My head pounded.
The headache was so intense that it felt like someone was driving nails into my skull.
I let out a sigh and hissed under my breath.
Slowly, I tried to sit up, but something held me down.
I frowned instantly as my body felt heavy.
I turned slightly and froze.
A large hand was wrapped around my waist and my eyes slowly followed the arm attached to that hand.
Then I saw it.
“Ahhh!”
I screamed in terror and jumped away from his grip so fast that I nearly tripped over my own feet.
The creature blinked then it let out a yawn.
My entire body trembled.
I stared at him with wide eyes.
Then suddenly the memories came rushing back.
The museum, the robbery, the tomb of the devil, I remembered it all.
“My bride.” He said softly as he slowly stood to his full height and began moving toward me.
He towered over me so completely that I barely reached his chest.
His broad shoulders were wrapped in a long black coat that fluttered gently with the wind.
Beneath it, pieces of black armor covered his chest and shoulders, decorated with intricate silver details and deep red stones.
His jet-black hair fell messily around his shoulders, framing a face that looked almost too perfect.
His skin was as black as polished obsidian, making his glowing red eyes stand out even in the darkness.
Two large, curved horns rose from his head, sweeping upward.
His sharp cheekbones, strong jaw and dark lips only made him look more dangerous.
Even the slightest movement of his long, claw-like fingers reminded me that there was nothing human about him.
Everything about him screamed power.
He looked terrifying, inhuman, and strangely beautiful all at once.
A chill ran through my entire body.
“Stay the hell away from me!” I screamed, stumbling backward.
He stopped for a moment, his red eyes remained fixed on me.
“Don’t run away.” He said.
This time his voice came out lower, almost like a growl, then he started walking toward me again.
“Stay away!” I screamed and quickly grabbed a nearby stone from the ground.
Without thinking, I threw it at him.
The stone flew straight at his face and hit him directly.
I was shocked by his reaction, he didn’t move or flinched.
I swallowed hard and took another step backward.
“What are you?” The question escaped my mouth before I could stop it.
The creature tilted his head slightly.
“My bride.” He said again.
“I am not your bride!” I screamed.
My voice echoed through the strange place.
Only then did I finally look around properly.
I wasn’t in the museum and I wasn’t anywhere near civilization.
The place looked dead.
Ruined pillars stood everywhere.
Broken statues were on the ground.
Collapsed buildings and debris covered almost every inch of the land.
It looked like an entire kingdom had been destroyed and abandoned.
The air itself felt heavy and I slowly backed away.
He continued walking toward me.
One step, then another.
“Stay away!” I screamed again.
My attention remained on him.
I never noticed what was behind me.
I had no idea I just stepped off a cliff and there was no ground beneath my feet.
My face dropped.
I let out a loud scream as I fell backward, then I saw the him jump after me.
My eyes widened.
Before I could hit the ground, a powerful arm wrapped around my waist.
A second later, he landed heavily on the ground below.
The impact shook the earth beneath us and dust rose into the air.
Yet somehow, I remained unharmed, still trapped in his arms.
His red eyes met mine and there was something strange in them.
Something I didn’t expect, affection.
That look disgusted me.
“What are you?” I whispered this time.
He remained silent for a moment and his chest rose proudly.
“I am Cross, the king of the Lavarna Kingdom.”
His voice carried confidence, as if those titles meant everything.
As if he was announcing something glorious.
My mouth opened slightly.
King?
Kingdom?
What kind of nonsense was this?
Was he a movie director or something?
Before I could say anything, he carried me toward a large rock and carefully placed me on it.
I immediately curled into myself and moved as far away from him as possible.
Every instinct screamed at me to keep my distance.
Cross stared at me quietly.
His expression softened.
“I’ve searched all over for you.”
His voice sounded almost relieved, like someone who had finally found something precious.
“I think you got the wrong girl.” I muttered nervously.
His expression changed and the relief vanished.
“I’m sorry I let you down, I caused the death of everyone.” His voice cracked slightly.
For a moment he looked less like a monster and more like someone carrying thousands of years of guilt.
I didn’t know what to say.
I simply stared.
Cross reached toward me.
The moment his fingers moved closer, he let out a loud scream.
The sound shook the ruins and I jumped.
Cross grabbed his head and fell to one knee.
His face twisted in agony.
Veins appeared along his neck.
He groaned loudly, almost as if someone was tearing his mind apart.
I stared in shock.
What was happening?
His body curled inward and his breathing changed.
For a few seconds he looked completely helpless and that was all I needed.
A chance to escape.
I turned and ran.
I didn’t care where I was going or what was happening to him.
I just wanted to escape.
“Wait.” His voice followed behind me filled with pain.
I glanced back briefly.
Cross was still on one knee holding his head.
“It’s dangerous out there.” He sounded serious.
But I didn’t care.
I kept running farther.
Away from him, the ruined kingdom and those terrifying red eyes.
The ground beneath my feet became cold as the ruins slowly disappeared and what appeared next was a thick red fog.
The deeper I ran, the thicker it became.
Soon I could barely see a few feet ahead of me.
My breathing grew heavier but I refused to stop.
My foot caught on something and I lost my balance.
“Aah!” I crashed face-first onto the ground but I immediately pushed myself up.
I didn’t even bother checking for injuries.
I just needed to keep running.
I turned and I realized something had wrapped around my ankle.
A thin black vine.
I yanked my leg and it tightened.
The vine began moving like a snake.
More vines emerged from the fog.
They ran across the ground, crawling toward me.
My heartbeat skyrocketed.
“No…”
I pulled harder and the vine tightened further.
Then another wrapped around my other leg.
I haven’t even recovered from that, another coiled around my wrist.
I screamed.
The vines suddenly pulled.
My body jerked violently and I hit the ground again.
The vines continued spreading, growing and multiplying.
They crawled over my clothes and the force lifted me completely off the ground.
My feet dangled helplessly.
“Help!”
The vines climbed higher.
Closer to my neck and face.
One slowly reached toward my mouth and my entire body shook as I stared in horror.
Suddenly, a loud roar echoed through the fog and through the red fog, I saw Cross running toward me.
Cross burst through the red fog like a force of nature.
The moment he reached me, he grabbed one of the vines wrapped around my body and ripped it apart.
The vine let out a horrible screech.
I hit the ground hard and immediately began coughing.
The remaining vines released me and retreated slightly.
Cross stepped in front of me.
His broad frame blocked my view and for the first time since waking up, I felt relieved.
The vines suddenly moved again and wrapped around his arm, then another.
Within seconds, dozens of vines covered his body.
I thought he was finished but he grabbed them and ripped them apart.
More vines burst from the ground.
This time they attacked from every direction.
Cross growled.
He caught two vines in midair and slammed them into the ground but they didn’t give up.
Cross continued tearing them apart.
For a brief second, he disappeared beneath the mass of twisting vines.
I thought he had lost and right there my survival instincts returned.
I stared at him for a second, then at the torn vines scattered across the ground.
No.
I wasn’t staying.
I turned around and ran as fast as I could.
I left him to deal with the vines.
I ran through the ruins, my legs ached but I kept running.
I didn’t care if I got lost.
Anywhere was better than staying with a devil who kept calling me his bride.
The red fog slowly disappeared behind me.
I let out a sigh then slowed down slightly and tried catching my breath.
“I did it.” I whispered to myself.
“Going somewhere bride?”
A familiar voice spoke right in front of me.
I nearly jumped out of my skin.
Cross stood directly ahead of me.
His arms folded and he was calm.
As if he had been waiting there the whole time.
I immediately stopped.
My heart pounded against my chest.
“I thought, I thought…” I began to stammer.
How did he get in front of me?
I thought he was back there fighting the vines.
I even thought the vines would have killed him.
My mind struggled to make sense of it.
Cross simply raised an eyebrow.
The corner of his lips twitched slightly.
Almost like he found my reaction amusing.
“What do you want from me? Is it money? I don’t even have money. I just got a job but you ruined my opportunity and kidnapped me so I didn’t even get my pay. So what do you want?” I said in frustration, running my hands through my hair.
“Why are you being mean?” He said.
He looked annoyed.
“Mean? You’re the one who kidnapped me and brought me to a place I don’t even know.”
I shouted at him.
“Kidnapped you? I saved your life.”
I scoffed.
“No, you kidnapped me and honestly when the FBI are done with you your ass will rot in life imprisonment.”
I said, pointing at him, not even caring about the fact that he claimed to be the devil.
Cross sighed.
“You never listen.” His voice sounded tired.
I didn’t answer.
I simply kept moving backward.
“Look, I appreciate the whole saving my life thing.” I pointed at him.
“But that doesn’t mean I’m staying here.”
“And where exactly are you going?”
“I don’t know.” I answered honestly.
“Anywhere that isn’t here.”
His lips twitched slightly.
Almost like he was trying not to laugh.
That annoyed me immediately.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You’re laughing at me.”
“I’m not.”
“You are.”
Cross stared at me for a few seconds then he looked away.
That only made me more suspicious.
I folded my arms.
“You’re definitely laughing at me.”
“I am not.”
I groaned in frustration and ran my hands through my hair again.
This was ridiculous.
Nothing made sense anymore.
“Take a look at your chest.” He said.
My heart skipped.
“What?”
“Take a look at your chest.” He repeated.
I hesitated, then slowly looked down.
Nothing seemed unusual from the outside.
Cross pointed.
“Lift your shirt.”
For some reason, his tone made me nervous.
My hands trembled slightly.
Slowly, I lifted my shirt.
I was shocked.
There was a hole in my chest and the skin around it looked strange.
Dark veins spread outward from the wound like cracks in a glass.
I staggered backward.
“No…”
The memories rushed back instantly.
The museum, the gunshot.
I remembered dying that night.
My legs almost gave out.
“If I didn’t save you, you’d already be dead.”
Cross’s voice sounded distant.
Like I was hearing it underwater.
My eyes remained fixed on the wound.
I should be dead.
I knew I should be dead.
Then why was I standing here?
Why was I breathing?
I didn’t know what to say.
The world suddenly felt far too big.
Cross remained silent.
Giving me time to process everything.
Eventually I looked up.
“So you’re expecting me to say a thank you or give you something to show my appreciation?”
My voice came out weaker than I intended.
Cross blinked then sighed.
He started walking toward me.
I immediately backed away.
My feet caught a rock and I lost my balance.
Before I could hit the ground, Cross appeared.
One second he was several feet away.
The next he was holding me.
How fast was he?
His arms wrapped securely around me.
“Are you okay?”
The concern in his voice caught me off guard.
I quickly looked away.
Why did he keep looking at me like that?
Like I mattered or I was important.
Like he had finally found something he had lost.
“I really want to go back home. Please take me back home.” My voice cracked.
I hated how desperate I sounded but I didn’t care.
I wanted my apartment, I missed my bed, my boyfriend and my normal life.
I wanted everything to go back to the way it was.
Cross’s expression softened.
For a moment, I thought he would agree, then he shook his head.
“I can’t do that.”
The words hit me harder than expected.
Cross gently set me down before turning away.
My frustration immediately returned.
“What do you mean by you can’t?”
I ran after him.
“You brought me here, kidnapped me forcefully and now you can’t take me back?”
My voice echoed through the ruins.
Cross didn’t respond.
He just kept walking, that only made me angrier.
I grabbed a stone from the ground and without thinking, I threw it.
The stone hit his back and he stopped walking.
Finally.
“I’m talking to you, how dare you walk out on me, you ugly thing?” I shouted.
Cross slowly turned around.
A small smirk appeared on his face.
“I never knew you talk this much.”
“Well now you know, kidnapper.” I folded my arms.
“Take me back home right now.” I challenged him.
Cross raised an eyebrow.
“Are you challenging me?”
“Yes, I am.”
I marched forward and stopped directly in front of him.
My arms remained folded.
My temper was reaching dangerous levels and Cross looked amused.
“You really do have a bad temper.”
Was he even listening to anything I was saying?
“Take me back.” I said through clenched teeth.
“Not going to happen Imogen.”
The world seemed to stop and my anger vanished instantly.
Imogen?
Only one person had ever called me that.
My grandmother.
That was my old name.
A name I hadn’t used in years and almost nobody knew.
Slowly, I took a step backward.
A chill ran through my body.
How did he know about that?
My voice dropped into a whisper.
“What exactly are you?”
Cross didn’t answer immediately.
The smile on his face disappeared and for the first time, something dangerous flashed in his eyes.
“That’s a question you won’t like the answer to.