Se connecter“I never imagined you’d dare run from me, Fyr.”Demi’s voice did not rise it dropped, curdling from its usual smooth, low timbre into something guttural, something that did not sound human at all. It was the kind of tone that crawled down your throat and coiled tight around your lungs, stealing the very air from your chest. Before I could even twist away, two of his men seized my shoulders, their grip like iron vices crushing bone. They drove me down, forcing my knees to buckle until they struck the cold marble floor with a dull, heavy thud that sent shockwaves of pain up my spine. Demi stepped into my line of sight, bent low, and curled his fingers under my jaw his touch was searing hot, yet made me shiver so hard my teeth chattered. He forced my head up until my eyes locked with his, and in those dark, bottomless depths, I saw nothing but unbridled possession and cold, cruel hunger.“Tell me, my stubborn little bird,” he purred, each word sharp as a razor blade dragged over skin,
Later that evening, Demi returned to the house his domain, his cage sinking into the velvet armchair like a king taking his throne. His long legs were sprawled wide, the top buttons of his black jeans undone, one arm draped lazily over the armrest while the other lifted a cigarette to his lips. Smoke curled slow and silver around his sharp jaw, vanishing into the dim, shadowed corners of the room. Two of his men stood rigid at his sides, hands resting on the holsters at their hips, eyes scanning every shadow like wolves guarding their master.I never knew exactly what business called him away for days at a time, only that he never left without a heavy gun strapped to his waist, its weight pressing into his hip like a second heartbeat. I’d heard whispers—blood money, territory wars, transactions sealed with lead instead of ink. But whatever he was, however handsome he looked in the low light, with eyes like storm clouds and a face carved from marble… I would not belong here forever. T
Kaye stormed into the kitchen like a gathering tempest, her gaze locking onto mine with a murderous, unblinking intensity. Before I could step back, her fingers knotted violently in my hair, yanking me forward so hard my neck screamed in protest. She dragged me straight toward the stove, where a cauldron of oil bubbled and hissed, sending up thick, acrid fumes that stung my eyes — hot enough to blister skin, to melt away everything you were.I shrieked for help, voice cracking on the word — but every servant and guard in the doorway flinched back, heads bowed, too terrified to intervene. They knew what Kaye was. They knew what her family did to those who crossed them.And there in the frame stood Stella, arms folded tight over her chest, a cruel, triumphant smile curving her lips. She watched her drag me toward the scalding surface as if I were nothing more than vermin to be purged. Kaye shoved my face downward, and the heat hit me like an open furnace searing, suffocating, inches f
I knelt on the cold hardwood, fingers brushing splinters and dust as I gathered the bruised grapes one by one. Hunger gnawed at my stomach so fiercely it blurred the line between dignity and despair, and before I could stop myself, I lifted one to my mouth and bit down. The skin burst with familiar sweetness, tainted by floor grime and the bitter taste of my own humiliation. Glancing up, I caught my reflection in the floor-to-ceiling mirror—hair wild and unbound, dark circles like bruises beneath my eyes, clothes rumpled and stained. I looked less like a person and more like a scavenger, a stray creature picking through what its master had discarded. A laugh bubbled up my throat, quiet at first, then rising sharp and wild until it bounced off the walls, sounding nothing like my own. “What a life!” I screamed, the words tearing out of me, and laughed again until tears spilled hot down my cheeks, carving tracks through the dust on my face. The laughter died in my throat as the door
The morning light seeped through velvet curtains the colour of dried blood, filtering dimly into the room Demi had set aside for me though I could not, for the life of me, recall how I had come to be here. Fragments of the previous night drifted through my mind like smoke the biting wind on the rooftop, how my knees had buckled beneath me, the world spinning into cold darkness before strong arms had caught me. Demi. The demon who claimed to own every breath I took. The same being who had hurt me again and again, yet whenever I had nowhere else to turn, whenever the ground crumbled beneath my feet, it was his arms that closed around me to keep me from falling.He was devastatingly handsome—sharp features carved from obsidian, eyes like molten amber that saw right through to the bone, a presence so commanding it felt like the air itself bowed to him. But beauty in his kind was always a trap. His methods were ruthless to the bone, cruel in ways that made even the darkest corners of my
Later that night, from the shadowed upper floor of the adjacent building, Demi and I stood side by side, watching through the lens of a high-powered telescope. Below, in the sprawling grounds of the main mansion, my father was dealing with his second wife and the sight stirred something dark and satisfied deep within my chest. Even though I could not hear the words exchanged, even though every insult and plea remained muffled by distance and night, the scene itself was more than enough.Through the glass, I saw him strike her hard, sharp, unforgiving—then shove her so roughly she stumbled backward, nearly falling to the marble floor. He moved with cold, ruthless efficiency, gathering all her belongings and tossing them out onto the gravel driveway, one by one, as if she and everything she owned were nothing more than trash to be discarded. A cruel, bitter smile curled slowly across my lips. My father was a man feared across the city people called him an executioner, a man who ruled w
“Dad, let’s open it together.” I turned to my father, a dark, dangerous smile curling on my lips. “Don’t worry. This gift will be everything you want… like father, like daughter, after all.” I set the ornate velvet box right in the center of the hall, every eye in the room glued to it. “Ladie
After the forced wedding, something strange happened.Demi Shire had every right to treat me like his property, to demand anything he wanted from me. But he never touched me. He never forced me to do anything against my will.I sat on the edge of the bed in silence, watching him as he removed his j
The night felt endless.I lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling, my mind spinning in circles. A wedding gown. Exactly the same as he requested.Why?Was he marrying someone else? But why would he care if my bruises healed? Why bring me food and force me to get better just for someone else’s weddin
The morning sun did nothing to warm me.I woke up in agony, every muscle in my body screaming in protest. As my eyes fluttered open, my blood ran cold.I wasn’t lying down. I was hanging from the ceiling.A thick rope was looped around my neck and body, holding me suspended in mid-air. My toes bare







