Chapter 3

NORAH’S POV

Strong hands grabbed my arms and pulled me up roughly, my feet dragging across the ground as pain shot through my body, and when I finally lifted my head, my breath caught in my throat.

I did not need anyone to tell me where I was.

It stood before me like something not made by men.

The Great Wall.

It rose so high that my neck hurt when I tried to see the top, its dark stone stretching across the land as far as my eyes could reach, wide and thick.

I knew I had reached the place Danny spoke of.

I was in the hall for only a few minutes, but it felt like hours. The room was full of men and boys, some old, some young, but most were my age or younger, and they all looked ready for something dangerous.

A man stepped forward. He was dressed all in black, with a long coat that hid most of his face, and when he spoke, his voice was sharp, cutting through the quiet.

“We have a mission tonight,” he said. “Everyone get ready. The Druss garden is not like anywhere we have been before. The demons there are stronger, faster, smarter. We have all the equipment we need. I do not want anyone making a mistake. We are demon hunters. We protect our people. If we fail, the demons will consume everything. No excuses.”

He looked around the room slowly, his eyes dark and heavy. “Any questions?” he asked.

No one said anything. The silence was thick and tense. I swallowed hard. My hands were shaking, but I forced myself to lift one.

“I’m looking for Lord Draven,” I said as my voice trembled but loud enough for everyone to hear.

The room went completely silent, and all eyes turned toward me. The men and boys stopped talking, stopped moving.

Then, movement. The man in black stepped aside, and the world dissolved.

He wasn’t simply sitting there, he was a wound in the fabric of the ordinary. His face was a brutal kind of perfection. But it was his eyes that stole my breath. One blue, one black eye was so intense they seemed to look straight into your soul.

A violent jolt ran through me, not fear, something I couldn’t name.

Even sitting there, silent, he radiated power, danger, and a beauty that was almost impossible to look away from.

The murmuring around the hall started again. But he silenced them all. His voice cut through the quiet like steel.

“Everyone is Dismissed,” he said, and the men and boys shuffled out without a word, their eyes still flicking to me, curious and suspicious. The doors slammed behind them, leaving only us in the hall.

“Move closer if you need to speak to me,” he said, and I swallowed hard, stepping forward toward his throne, my legs feeling heavier than lead.

As I moved closer, my skin became painfully sensitive. The friction of my rough clothes against my nipples was sharp, making me want to arch into the sensation.

The sensation was so intense it paralyzed my thoughts. My knees trembled. Something inside me reacted violently, like my body recognized something my mind could not.

He leaned back slightly, one hand resting on the arm of his throne, his gaze still locked on me. “Your name, and what you want?” he demanded, his tone curt, impatient, almost rude, like he had no time for mistakes or lies.

“I’m…” I stammered, panic prickling along my spine, suddenly remembering I was supposed to be in disguise, my voice almost faltering, my mind spinning with what Danny had told me.

“Are you here to waste my time?” he snapped, and I flinched, the sharpness of his words cutting through me like a whip.

“No…,” I said quickly, then froze, realizing how close I had come to giving myself away. My hands shook as I corrected myself in my mind. I’m supposed to be in disguise. I can’t let him know.

“I’m Asher ,” I said again, forcing myself to speak, trying to sound firm, though my voice wavered slightly. “I’m Asher,” I repeated, louder this time, trying to make the lie feel real, my heart pounding as his piercing gaze never left me, judging me, and making me feel like I could either break or disappear entirely.

“And what is it you want, Asher ?” Draven asked, his eyes burning into me like fire, making my chest tighten.

“I… I have a letter for you,” I said, my voice shaking so badly I thought it would break, “it’s from Danny.”

Draven’s eyes narrowed, and in a motion so fast I barely saw it, he reached out, grabbed the letter from my hands, and tore it open. He read it quickly, his face unreadable, and then he threw it to the floor as if it were nothing.

“This letter holds no important message whatsoever.” he said, his voice cold, “leave now and get ready for tonight’s mission.”

I felt my heart drop, relief rushing for a moment, thinking I might be safe but am I really safe?

But the heat between my legs pulsed again, My body still felt wrong… like something had been triggered inside me that I couldn’t turn off.

I didn’t understand what was happening to me…but I knew it had a name. And I wasn’t supposed to be here alone in the same space with him.

His lip curled. Not a smile. A snarl.

"You're still here," he said. "Your mission isn't in this room."

But it was. The mission was the thick, hungry air between us. The mission was the pounding in my blood, the empty ache inside me, like something unspoken neither of use acknowledged.

“Now get out of my sight.” Draven said coldly with no patience and no kindness at all.

“My lord, please,” I whispered, my eyes burning as tears filled them, “Danny said I should…”

“Danny?” he interrupted harshly, his eyes darkening, his tone turning cruel, as if the name meant nothing to him at all. “I do not know any Danny, and I do not care who filled your head with foolish hopes. Do not speak his name to me again.”

The words hit harder than a slap. My chest was tightening so painfully it felt like I could not breathe, and in that moment I knew I was in deep trouble, deeper than I had ever been before, standing alone in front of a man who could end me with a single word.

“My lord, I only…” I tried again, my voice breaking, desperate to explain, to make him understand, but before I could finish, he lifted his hand sharply.

“Enough,” one word and I’ll have your head on a spike.

The sound of footsteps echoed behind me, fast and heavy, and before I could turn around, strong hands grabbed me. I gasped as one of the men pulled me back roughly, dragging me across the stone floor as fear exploded inside me.

“Let go of me!” I yelled, my voice breaking as I struggled. “Don’t touch me!”

The man dragged me into a small room and slammed the door shut behind us.

“I’m Kaffe,” he said calmly, like nothing had just happened, like my fear meant nothing at all.

“I didn’t ask for your name,” I snapped, my chest rising and falling fast. “I want to leave this place,” I said sharply. “I don’t belong here.”

Kaffe let out a short, humorless laugh and crossed his arms. “Oh, Asher,” he said slowly, “there is no way on earth you can leave this place. The moment you enter, your fate is sealed.”

“My fate isn’t sealed,” I shot back, anger fighting through my fear. “Kaffe, or whatever your name is.”

He tilted his head, studying me. “You have a sharp mouth, Asher. But you wouldn’t even reach the gates before you die.”

I threw my hands up, my voice rising. “Why is everyone here so obsessed with death?”

Kaffe’s face grew serious, his voice lowering. “Because death here is like anything else,” he said. “It is normal. It is close. Sometimes it is easier than breathing.”

“You must be crazy,” I said, shaking my head. “I’m leaving.”

I turned and reached for the door, my fingers brushing the cold handle, hope flashing for just one second.

“Stop.”

His voice was sharp.

“The moment anyone gets a hold of you,” Kaffe said slowly, each word heavy, “and finds out you are a woman, you are dead. And even more so…”

My body froze.

“…the king’s runaway bride.”