The knock at Damien’s office door came just as Zina reached for another piece of fruit.
“Come in,” Damien called.
The receptionist stepped inside, but the look on her face made him straighten.
“Mr. Okoye, Luca is here.”
Damien glanced at the clock.
“Luca?”
“He says it’s urgent.”
Before Damien could answer, the door opened again.
Luca walked in.
There was nothing playful about him this time.
His coat was slightly disheveled, his expression hard, and the usual amusement that seemed to live permanently in his eyes was nowhere to be found.
His gaze went straight to Zina.
For a moment, he simply stared at her.
Then he looked at Damien.
“You’re here.”
Zina frowned.
“I’m sorry, did you expect me somewhere else?”
“I didn’t expect you to be here,” Luca admitted.
He closed the door behind him and walked farther into the office.
Damien studied him carefully.
“What happened?”
Luca ignored the question.
“I need to speak to both of you.”
Zina put down the fork in her hand.
“About what?”
Luca looked at her, and something in his expression made her stomach tighten.
“You need to marry Damien.”
She blinked.
“That isn’t exactly new information.”
“No.” Luca shook his head.
“I’m saying you need to bind yourself to him before the blood moon.”
Zina’s eyebrows drew together.
“The blood moon?”
“Yes.”
“And why exactly are you suddenly in such a hurry?”
Luca’s jaw tightened.
“I don’t have time to explain everything to you.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“I know.”
Damien leaned back in his chair, his eyes fixed on Luca.
“Luca.”
“I said I know.”
The irritation in Luca’s voice was unusual enough to make Zina look between them.
She had seen Luca serious before.
This was different.
This was a man who had come into the room carrying information he desperately wanted to deliver before something ran out.
Zina looked at Damien.
“What is he talking about?”
Damien didn’t answer immediately.
Her eyes narrowed.
“Damien?”
His gaze finally met hers.
“I don’t know why Luca wants us married before the blood moon.”
Zina continued.
“And what does he mean by bind?”
Neither man answered quickly enough.
Her confusion deepened.
“Luca, you walked into his office, told me I need to marry him before some blood moon, and now you’re both standing there like I’m supposed to understand what that means.”
Luca’s eyes moved toward Damien.
“And then there’s the other part.”
Zina followed his gaze.
“What other part?”
Damien said nothing.
Luca’s expression changed.
It wasn’t anger at first.
It was disbelief.
Slowly, his eyes widened.
“You didn’t tell her.”
Damien’s face remained composed, but his silence answered for him.
Luca stared at him.
Then he actually looked offended.
“You.”
Damien’s voice dropped.
“Luca.”
“You absolute idiot of a vampire.”
Zina looked from one to the other.
“Can someone please tell me what you’re talking about?”
Luca took a breath through his nose.
He looked genuinely dumbfounded now.
“You mean to tell me,” he said slowly, “that all this time, you’ve been preparing to marry her, and you kept her in the dark about the ritual?”
Damien’s jaw tightened.
“It wasn’t that simple.”
“Oh, it wasn’t?”
“No.”
“You knew.”
“I knew.”
Zina’s eyes settled on Damien.
There was no accusation in her voice when she spoke.
That somehow made it worse.
“What ritual?”
Damien looked at her.
For the first time since she’d known him, he seemed to have no elegant answer ready.
Zina waited.
“Damien.”
His voice was quieter when he finally spoke.
“I was afraid it would frighten you.”
Her expression changed.
“Frighten me?”
“I didn’t want the marriage to become something you feared before you had the chance to decide how you felt about me.”
Zina stared at him.
“You thought keeping something from me would make me less afraid?”
“No.”
“Then what exactly did you think would happen?”
Damien exhaled.
“I thought you’d walk away.”
Not because she had no answer.
Because she did.
And she wasn’t sure she liked it.
The marriage had started as a condition.
A contract.
A requirement attached to her father’s will.
But somewhere along the way, things had become complicated.
She had started looking forward to Damien’s calls.
She had started noticing the way he listened.
The way he remembered small things.
The way being around him no longer felt like another obligation she had been forced to carry.
And now there was something else.
Something he had known from the beginning.
Something she hadn’t been given the opportunity to choose.
Zina slowly turned back toward Luca.
“Tell me.”
Luca’s expression softened when he looked at her.
“Little dove…”
“What ritual?”
He hesitated.
Then he held out his hand.
“Come here.”
Zina stared at his palm.
“You’re not going to make me faint, are you?”
For the first time since entering the room, a tiny trace of his usual humor returned.
“No. Though considering what I’m about to tell you, fainting may be the more comfortable option.”
Zina did not smile.
Luca lowered his hand.
“Fine.”
He looked at Damien again.
“You should have told her.”
Damien didn’t argue.
Luca turned back to Zina.
“Little dove, I’m going to hold your hand as I say this.”
Zina reluctantly placed her hand in his.
Luca’s fingers closed around hers.
His voice became gentler.
“Your vampire husband is going to sink his fangs into your neck.”
All the color drained from Zina’s face.