First Night

I was theirs now. And I had never been more terrified in my life.

The echo of the slamming doors still rang in my ears when Silas gripped my arm again and pulled me up the wide staircase. My bare feet dragged on the cold steps. Every shadow in that massive hall seemed to watch me. I did not fight him. Not yet. My body felt too numb.

He stopped in front of a heavy wooden door on the second floor and pushed it open. The room inside was large but dusty. A big four-poster bed took up most of the space. Heavy dark curtains covered the windows. The air smelled old and closed in.

“Inside,” Silas said. He gave me a small shove.

I stumbled forward and turned around fast. “Wait. You cannot just lock me in here like this.”

Silas stood in the doorway, filling it completely. His face stayed hard. “This is your room now. You belong to us. We need an Omega’s bond to fight the curse eating us alive. You give us that bond and we keep you alive. Simple.”

I took a step back, chains still heavy on my wrists. “And if I refuse? What then?”

“You will not refuse,” he answered coldly. “Cooperation keeps you breathing. Fighting gets you hurt. Or worse.”

My hands shook. I hated how weak my voice sounded. “You bought me like a thing. I am a person. I had a life back at the Sanctuary. You cannot expect me to just… spread my legs and let you and your brothers use me.”

Silas crossed his arms. The marble hand made a soft click against his coat. “We do not have time for your feelings. The curse is getting stronger every week. Rook can barely control himself. Wren is drowning in visions. I am turning to stone. You are the only chance we have left.”

I swallowed hard. My throat felt tight. “So I am your medicine? Your cure? What if the bond does not work? Will you kill me?”

Silas looked at me for a long second. His gray eyes showed nothing soft. “If you cooperate, we protect you. That is the deal. Try to run and you will learn how bad things can get.”

I wanted to shout at him, but the words came out quiet and desperate. “Please. There has to be another way. I do not know anything about bonding or curses. I am scared.”

“Being scared will not change anything,” he said. “Rest tonight. We start tomorrow.”

He stepped back and pulled the door shut. The lock clicked loudly. I rushed forward and banged on the wood with my chained hands.

“Silas! Do not leave me in here alone! Talk to me!”

No answer. His footsteps faded down the hall. I was alone.

I stood there for a minute, breathing fast. Then I looked around the room again. The four-poster bed had thick blankets but everything felt dusty and forgotten. I tugged at the chains on my wrists. They were heavy but not impossible. My mind started racing. I could not stay here. I had to try something.

Hours passed. The house grew quiet except for strange little creaks and groans, like it was breathing. I could not sleep. Every time I closed my eyes I saw those three pairs of eyes from the hall. Finally I made up my mind. I had to run.

I went to the window first. It was locked tight and the drop outside looked deadly. So I moved to the door. I worked at the lock with a thin metal pin I found on the old dressing table. It took forever but it finally clicked open. My heart pounded as I stepped into the hallway.

The corridor was dark. Only a few wall lamps burned low. I moved fast, bare feet silent on the wooden floor. Left. Then right. I kept going, looking for stairs, for any way down and out.

But something was wrong. The hallway changed. A door I swore was there a second ago disappeared. Another one appeared where there had been only wall. I turned around and the path behind me looked different. Panic rose in my chest.

“What the hell?” I whispered.

I started running. My breath came in short gasps. The chains on my wrists clinked softly. Turn after turn, the house kept shifting. Doors where they should not be. Hallways that stretched longer than they had any right to. I was being herded.

I ended up in a dead end. A small alcove with an old statue and heavy curtains. Footsteps. No, not footsteps. Something worse. Low growling echoed down the corridor. Deep and animal.

I pressed myself into the alcove, trying to disappear into the shadows. My back hit the wall. I held my breath.

A shape appeared at the end of the hall. Huge. Broad shoulders. It was not fully human. Rook. It had to be him. His eyes glowed like dying embers. Half his face looked wrong, stretched and feral. Sharp teeth. Dark fur spreading across his arms. Long claws scraped the wooden floor as he moved, leaving marks.

I wanted to scream but I bit it back.

Then another voice drifted from the darkness behind him. Soft. Unsettling. Like someone talking in their sleep.

“The lamb is already bleeding.”

Wren. It had to be Wren. His words sent ice down my spine.

I backed up until I could not go any further. My shoulders hit the cold wall hard. “Stay away from me,” I said, voice shaking. “Please. I did not do anything.”

The growling got louder. Rook took another step. His claws scraped again. Those burning eyes locked on me. He looked ready to tear me apart.

“I just want to leave,” I whispered. “I will not tell anyone. Just let me go.”

No answer. Only more growling and that soft, creepy voice from the shadows.

“The cards say the lamb holds the silver knife. But which hand? Which hand?”

I could barely breathe. My legs felt weak. This was it. They were going to kill me on my first night. All because I tried to run.

Rook moved closer. The half-shifted monster filled the hallway. His chest rumbled with every breath. I saw the sharp angles of his body, the wrongness of the shift. He was huge.

“Silas said you needed me,” I tried again, voice cracking. “You need the bond. You cannot do this.”

The growling stopped for a second. Rook tilted his head. Those ember eyes burned brighter.

From the darkness, Wren spoke again, closer now. “He is pretty when he is scared. The house likes him already.”

I pressed harder against the wall. “Do not come any closer. Please.”

Rook took one more step. His massive clawed hand reached out of the shadows toward me. The claws looked long enough to rip me open with one swipe. They moved slowly, almost curious, but still deadly.

My heart felt like it would explode. I had nowhere left to run.

The clawed hand kept coming.