I Was Promised To The Vampire King의 모든 챕터: 챕터 1 - 챕터 9

Mara balanced the silver tray on her hip and tried not to fantasize about braining the Vampire King with it.The tray itself was innocent enough—polished metal, crystal goblets, a decanter of blood so old it smelled like pennies and smoke. The problem was what she was wearing while she carried it.The “uniform.”If you could even call it that.The skirt was so short she was sure any wrong bend would start an interspecies war. The black fabric hugged her hips and flared indecently, trimmed in white lace that did nothing to hide how much leg it showed. The corseted top cinched her waist and pushed her chest up like an offering on a platter. A tiny white apron tied around her middle, as if that somehow made the outfit respectable.And the ribbon.A black satin ribbon was knotted around her throat, the bow sitting neatly over her pulse like a promise she hadn’t agreed to.All because of one stupid sentence.“I’ll do whatever you want, if you get me out of this.”She’d meant the dungeon.T

Mara woke up with the taste of copper and shame in her mouth.For half a second she didn’t remember why. Just a heavy, throbbing ache behind her eyes and the lingering ghost of sounds she really, really shouldn’t have heard.Then the memory slammed back into place—The King’s bedroom.The woman on his bed.His mouth on her throat.His eyes locked on Mara’s while he drank.She groaned and dragged a pillow over her face.“Absolutely not,” she muttered into the stuffing. “I am not thinking about this. This is not a thing.”The pillow did not fix it. The images stayed, burned into the backs of her eyelids: the way his fingers dug into the other woman’s thigh, the way his lips had glistened red, the sharp, dark satisfaction in his eyes when he realized Mara was watching.Her stomach fluttered, traitorous.She sat up too fast and nearly fell off the bed.Kira, already half dressed and rummaging through the small trunk at the end of her mattress, glanced over with a raised brow. “Well, good

By the time dusk bruised the sky in purples and ash, Mara had run out of excuses not to go.The message spell had reached her an hour earlier, ink flaring across her assignment slate in Valen’s sharp, elegant hand:TRAINING CHAMBER. DUSK.– VNo title. No please. Just his constant assumption that she’d obey.She told herself she was only going so she didn’t end up in chains—or worse—by morning. Definitely not because part of her wanted to know what would happen when she and the King were alone in a room with nothing between them except her magic and his patience.The corridor outside the training chamber was quiet. The sigil-carved door loomed ahead, dark wood banded with iron, the air around it humming faintly with wards. Shadows gathered at the edges like they were holding their breath.Mara flexed her fingers, wiped her palms on her stupidly short skirt, and pushed the door open.The chamber beyond was wide and high, stone walls curving up to a vaulted ceiling. Pale tiles covered t

Mara didn’t sleep.Her heart still felt wrong in her chest—like someone had rewired it with ancient magic and expected her to pretend it was normal. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw that flash of power in the training room, the cold floor beneath her as everything went dark… and Valen’s hand closing over her chest to bring her back.Immortal, he’d said.She didn’t know what that meant yet. But it sounded like a cage that went on forever.By the time daylight began leaking through the high window, she was still awake, sitting on the bedroom floor with her back against the bedframe, staring at nothing.A knock at the door broke the silence.“Kira?” she called, voice hoarse.Her friend slipped inside and shut the door quickly behind her. Kira’s messy ponytail and smudged eyeliner told Mara she hadn’t slept either.“You look like death,” Kira said.“I feel like death,” Mara corrected. “Or whatever comes after.”Kira crouched in front of her. “Talk to me.”Mara swallowed. “He said I

Mara woke to someone pounding on the door.For a moment she didn’t know where she was. All she registered was warmth against her back, a strong arm heavy around her waist, the slow, steady beat of someone else’s heart under her cheek.Then last night hit her in a rush.Valen. His hands. His mouth. The way their magic had tangled and exploded, shadows curling tight around them as if even the darkness wanted to keep them together.Another round of pounding rattled the handle.“Valen!” a woman’s voice shrieked from the hall. “I know you’re in there! Who are you with? Is it her? Is it that dirty little maid?”Mara’s stomach plunged.The arm around her tightened for the briefest second, then vanished. Valen sat up fast, muscles going tense, eyes already burning with frustration as he grabbed his shirt from the floor.Mara pushed herself up, clutching the sheet to her chest. “Who is that?”He swore under his breath. The sound was old and raw.The woman jiggled the handle. “Open this door! I