The Devils Bride.

Chapter Three

Elena didn’t sleep.

She tried. She lay still long enough for the quiet to settle, closed her eyes, and waited for exhaustion to take over. It didn’t. Every time her thoughts slowed, they circled back to the same place.

The contract.

The way Adrian had said it.

My enemies.

The room didn’t help. It was too quiet, too controlled. Everything looked expensive without being loud about it, but none of it felt comfortable. It felt arranged. Intentional. Like nothing in it existed without a reason.

She sat up after a while.

There was no point pretending anymore.

Her feet touched the floor, cool against her skin, grounding her just enough to move. She walked to the door and stood there for a second before reaching for the handle.

It opened.

She paused.

If he wanted her here, why wasn’t it locked?

Because he didn’t need to.

That answer came too quickly to ignore.

Elena stepped into the hallway. The silence out there was different. Not empty. Just still in a way that made her aware she wasn’t alone, even if she couldn’t see anyone.

She moved slowly, following the corridor until she noticed light spilling faintly from a room ahead. The door was slightly open.

She pushed it.

Adrian stood inside, near a desk, flipping through a file like he had nowhere else to be. His sleeves were rolled just enough to show his forearms. He didn’t look surprised.

“You’re awake,” he said.

“I couldn’t sleep.”

“That’s expected.”

She didn’t like that answer.

Elena stepped further into the room. “You’re going to explain this.”

He closed the file and set it down. “I already did.”

“No. You didn’t,” she said. “You gave me pieces and left the rest out.”

“That’s because you’re asking the wrong questions.”

“Then tell me the right ones.”

He looked at her for a moment, like he was deciding how much to say.

“Why you were involved in the first place,” he said.

Her chest tightened. “I wasn’t involved in anything.”

“You were. You just didn’t know it.”

“That doesn’t make sense.”

“It will.”

She let out a breath. “You keep saying that.”

“And you keep asking the same questions.”

Frustration flickered, but it didn’t land as sharply this time.

Elena crossed her arms. “Then answer this one properly. What did I sign?”

He didn’t respond immediately. Instead, he moved around the desk and stopped a few steps in front of her.

“The night you signed it,” he said, “you thought you were helping someone.”

Something in her chest shifted.

A memory tried to surface blurred, incomplete.

“I don’t remember it clearly.”

“That doesn’t change it.”

Her pulse picked up. “What did I sign?”

He held her gaze.

“Something that gave people access.”

Her stomach dropped.

“Access to what?”

“That depends on who’s asking.”

She stared at him. “That’s not an answer.”

“It’s the only one that matters right now.”

Elena shook her head slowly. “You’re not making sense.”

Instead, she looked at him differently now, trying to see past the calm surface he never seemed to lose.

“Why me?” she asked quietly.

It wasn’t the same question as before.

This one felt heavier.

Adrian didn’t answer immediately.

When he did, his voice was lower.

“Because you were in the wrong place at the right time.”

That didn’t sit well with her.

“That’s not a reason,” she said.

“It’s the only one you’re getting tonight.”

Elena didn’t move right away after that. The room felt quieter than before, but not in a way that brought any kind of comfort. It felt like something had settled into place, something she couldn’t see but could still feel.

She took a few steps toward the window, more out of instinct than decision, and rested her hand lightly against the edge of the frame. The glass was cool beneath her fingers. Outside, the grounds stretched into darkness, broken only by a few controlled lights placed far enough apart to leave most of the space in shadow.

Nothing moved.

At least, nothing she could see.