BOUND TO THE CRIMSON KING

The rain began at exactly eleven forty-seven that night. Amelia Vale remembered the time because she had looked at her phone for the sixth time in less than ten minutes. 11:47 p.m. Daniel was late. Again. She stood beside the floor-to-ceiling window of their apartment, watching rain slide down the glass in silver trails. The city below was blurred by the storm, its lights reduced to trembling patches of gold and white. She hugged her arms around herself. Daniel had promised he would be home before eleven. He had promised. That word had become meaningless lately. Her phone remained silent on the table. No call. No message. Nothing. Amelia picked it up again. She opened their conversation. Her last message was still there. Where are you? Sent twenty-three minutes ago. No response. She typed another message. Daniel, please call me. I'm worried. Her thumb hovered over the send button. Then she stopped. Something about the silence bothered her. Daniel had never been this unreachable. Even when he was busy, he always answered eventually. Amelia lowered the phone. “Maybe his phone died.” She said it aloud, but the apartment gave her no answer. Then her phone vibrated. Amelia nearly dropped it. A message. But it wasn't from Daniel. There was no name attached to the number. Just ten digits she didn't recognize. She opened it. If you want to know why Daniel disappeared, go to Blackwood Hotel. Her heart stopped. A second message appeared. Room 703. Then another. Come alone. Amelia stared at the screen. Her first instinct was to delete the messages. Her second was to call Daniel. She did neither. Instead, she typed: Who is this? The reply came immediately. Someone who knows what your fiancé has been hiding from you. Amelia's stomach tightened. She called Daniel. The phone rang. Once. Twice. Three times. Then the call went straight to voicemail. She tried again. Nothing. Her fingers had begun to tremble. What was happening? She looked toward the bedroom. Daniel's jacket was still hanging over the chair. His watch was on the dresser. He hadn't gone anywhere without that watch in years. Something was wrong. Very wrong. Her phone vibrated again. You have thirty minutes. Then: If you don't come, Daniel dies. Amelia froze. For several seconds, she couldn't breathe. Then she grabbed her coat. Blackwood Hotel had been abandoned for almost three years. Everyone in the city knew that. The hotel had once belonged to the Blackwood family, one of the most powerful families in the country. Then something had happened three years ago. A m******e. At least, that was what the newspapers had called it. Several members of the Blackwood family had disappeared. The hotel had been closed. And one man had supposedly died that night. Damien Blackwood. The Crimson King. Amelia had heard the name before. Everyone had. He wasn't a king in the literal sense. He was something far more dangerous. A man whose influence reached into businesses, politics, underground organizations, and places ordinary people never heard about. A man people feared even when they whispered his name. A dead man. Or so Amelia had believed. Her car stopped outside the hotel at exactly twelve fourteen. She stared through the windshield. The building rose above her like a dark monument. Most of its windows were black. Only one floor had lights. The seventh. Amelia swallowed. She should leave. She knew she should. Instead, she stepped out of the car. The front doors opened with a long, painful creak. Nobody stood behind the reception desk. The lobby smelled of dust, rain, and something metallic. Amelia's heels echoed across the marble floor. “Hello?” No answer. She walked toward the elevator. The doors opened before she touched the button. Her blood ran cold. Someone had already called it. She stepped inside. The elevator climbed slowly. 3. 4. 5. Her heartbeat followed every number. 6. Then— 7. The doors opened. A long corridor stretched before her. Room 703 was at the very end. The hallway lights flickered. Amelia moved forward. One step. Then another. Her hand closed around the phone in her pocket. If anything happened, she would call the police. At least, that was what she told herself. She reached Room 703. The door was slightly open. “Daniel?” Silence. She pushed it. The smell hit her first. Blood. Amelia stopped breathing. Daniel was sitting in a chair in the middle of the room. His hands were tied behind his back. His white shirt was stained red. His face was bruised. “Daniel!” She rushed toward him. His head lifted weakly. “Amelia…” She fell to her knees. “Oh my God.” Her fingers moved toward the ropes. “Who did this to you?” Daniel's eyes widened. “No.” “What?” “Don't—” A voice came from behind her. “You shouldn't have come.” Amelia froze. Slowly, she turned. A man stood beside the window. Tall. Dressed entirely in black. His face was partially hidden by the darkness. But his eyes were unmistakable. Cold. Focused. Dangerously calm. Amelia rose slowly. “Who are you?” The man stepped into the light. She recognized him instantly. Her blood turned to ice. “Damien Blackwood.” His expression didn't change. “Yes.” Amelia stumbled backward. “But you're dead.” A faint smile touched his lips. “That is what I wanted everyone to believe.” Daniel suddenly struggled against the ropes. “Amelia, listen to me. You have to leave.” Damien looked at him. “You're still trying to protect her?” Daniel said nothing. Damien's gaze returned to Amelia. “You came here believing your fiancé was the victim.” He took one slow step toward her. “He isn't.” Amelia shook her head. “You're lying.” “Am I?” Damien reached into his coat and pulled out several photographs. He dropped them onto the table. Amelia looked down. Her face went pale. Daniel was in the photographs. Daniel entering a restaurant with another woman. Daniel meeting unknown men. Daniel handing over envelopes. Then Amelia saw something that made her blood run cold. A photograph of her father. Her father had been dead for five years. But in the picture, he was standing beside Daniel. Amelia picked it up with trembling fingers. “What is this?” Damien's voice became quieter. “Your father didn't die the way you were told.” Amelia looked at him. “My father died in a car accident.” “That is the story they gave you.” “No.” “He was murdered.” The room seemed to tilt. Amelia stared at him. “Why would I believe you?” “Because your fiancé knows.” She turned toward Daniel. His eyes were filled with something she had never seen there before. Fear. Not fear of Damien. Fear of what Amelia was about to discover. “Daniel?” He lowered his head. “I'm sorry.” Her heart shattered. “What did you do?” Before he could answer, every light in the hotel went out. Darkness swallowed the room. Amelia gasped. Then came a sound from outside. Bang. A gunshot. The window exploded. Glass flew across the room. Amelia screamed. Damien grabbed her and pulled her behind him. Another gunshot struck the wall. “Stay down.” His voice was no longer calm. It was commanding. Daniel shouted, “They're here!” “Who?” Amelia cried. Damien looked toward the shattered window. “The people who killed your father.” Another bullet tore through the wall. Damien pulled Amelia toward the hallway. She fought him. “Wait! Daniel!” “He's coming.” Daniel stumbled after them. Footsteps thundered somewhere below. Several men. Armed. Coming up. Amelia's mind raced. Her entire life had changed in less than an hour. Her fiancé had lied to her. Her dead father had secrets. A supposedly dead man was standing beside her. And now someone was trying to kill them. Damien pushed open a hidden door behind an old painting. A narrow staircase appeared. Amelia stared at it. “How did you—” “I built this hotel.” He pulled her inside. Daniel followed. Damien closed the door behind them. For a moment, there was only darkness. Then Amelia heard something. A voice. Faint. Coming from somewhere beneath them. “Amelia…” She stopped. Her heart began pounding. She knew that voice. She had heard it every night in her childhood. It was impossible. Absolutely impossible. Her father's voice. “Amelia…” She turned toward Damien. His face had gone completely still. “You heard it too,” she whispered. Damien didn't answer. Then the voice came again. Closer this time. “Amelia.” She took one step toward it. “Dad?” Daniel grabbed her arm. “Don't.” She looked at him. “Why?” Before he could answer, a hand suddenly appeared from the darkness behind them. Amelia screamed. Damien spun around. And a man's voice whispered directly into her ear. “Your father isn't dead.” Amelia's blood froze. Because she knew that voice too. It belonged to the man she had just watched die five years ago. Her father. And that was the moment Amelia understood something terrifying. The night had never been about Daniel. It had always been about her. And whatever secret her father had taken to his grave… someone had just decided it was time for Amelia to inherit it. End of Chapter 1