Outside Woman By Bloodstone 소설 & 이야기

Don't be late. She glanced at the elegant clock on the bedside table: 8:17. Just enough time to shower and dress. As she rose, she noticed a small box that hadn't been there the night before, wrapped in silver paper with no bow or card. Inside was a platinum bracelet, delicate but substantial, set with emeralds that matched her eyes. Not diamonds—the traditional choice—but something more distinct, more specific to her. A claim, not a gift. A beautiful shackle. Isabella slipped it onto her wrist regardless, admiring how the stones caught the light. If this was to be her life, she would embrace its luxuries while searching for its weaknesses. She would learn the rules of Leonard's world before

It was like a voice whispering at the edge of her mind, promising ruin. Yoona raised her hands, whispering an incantation in a language so old it vibrated through the air like thunder beneath the skin. The runes flared and then dimmed, the wall dissolving into mist. The three of them stepped through. The chamber was vast and suffocating, lit by a dozen black candles whose flames burned blue instead of gold. At the center of the room, on a pedestal carved from obsidian, lay the Bloodstone , a jagged crystal, glowing with a sinister, pulsing red. Beside it, resting on black velvet, gleamed a silver dagger etched with runes that seemed to crawl when stared at too long.

Maeve paused, staring at the center where the altar stood. “That’s not just a relic,” she murmured. “That’s a memory etched in stone.” And it was. The bloodstone was veined with crimson, almost alive under the moonlight. As I drew closer, my pulse began to echo louder, syncing with something… older. Something buried beneath my skin. I climbed the steps and laid both hands on the surface. Instantly, the world fell away. --- Darkness. Then flame. And suddenly I was somewhere else entirely—neither dream nor memory, but something in between.

“What are your plans regarding the Blood Moon pack?” While Lyra was still lost in thought, the older woman continued, “We’ve never interacted with outsiders. For decades, apart from you, no one else has entered the depths of Moonshade Valley. Isn’t your decision this time too risky?” Lyra slowly turned the cup in her hand and replied calmly, “Aunt Meala, the Blood Moon territory contains numerous moonstone mines. I’ve heard they have so much that they even use it to decorate their walls.” Meala frowned slightly. A moment of silence stretched between the two women.

“That’s officially creepy.” “The ring is here,” Lucien murmured. “She sealed it inside.” “How do we open it?” “Blood.” “Of course it’s blood,” I muttered. “It’s always blood. Nobody ever tries passwords.” He turned to me, eyes glowing faintly. “You opened our tomb. You woke me. She listens to you.” I blinked. “She likes me because I didn’t scream. That’s not consent, it’s pity.” He extended his hand. “Lend me your blood, Miss Hale.”

The High Priest stepped forward, his movements slow and deliberate, as if he were carrying the weight of the pack’s entire history in his gnarled hands. He held the Bloodstone aloft, and even from several feet away, I could feel the thrum of it. It wasn't just a rock; it was a hungry, ancient thing that vibrated at a frequency that made my teeth ache. Thomas stood to the side, his arms crossed, a smug mask of righteousness covering the rot I knew lived underneath. The purple glow in his pocket was faint, but to my Luna-tuned eyes, it was a beacon of filth.

But there's something around Siobhan that loosens slightly, some millimeter of the performance that drops, and I file that away because information about where her walls thin is information I intend to use. The ring is in my jacket pocket. A Colombian emerald in a platinum setting — Fergus said diamonds, my mother said diamonds, the jeweler said diamonds. I said no. An emerald the precise color of my eyes. I want her to think of me every time she looks at her own hand. I want her to know, from the very beginning, that I am not a man who does conventional. We step onto the townhouse terrace a!er the third course under the pretext of air. The city sprawls below us. She stands at the railing an