chapter 8: A Taste of the Truth .
1424 Words
– A Taste of the Truth
Emma’s heart pounded.
She should have been furious at those words—“You’re mine.”
But the way Adrian said it, the weight behind it, stirred something inside her.
Her throat went dry. She clenched the silk blanket in her fists, willing herself to focus.
“I don’t belong to you.” Her voice came out steadier than she felt.
Adrian exhaled, his lips twitching in amusement. “Then who do you belong to, Emma?”
She opened her mouth to answer, but… nothing came.
Because the truth was—she didn’t know.
Her life before him, before tonight, before this room—it already felt distant, like a fading dream.
Adrian stepped closer. The air between them shifted, charged.
“Whether you accept it or not, something inside you has already changed,” he murmured. “You feel it, don’t you?”
Emma swallowed hard.
She did.
Her senses were sharper. The air felt heavier, like she could feel the energy pulsing around her. Even the flickering flames on the candles seemed alive—responding to her emotions.
She wasn’t normal anymore.
Her body was betraying her.
Her chest rose and fell rapidly. “What… what’s happening to me?”
Adrian’s gaze darkened. “Your soul is waking up.”
Her stomach twisted.
He watched her reaction carefully before continuing, his voice smooth, almost hypnotic.
“There’s more to this world than you’ve been told, Emma. More than just humans and demons.” His fingers trailed lightly over the edge of the table beside him. “Some bloodlines carry… something different. A power that remains dormant until it’s touched by the right force.”
She shivered. The right force.
Emma shook her head. “You’re saying… I had this inside me all along?”
A small smirk played on his lips. “Would it be so hard to believe?”
She opened her mouth to argue, but the room flickered again—the flames on the candles stretching, responding.
Her own breath hitched.
Adrian’s eyes flickered toward the fire before returning to her.
“Your soul is connected to something ancient, Emma. Something that calls to the darkness.”
A chill ran down her spine.
Connected to the darkness?
Emma’s fists clenched. “No,” she whispered. “I’m not like them.”
Adrian tilted his head slightly, his gaze unreadable. “Aren’t you?”
Her stomach twisted.
No. She wasn’t. She couldn’t be.
But then why…
Why did she feel this strange pull toward him? Toward this world?
And why did she feel like—deep inside, she had been waiting for this moment all along?
Before she could voice the thought, Adrian reached out.
She tensed—but he didn’t touch her.
His fingers hovered just above her skin, the heat from his palm radiating against her.
And suddenly, a spark flickered between them.
Emma gasped.
A real spark—golden and electric—jumping from her skin to his.
She jerked back, her breathing ragged. “What was that?”
Adrian’s gaze didn’t waver.
“Proof.”
Emma’s pulse thundered.
Something inside her had changed.
And the worst part was…
She wasn’t sure she wanted to stop it.
----
The Darkness Calls.
The air between them crackled—alive with something unseen, something neither of them spoke about, but both of them felt.
Emma’s chest rose and fell rapidly as she stared at Adrian, her skin still tingling where the spark had jumped between them.
This wasn’t normal. She wasn’t normal.
Adrian’s expression remained unreadable, but his eyes burned into hers, filled with something dangerous… knowing.
“You’re waking up, Emma.” His voice was quiet, almost hypnotic.
She shuddered. “Waking up into what?”
He stepped forward, slow, predatory. “That’s what we’re about to find out.”
CRASH!
A sudden, violent noise tore through the air, shattering the moment.
Emma flinched, her heart leaping into her throat.
The sound came from outside the door—something slamming, something breaking.
Then… a deep, unnatural growl.
Her blood ran cold.
Adrian’s entire demeanor shifted in an instant.
The amused smirk vanished. His shoulders tensed, and his eyes flashed red.
Another growl, closer this time.
And then—a voice.
A low, guttural whisper that made the room’s temperature drop.
“She is not yours to keep, Adrian.”
Emma’s breath hitched.
Who—or what—was out there?
Adrian didn’t move at first. He just stared at the door, his expression stone-cold, unreadable.
Then, slowly, he smirked.
“Come and take her, then.”
Before Emma could process what was happening, the door exploded.
BOOM!
Splinters flew through the air as a powerful force blasted the wood apart.
Emma screamed, shielding her face, but before she could even think to move, Adrian was already in front of her.
His arm snapped out, grabbing her wrist roughly, yanking her behind him.
The air rippled as a new presence stepped into the room.
Tall. Dark. Inhuman.
The figure loomed in the doorway, its shadow stretching unnaturally across the floor.
Two burning, silver eyes stared at her through the smoke.
And when it spoke, its voice sent a chill straight down her spine.
“The King calls for his bride.”
-----
The King’s Summons.
Emma’s breath caught.
The King calls for his bride.
The words wrapped around her throat like chains, tightening, suffocating.
Bride?
Her?
No—that wasn’t possible.
Her legs felt weak, but before she could stumble, Adrian’s grip on her wrist tightened.
He didn’t look at her. His entire focus was on the intruder.
The room seemed to darken, shadows stretching unnaturally toward the doorway, as if something ancient and powerful had stepped through.
The figure stood tall, his form obscured by smoke and the flickering firelight.
But Emma could see enough.
His long, tattered cloak shifted like it was alive, swirling around his body. His silver eyes burned with an unnatural glow, piercing and empty, like staring into the night itself.
Adrian exhaled slowly.
Then, in a voice smooth as silk, but cold as ice, he murmured,
“I thought you were dead.”
The figure tilted its head. A smirk. A dangerous one.
“You of all people should know, Adrian,” the intruder rasped. “Death does not touch us.”
Emma felt a chill slither down her spine.
Adrian’s grip on her wrist didn’t loosen.
Instead, he pulled her slightly behind him, his stance shifting—ready to fight.
The air in the room thickened, tension crackling like a storm about to break.
But Emma couldn’t stay silent.
Her voice came out hoarse, barely above a whisper.
“Who are you?”
The intruder’s silver gaze snapped to her.
For a brief moment, something flickered in his expression. Something almost—familiar.
But then he smiled.
“You do not remember me, do you?”
Emma’s breath hitched.
A sharp, twisting pain shot through her skull—a memory? A whisper of something forgotten?
She clenched her jaw. No.
She didn’t know him. She couldn’t.
Adrian’s patience finally snapped.
“You should leave while you still can.” His voice was quiet, deadly. “She’s under my protection.”
The intruder laughed. A low, haunting sound.
“Protection?” He took a slow step forward. “Or possession?”
Adrian’s eyes darkened.
The entire room seemed to react, the walls groaning, the flames flickering wildly.
Emma felt it again—that invisible energy shifting, pulsing, as if the world itself was holding its breath.
The intruder watched Adrian carefully, then exhaled.
“You have changed,” he mused. “But she—” His gaze flickered to Emma again. “She is still the same.”
A smirk curled on his lips.
“For now.”
Then, without warning—the shadows around him exploded.
A violent gust of wind slammed into the room, sending objects flying.
Emma gasped as the force knocked her back—but before she could fall, Adrian caught her.
The world spun.
Darkness swallowed everything—a whisper of power, a rush of something ancient—
And then… silence.
When Emma opened her eyes, the intruder was gone.
Only his voice remained, lingering in the air like a ghost.
“The King does not forget what is his.”
The fire sputtered. The room settled.
Adrian didn’t move.
Emma could hear his heartbeat—fast, unsteady, different.
For the first time, Adrian looked… unnerved.
And that terrified her more than anything.
- Writer
