All Chapters of Vows of Silver and Sin: Chapter 1 - Chapter 9

I didn't pack much. A suitcase of clothes I’d likely never wear again and the silver dagger hidden against my thigh. As I walked out of the Vance manor, my father didn't even come to the door to say goodbye. He stayed in his study, probably already pouring a fresh glass of bourbon to celebrate his survival. The car waiting for us wasn’t a standard limousine. It was a matte-black armored beast with windows so dark they looked like polished obsidian. Dante held the door open, but he didn't offer his hand. He stood back, his posture stiff, watching me with those predatory silver eyes. I slid into the leather interior, and he followed, sitting as far away from me as the wide seat allowed. "You're afraid," he noted as the car pulled away from the curb. He wasn't looking at me; he was staring at the partition separating us from the driver. "Any sane person would be," I snapped, clutching my purse. "I've been sold to a man who tre

The black armored SUV tore down the cliffside road, the engine roaring like a wounded beast. Outside, the storm had finally broken, drowning the world in a torrential downpour that turned the jagged rocks into lethal slides. Inside, the silence was even more suffocating than the storm.Dante sat in the back with me, his body vibrating with a suppressed violence that made the very air in the car feel heavy. He wasn't looking at me. He was watching the GPS on his phone, his jaw set so tight I thought his teeth might shatter."He won't be at the manor," I said, my voice small against the hum of the tires. "My father. If he gave them the wards, he knew you’d come for him first. He’s a coward, but he’s a fast one.""He can be as fast as he likes," Dante replied, his silver eyes flashing in the dark. "He can crawl into the deepest hole in Oakhaven, and I will still find him. I will pull him out by his marrow."I looked down at my hands. They were still shaking. "Why? Why did he do it? He al

The safe house felt different now. The cold, industrial air of the Foundry was still there, but the silence between us had shifted from a wall of ice to a charged wire.Dante hadn't let go of my hand until we reached the top of the stairs. The moment he withdrew his touch, I felt a physical ache, a sudden drop in temperature that made me shiver. He went straight to the small kitchen, his back to me, gripping the edge of the steel counter so hard his knuckles turned white."You should sleep," he said, his voice raspy. "The adrenaline will wear off soon, and the Scribe’s drain is no joke. You’ll be lucky if you can stand tomorrow.""I don't want to sleep, Dante. I want to know what happened back there." I walked toward him, stopping just outside the circle of his personal space. "You touched me. And I didn't die. You didn't wither."Dante turned around slowly. The silver in his eyes was muted now, clouded by a confusion I hadn't seen before. He looked down at his palms. The black, spide

The "Origin" wasn't a castle or a fortress. It was a modest cabin built of silver-grey cedar, nestled in a valley where the trees grew so thick the moonlight only hit the ground in jagged, pale needles. Here, the air didn't smell like the city’s rot or the salt of the docks; it smelled of ancient earth and magic so old it felt heavy in the lungs.As soon as we crossed the perimeter of the valley, a strange sensation washed over me—like stepping into a warm bath."The wards," Dante explained, his voice hushed as he cut the engine. "My ancestors and yours didn't just meet here; they bled here. The ground remembers the pact. No Valerii siren or Volkov wolf can track us past the tree line. Here, the shadows belong only to me."He helped me out of the car. My legs felt like lead, the magical exhaustion from silencing the Shadow-Heart finally catching up to me. Dante didn't hesitate; he slid an arm under my knees and another behind my back, lifting me effortlessly."I can walk," I protested