

A King of Nightmares.

Evelyn felt her pulse skyrocket, but she didn't run. She never had.

"Stay back," Damien warned, his voice guttural, layered with something inhuman. He clutched the bedpost, his knuckles white. His entire body shook, as if he were barely containing the storm inside him.

Evelyn stepped forward anyway.

"No."

His breath hitched.

"You don't understand," he rasped, his voice strained. "This… this is different. I'm different."

She reached for him. He jerked back, but not fast enough. Her fingertips brushed his skin—heat exploded beneath them. Not warmth. Fire.

His muscles locked, and a violent shudder wracked his body.

"Evelyn," he choked out, "I—"

Then he grabbed her.

Not gently.

Not carefully.

With the desperation of a man unraveling, of a creature on the edge of losing himself completely. He pushed her against the wall, his body a wall of heat and fury.

His kiss was brutal, claiming, an inferno that stole her breath. His hands were everywhere—tangling in her hair, gripping her hips, dragging her against him like he was trying to fuse them together.

She gasped against his lips, but he didn't stop. Couldn't.

This was their last night together before everything changed.

And they both knew it.

Their love had always been dangerous, built on the edge of ruin. But tonight? Tonight, it was wildfire.

Damien lifted her easily, pinning her to the wall with his body, his mouth scorching a path down her throat, across her collarbone, lower. Every touch burned, a mark of possession.

Evelyn arched against him, fingers digging into his shoulders, nails leaving scratches across his back. The pain only made him growl in pleasure.

They moved together like a storm, frantic, desperate, knowing this was the last time they'd ever be just Damien and Evelyn.

Tomorrow, everything would be different.

Because the Blood Oath was changing.

And they couldn't stop it.

Later, when their bodies were tangled in sheets damp with sweat and desire, Damien lay beside her, his breathing unsteady. His arm draped over her waist, but his fingers twitched, like he was still battling the thing inside him.

Evelyn traced the shape of his lips, memorizing every detail. "What's happening to you?"

He swallowed hard. "The Oath. It's evolving."

"But why?"

A muscle in his jaw tightened. "Because I'm not just a vampire anymore." His eyes met hers, darker now, swirling with something ancient. "I took too much. When I fed from you… I didn't just drink blood."

Her heart stuttered.

Damien exhaled shakily. "I took you. Your magic. Your soul."

Evelyn sat up, gripping the sheet around her. "What does that mean?"

His voice was hoarse, pained. "It means I'm bound to you in ways no vampire should be. It means the Blood Oath has changed." He turned his head to face her. "And it means I can never leave you. Not even in death."

A chill ran through her.

The Blood Oath had always been a binding contract, but this… this was something else. Something irreversible.

"What's the cost?" she whispered.

Damien looked at her for a long time before answering.

"My soul."

The air in the room seemed to drop ten degrees. Evelyn's breath hitched. "No."

"I already feel it," he murmured. "The darkness growing. The hunger. The part of me that isn't me anymore." He swallowed, voice thick. "And the worst part? I don't regret it."

Evelyn's eyes burned. "There has to be a way to stop it."

Damien gave a humorless chuckle. "I don't think I want to stop it."

The admission sent ice through her veins.

Then,

A whisper.

Soft. Sinister. Ancient.

A voice that didn't belong in their bedroom.

A voice that spoke her name.

Not Evelyn.

Her true name.

The one even Damien feared.

Her blood ran cold.

Damien was on his feet in an instant, shadows curling around him, his teeth bared. "No," he growled, his voice no longer human. "Not now."

The whisper came again, and the room darkened.

A new enemy had risen.

And they knew exactly who Evelyn truly was.