"The mate bond has been triggered. You cannot leave this sacred space until you accept what you are to each other. Fight it, and you will stay here forever. Accept it, or die trying but know that denial will destroy you both."
The ancient voice faded away.
Silence filled the room.
Draeven jumped to his feet.
He rushed to the door. Slammed his fist against it with enough force to break rock.
Dragon fire burst from his hands—flames so hot they should melt metal. He blasted the door with everything he had.
Nothing happened.
The door didn't even turn black.
The fire was soaked up by the old symbols, making them glow brighter instead.
It felt like they were laughing at him.
"OPEN!" He hit the door again. Harder. "OPEN THIS DOOR!"
Nothing.
"I SAID OPEN!"
Still nothing.
"Breaking it won't work."
Noctara's voice came from behind him. It was cold. Tired. Hopeless.
She was sitting against the wall on the other side of the small room, as far from him as she could get. Her knees were pulled up to her chest.
Draeven turned to face her. Anger was pouring off of him.
"Don't tell me what will or won't work, vampire."
But Noctara just looked at him. Her red eyes looked like they had seen too much pain.
"I already tried. While you were still out." Her voice was flat. "My magic does nothing to these walls. We're trapped by mate bond magic. The oldest and strongest magic that exists."
She paused.
"It can't be broken by force. The only way out is to give it what it wants."
"Give it what it wants?" Draeven laughed, a sharp, bitter sound. "What does that even mean?"
"It means we're stuck here until we admit what we are to each other."
"I'll die first."
"That can be arranged."
Draeven really looked around the room for the first time.
The space was small. Maybe ten steps by ten steps.
Stone walls covered in old, glowing symbols that gave off a soft gold and silver light. Dragon and vampire magic mixed together, creating something neither species could make alone.
No window. No furniture. No way out.
Just stone, magic, and the vampire he was being forced to call his mate.
"This can't be happening," he said, more to himself. "I'm the Crown Prince of Dracaris. I don't get trapped. I don't give in to anyone."
"Well, congratulations," Noctara said, her voice full of sarcasm. "You're trapped. We both are. So you can either face reality or keep punching that door until your hands break."
She shrugged.
"Either way, we're not leaving until the bond decides to let us out."
Draeven's jaw clenched so tight his teeth hurt.
For the first time, he really looked at his mate.
Not as an enemy to kill. But as a person he was stuck with.
She looked worn out. Small against the wall. Her silver-white hair was messy from the fight. Her red eyes were shadowed with fear and defeat.
She was beautiful.
And he hated that he noticed.
"Stop staring at me," Noctara said without looking up.
"I'm not staring."
"You are."
"I'm looking at our situation."
"You're staring."
Draeven turned away. Went back to the door.
Tried dragon fire again, a different kind this time. Hotter.
Nothing.
He tried shifting partway into his dragon form. Claws grew from his hands. He scraped them against the stone.
Not even a scratch.
He slammed his shoulder against the door.
Then again.
And again.
"You're wasting your energy," Noctara said.
"I don't care."
"You will when you fall down from being so tired."
"I won't fall down."
"Everyone does eventually."
Draeven tried one more time. Harder.
The door didn't move.
He gave up. Slumped against the wall opposite her, as far away as the small room would let him be.
They sat in silence.
Neither of them speaking. Both of them feeling the bond humming between them. Pulling them together. Demanding that they admit something they didn't want to.
Hours passed.
Draeven tried the door again. And again.
Every time, nothing happened.
Noctara watched him with something that looked a little like pity.
Which just made him angrier.
"You can stop looking at me like that," he growled.
"Like what?"
"Like you feel sorry for me."
"I don't feel sorry for you," her voice was cold. "I feel sorry for myself. Because I'm stuck here with you."
"Same here."
More silence.
More waiting.
More hours went by.
Hunger and thirst started to get to them both.
Dragons could go without food longer than humans, but not forever.
Vampires needed blood regularly, or they got weak.
Noctara's hands began to shake a little.
She hadn't fed in two days. She had been too stressed with wedding plans, too worried to remember to eat.
Now, trapped here, the need for blood began to ache inside her. Making her feel weak.
Draeven noticed.
Through the bond, he couldn't help but notice everything about her.
Her discomfort. Her growing weakness. Her fear.
"When did you last feed?"
The question came out rougher than he meant it to. It almost sounded like an accusation.
Noctara's eyes snapped to him. Surprised he was talking to her at all.
"None of your business, dragon."
She tried to sound strong, but her voice trembled a little.
Draeven watched her for a long moment.
The fight inside him was clear on his face.
The human part of him wanted her to suffer.
His dragon was screaming at him to help their mate. To protect her. To give her what she needed.
Finally, through gritted teeth:
"Drink from me if you have to."
The offer shocked Noctara into silence.
She stared at him like he had gone crazy.
"What?"
Draeven rolled up his sleeve roughly. He showed his tanned arm covered in markings like dragon scales. Veins were visible under the skin.
"You heard me," his voice was tight. "My blood is stronger than human blood anyway. It'll keep you going longer."
He paused.
"Dragon blood is... powerful."
He couldn't believe he was saying this. Couldn't believe he was offering his blood to a vampire.
But the bond wouldn't let her die. If she died, he died.
This was just practical. That's all.
But Noctara didn't move.
She pressed herself harder against the wall, trying to put more space between them even though there was nowhere to go.
"I would rather starve than drink from you."
Her voice shook, but her mind was made up.
Draeven's eyes flashed.
"Then you're a fool," he stood up. "We could be stuck here for days. You'll get weak. You'll pass out. And I won't have my mate dying of hunger because she's too proud to—"
He stopped himself.
Realizing what he had just said.
My mate.
The words had slipped out without him meaning to say them.
Noctara heard it, too. Her eyes got wide.
"I'm not your mate," her voice was fierce. "I will never be your mate. This bond is a mistake. A curse. And I'll find a way to break it even if it kills me."
Draeven moved fast. He crossed the small space in two steps. He stood over her, looking down.
"You think I want this?" His voice was low and dangerous. "You think I want to be tied to the thing that killed my mother? To a vampire?"
He said the last word like it was poison.
Noctara stood up, too. She refused to let him scare her. She got right in his face, even though it was dangerous.
"And you think I want to be tied to the monster who killed my father?" Her voice got louder. "Who leads attacks that burn children alive? You're a murderer, Draeven Emberclaw. You're cruel and you have no heart and I hate you!"
"Then we finally agree on something," Draeven snarled back. Their faces were inches apart. Both of them breathing hard. The bond screaming between them. "I hate you too, Noctara Bloodveil. I hate everything about you."
He was close enough that she could see the little gold spots in his eyes.
"I hate that the universe tied me to you. I hate that I can feel what you're feeling. I hate that my dragon wants to—"
He stopped. His jaw clenched. He refused to finish the sentence.
But Noctara could feel it through the bond.
His dragon's desperate need to protect her. To touch her. To claim her.
"Wants to what?" she whispered.
And her voice was different now. Softer. Curious, even though she didn't want to be.
Draeven's gold eyes stared into hers.
For a moment, the hatred flickered. It was replaced by something more dangerous.
"Nothing," he growled. He stepped back, putting space between them again. "Forget
I said anything."
They went back to their opposite walls.
Silence fell again.
But something had changed.
The first small crack had appeared in their shared hatred.
And trapped in this little stone room with only each other, with days or maybe even weeks ahead of them.