CHAPTER 10
1997 Words
I held my breath and pushed myself against the wall.
Dragomar was staring at me with those infinite eyes, smiling with a cruelty that burned through me. I knew he was punishing me.
He wanted me to know he owned me.
Feeling pleasure from another man had crossed a line.
He lifted his arm, letting the droplets from the shower fall onto his palm.
I gasped and covered my mouth, terrified.
“My Kira…” he moaned my name so sensually my face heated instantly. “When will it be my turn to taste you like that boy did? I don’t plan on letting you play with him much longer.”
Another gasp escaped me. Dragomar stepped fully into the shower—still dressed—water spilling down his clothes, his hair clinging to his face. Droplets danced across his lips, and my soul shook with emotions I couldn’t even separate anymore.
He leaned in, and that intoxicating scent of citrus and flowers wrapped around me again.
I closed my eyes and lifted my chin, practically begging for him to kiss me.
He didn’t.
He just inhaled softly, letting his breath graze my skin, driving me further into madness.
“Stop doing this to me,” I exhaled, aching with frustration.
“No,” he murmured. “Admit it… you know you can’t resist me. You were made for me.”
He cupped my chin, brushing my lower lip with his thumb. Electricity shot through me so sharply I reacted without thinking—I parted my lips and gently bit the tip of his thumb.
Dragomar grunted and pushed his body against mine.
He was shaking.
He was on edge too.
He wasn’t immune to this. To me.
“Careful, woman,” he growled. “Your boy is in the other room…”
“Tonight then,” I whispered as my knees weakened.
His eyes blazed. “You’re giving yourself to me willingly?”
“No,” I whispered. “Tonight I’m doing the ritual. It’s the full moon. Remember?”
Dragomar laughed quietly.
“My brave Kira. I can’t wait to see you tonight… at the ritual.”
And then he vanished—leaving behind only a cold stroke of air that wrapped around my spine.
I stepped out of the shower, wrapped myself in a towel, and went to have coffee with Michael.
For the first time, I felt determined.
Determined to banish Dragomar.
Determined to fight for Michael.
After breakfast, Michael left for work.
I spent the entire day preparing for the worst.
I cleaned the house, arranged everything, and wrote letters—to my parents, to my friends, to Granny Bia, to Michael.
In case there was no tomorrow.
Michael thought I was going out with the girls, so he made plans too.
As midnight approached, I arranged the mock ritual—candles everywhere, the mirror ready, the knife wrapped in cloth beside me.
I stripped, lit the candle in front of me, and waited.
A low laugh echoed across the room.
He stepped out of the shadows—magnificent, lethal, laughing at me like I was the sweetest joke he’d ever heard.
“I’m sorry, my beautiful Kira,” he said, smirking. “I’ve been watching you all day. I can’t help it. You’re adorable.”
“I’m going to end this, Dragomar. You promised.”
“I did, my beautiful Kira. And here I am, honoring our agreement. Tell me—did you find someone to shift the contract?”
“No. Because I won’t shift it. I’m ending it.”
“Oh?” His eyes glittered. “And how will you do that?”
I stood, my shadow flickering wildly against the candlelit walls.
I pulled out the knife Granny Bia had given me and I turned it on myself.
Without hesitation, I thrust it toward my stomach with all the strength I had—
—but the blade never touched me.
I opened my eyes.
Dragomar stood before me, gripping the blade with his bare hand.
“You foolish girl,” he growled. “You think I would let you do something like that?”
“Yes! Let me die! I don’t want to live like this!”
My legs buckled. I collapsed into his arms, sobbing uncontrollably as he lifted me and placed me gently on the bed.
He watched me break apart, uncertain, conflicted.
He brushed my cheek, wiping my tears with surprising tenderness.
“My beautiful Kira,” he murmured, “I have waited for you for so long. Now that I’ve found you, I will make you mine. It is your destiny, my love.”
My eyes shot open.
“Love? LOVE?! You’ve got to be kidding me!”
His expression softened—pain, longing, grief flickering through it.
“Oh no, my beautiful one,” he whispered. “I am very much capable of love. But only for you… my destined mate.”
I scoffed, trembling. “Is this another trick? Compulsion didn’t work, so now it’s the ‘I love you’ card?”
A sorrowful smile crossed his lips. He leaned close—so close I held my breath.
“I hoped I wouldn’t have to do this,” he whispered. “But you leave me no choice.”
His lips brushed mine in a feather-light kiss—
—and the world tore open.
The world ripped open like tearing cloth.
My body dissolved into weightless fragments—light, dust, breath—and for a moment I couldn’t tell if I was falling through space or being swallowed by it. I grabbed Dragomar’s arm out of pure instinct, but my fingers passed through him like he was smoke.
I staggered.
A crowded marketplace stretched around me—loud, filthy, chaotic. Not modern. Not anywhere close.
People in rough, homespun clothes moved with rigid, weary motions.The air smelled of animals, sweat, wood smoke, unwashed bodies, and fruit beginning to rot in the sun.
The noise was overwhelming.
And underneath it all, a tension that made my skin crawl.
“Where… where are we?” I choked out.
Dragomar’s voice came from beside me. “Inside a memory.”
My stomach dropped.
I tried to pull away, but my feet didn’t fully touch the ground. We weren’t part of the scene—we were ghosts drifting through it.
Then I heard it.
CRACK.
The whip snapped through the air with a sound so sharp it sliced straight into my spine. I jumped.
CRACK.
Every lash made my ribs tighten.
“No,” I whispered, but Dragomar didn’t let me turn away.
“You must see.”
People parted without noticing us. Their faces were blank, resigned. They’d seen this before. Too many times.
When I reached the center, I froze.
A man was tied to a wooden post. Torso bare. Back… shredded.
Blood ran down in slow rivulets, forming a dark puddle at his feet. His skin was torn open in long, brutal cuts. Yet he stayed silent—jaw clenched, eyes burning with a stubbornness that felt too familiar.
When he finally lifted his head, I saw his face.
“It’s you…” I breathed, voice breaking. “That’s you.”
It wasn’t the Dragomar I knew now. Not a shadow. Not a demon. A man. Young. Beautiful in a tragic way. Bruised. Bleeding. Alive.
My heart lurched.
Dragomar, the one beside me, spoke quietly. “Keep watching.”
I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t swallow. I couldn’t blink.
Then she appeared.
A woman wrapped in a dark cloak pushed through the crowd unafraid. When she reached him, she cupped his cheek with both hands. She checked his breathing, wiped the sweat from his forehead, whispered to him in a voice I couldn’t hear.
And then she pulled her hood back.
I staggered.
“No—no—no—” My hands flew to my mouth. “That’s not—she’s not—”
The woman had my face. Close enough that my bones recognized her even if my mind refused to.
“You,” Dragomar murmured. “As you were.”
My knees went weak. I couldn’t feel my own hands anymore.
“We are not done,” Dragomar said.
The world flickered.
Suddenly, we stood inside a small wooden cabin deep in the woods. A fire crackled. Herbs hung from the ceiling. The woman—me—was tending to him. Washing his wounds. Boiling water. Stitching torn flesh with trembling hands.
She touched him with tenderness so raw it cut the air.
My heart tightened painfully.
“I don’t want to see this,” I whispered. But the scene kept going.
Time shifted again. A dungeon. Shadows everywhere. Chains. Screams.
It was me screaming.
They dragged her—me—by the hair. They accused her of witchcraft. They beat her until the floor stained red. They laughed.
I shook uncontrollably.
“Please,” I begged Dragomar. “Please stop this—I can’t—”
But I had to watch.
The next moment, the sky was gray. Smoke filled the air. A wooden stake stood in the center of a square, and that woman—my past self—was bound to it. Thin. Bruised. Barely conscious.
I heard the townspeople shouting. Calling her a devil, a monster.
The flames roared to life.
She screamed. And I screamed with her.
And then—
He ran toward her.
Not the demon Dragomar. The human one.
He tore free of the guards restraining him, dove straight into the fire, wrapped his arms around her, and held her as the flames consumed them both.
I cried out, collapsing against his chest—my Dragomar—sobbing uncontrollably.
He didn’t speak.
He just let me break.
When the flames faded, when the screams died, when time dissolved, we were back in my bedroom. I was on my knees. Bare. Trembling. Breathless. Tears pouring without end.
“I waited for you,” he whispered. “Through death. Through fire. Through centuries of agony. And I found you again.”
The shift back into my room was violent.
I hit the bed like a rag doll, shaking, breath ripped from my lungs. I beat my fists weakly against his chest, screaming “Why?” until my voice cracked.
When I finally had no tears left, he spoke.
“Moroi aren’t born, my beautiful Kira. They are made. The world’s cruelty made me what I am. I have spent centuries taking revenge… and waiting for your return.”
“I’m not her,” I whispered. “You know that.”
“Oh, but you are,” he murmured. “The soul forgets. But I can help you remember.”
“I don’t want to.”
“You cannot stop the return. The crying in your sleep… the grief… the hunger for what you can’t name. It all began the night I came to you.”
“No…” I whispered. “No. I want my life. I want the present. I want—Michael.”
I froze.
I hadn’t meant to say that aloud.
His expression hardened with something dark.
“The only reason he’s still alive is that he makes you happy,” Dragomar said softly. “For now. I intend to take his place soon.”
My blood ran cold.
“But I’m a patient man. I will grant you space. I will not come to you again… until you call for me. And you will call.”
“Never harm Michael. Promise me.”
“I promise.”
And he vanished.
I lay there—naked, shaking, tears crusted on my cheeks.
Sleep hit me like a blow.
When I finally opened my eyes, everything hurt.
My phone rang a lot —my parents, my friends, Michael.
I squinted, scrolling—
And then one text stopped my breath.
Elena: “Granny died last night. Call me.”
My heart broke cleanly in my chest.
- Writer
