All Chapters of Fated In Darkness: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

NatalieWe slipped into Adrian’s car in silence, the soft click of the doors closing feeling louder than it should have.I could sense the weight of his disappointment as he gripped the steering wheel a little too tightly, his jaw set in quiet frustration.He had ended the interruption quickly, whoever it was, but the damage had already been done. My mother’s call had cut the evening short, bringing an abrupt end to what was supposed to be our first real chance to just be—no past, no obligations, no shadows trailing us.I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding.“Sorry about the interruption,” Adrian said gently, stealing a glance at me. His eyes softened when they met mine, but he quickly turned his focus back to the road.“It’s okay,” I murmured, though the words felt hollow. I stared out the windshield, watching the world blur by in shades of grey and gold, but my mind wasn’t in the car anymore.My mother’s voice had been steady on the phone—too steady. I knew her calm tone wel

Natalie“So,” my mother began, folding her hands in her lap with a polite smile, “how did you two meet?”There was a hint of curiosity in her voice, carefully masked but unmistakable to me. She wasn’t just making conversation—she was searching, trying to fit the pieces together.“Cainebrielle,” I answered simply, and her smile deepened. She turned her gaze to Adrian then, clearly expecting him to fill in the blanks.“A student?” she asked lightly, but I felt her eyes slide to mine, subtle and questioning. I hesitated, caught off guard. I didn’t know how much to say.Adrian, ever composed, answered before the silence stretched too long. “A former student,” he said gently. “But now, a sponsor.”His tone was modest, but I saw the flicker in my mother’s eyes—a flash of surprise she couldn’t quite hide. She was probably doing the math in her head. He was far too young, far too striking, to be a sponsor.“I’m filling in for my father,” Adrian added smoothly, catching the shift in her expres

Natalie“Let’s give it time, Mom,” I said softly, my fingers tightening around hers. “I have a plan.”She pulled back slightly to look at me, her eyes scanning mine—hope flickering there, desperate to latch onto anything that resembled a way out. “A plan?” she echoed, her voice tentative.“I’ll stall Uncle Michael,” I said, choosing my words carefully. “We won’t leave. Not yet. Not until your treatment is complete. And if he still insists on pushing this marriage nonsense… then we’ll go. But I want to be sure we’ve explored every option first.”She let out a small, bitter laugh and shook her head, though a trace of a smile tugged at her lips. “How long do you think you can stall your uncle?” she asked, her tone laced with dry sarcasm. “He’s not exactly the patient type.”Her laugh quickly faded, replaced by a flash of shame, and I saw it then—that quiet anger she carried. Not at me. At herself. At her body for failing. At the fact that her illness had become chains, not just around her

Adrian “I plan to report everything to Dimitri,” Phelix said carefully, “so he can decide whether we hand over the vampire who turned her… or Geoffery, for deceiving us.” I didn’t need to think long. Either way, someone was going to die. But I knew how this would play out. It wasn’t the fault of the vampire who attempted the turning—he couldn’t have known. And Volodymir? He’d never sacrifice Geoffery. The man was too valuable. A loyal servant, head of a bloodline tied too deeply into the old covenants. Volodymir would rather extract a lifetime’s worth of debt from him than offer him up as payment. That was his style—slow control, not clean endings. I wasn’t about to say any of that to Phelix. He was only telling me this much because the fight had happened on my doorstep—outside my club. Otherwise, I’d be hearing it thirdhand like everyone else. He knew that, and so did I. The real conversation would happen behind closed doors—with Dimitri. The decisions, the maneuvering

CarsonI couldn’t get her out of my head.From the moment our eyes met in the woods, she’d been lodged there—quietly, relentlessly. At first, I tried to shrug it off. Told myself it was nothing. A fleeting thought. A trick of adrenaline.But it wasn’t.Especially not after seeing him behind her. Adrian Balshov. The bloodsucker.Even that didn’t kill the feeling. If anything, it made it worse. Obsessive. Irrational. The pull I felt toward her was something I couldn’t explain—intense, magnetic, and entirely out of my control.I thought it would pass. I thought she'd be like every other girl—intrigued, flattered, maybe a little dazzled. But Natalie? She was different. She didn’t fall for smooth words or good looks. Or maybe she had… just not mine.Maybe it was his.Adrian Balshov—immortal, ancient, powerful. And if she knew the truth about what he was… how many lifetimes he’d lived… how unnatural his very existence was… would she still look at him the same way?Would she still want him?