Zara's POV
I stood outside the Royal Museum at 1:47 AM, wearing all black, my heart hammering against my ribs.
This was it. The moment that would either save me or destroy me completely.
The key Viktor gave me felt heavy in my pocket. His final gift. His last attempt to save me from the people who'd killed my mother.
I'm sorry, Viktor.
I pushed the grief down and focused. I'd learned from the best—Viktor had taught me everything about breaking into impossible places. This was just another job.
Except it wasn't. This was the Blood Moon Ruby. The cursed stone that had killed my mentor.
But what choice did I have? Shadow creatures were hunting me. The royal family wanted me dead. Marcus had destroyed my reputation. I had nothing left but this one desperate chance.
I checked the security camera schedule Viktor had given me. 1:50 AM—the east wing cameras would go dark for exactly ninety seconds during the system refresh.
I counted down. Three, two, one—
The camera lights blinked off.
I ran.
Viktor's codes got me through the service entrance. The lock clicked open like magic, and I slipped inside. The museum was dark, silent, full of shadows that seemed to watch me.
Just another job, I told myself. In and out. Don't think about the curse.
The laser grid in the main hallway was exactly where Viktor said it would be. I pulled out a small mirror and angled it to see the invisible beams. Red lines crisscrossed the corridor like a deadly spider web.
I'd done this a hundred times before. My body moved on instinct—duck, slide, twist, roll. Every movement precise. Every breath controlled.
The rubies exhibition was on the third floor. I took the stairs, avoiding elevators that would log my movement. My footsteps were silent on marble floors.
Everything was going perfectly.
Too perfectly.
A chill ran down my spine. Something felt wrong. The museum was too quiet. Too empty.
I pushed the feeling aside and kept moving. The exhibition room door was ahead, locked with a keypad. I pulled out the code Viktor had given me and punched it in.
The door clicked open.
Inside, display cases lined the walls, each holding priceless gems. But in the center of the room, under a single spotlight, sat the Blood Moon Ruby.
My breath caught.
It was massive—bigger than my fist—and so red it looked like solidified blood. But it wasn't the size that made me freeze. It was the way it glowed. Pulsing. Breathing. Like it was alive and waiting.
Waiting for me.
I shook off the thought. Just a stone. Just a very expensive, supposedly cursed stone that would buy my freedom.
I approached the display case. Three locks. Pressure sensors. And probably a dozen other security measures I couldn't see.
But I'd studied the plans. I knew exactly what to do.
I disabled the locks one by one, my hands steady despite my racing heart. The final lock clicked open, and I carefully lifted the glass case—
Nothing. No alarms. No guards.
I reached for the ruby.
The moment my fingers touched it, heat blazed through my palm. Not painful—electrifying. Like touching lightning.
The ruby flared bright red, so bright I had to squint.
And then the alarms screamed.
"No!" I grabbed the ruby and shoved it into my bag. "No, no, no—"
"Step away from the display."
A voice. Deep. Commanding. Male.
I spun around.
A man stepped from the shadows at the far end of the room. Tall, broad-shouldered, moving with the controlled grace of a predator. Even in the dim light, I could see his face—sharp jawline, intense dark eyes, black hair slightly disheveled like he'd been running his hands through it.
He was the most dangerous and beautiful man I'd ever seen.
And he was staring at me like I was prey.
"Dante Ashcroft," I breathed. I recognized him from Viktor's file. Head of royal security. The man whose father died protecting my mother.
"Zara Moretti." His voice was cold. "Princess. Thief. Wanted fugitive."
"How did you—"
"Know you'd come?" He moved closer, and I noticed he wasn't wearing a guard uniform. Just dark jeans and a fitted black shirt. Like he'd been waiting for hours. "I've been tracking you since you escaped those shadow creatures. I knew you'd eventually come for the ruby."
My hand instinctively went to the bag holding the stone. "Stay back."
"You don't understand what you've just done." He took another step. "That ruby—"
Pain exploded in my chest.
I screamed and dropped to my knees. It felt like my heart was being torn apart, like fire was racing through my veins. Not from a wound—from something inside me.
Across the room, Dante collapsed too, grabbing his chest with a gasp of agony.
The ruby in my bag erupted with red light, so bright it lit up the entire room. The light wrapped around me like chains, then shot across the space and wrapped around Dante too.
I felt him. Actually felt him. His shock. His pain. His absolute horror at what was happening.
And he felt me. I knew it because his dark eyes went wide as my emotions crashed into him—my fear, my desperation, my grief over Viktor.
"No," Dante whispered. "No, this can't—"
A vision slammed into both our minds.
We were standing in a dark place. Shadows all around. A clock ticked somewhere in the distance, counting down. And then we saw ourselves—future versions—lying on cold stone. Dead. Our hands reaching for each other but not quite touching.
A voice echoed through the vision: "Thirty days. Complete the trials or share this fate."
The vision shattered.
We both gasped, back in the museum, still connected by those red chains of light from the ruby.
"The curse," I breathed. "Oh God, the curse activated."
"You touched it." Dante's voice was rough with pain and fury. "You actually touched the Blood Moon Ruby."
"You said you already stole it! You said—"
"I lied!" He pushed to his feet, and I felt his anger like fire in my chest. "I needed you to trust me, to come here so I could stop you from making this mistake. But you grabbed it anyway, and now—"
He stopped. His hand went to his chest again, right over his heart.
And I felt it. Through the bond. Through the curse. His heartbeat matching mine. His emotions flooding me. His fear that matched my own.
"We're bonded," he whispered. "The curse bonded us."
I tried to stand, but my legs wouldn't work. "No. No, this can't be happening. I don't even know you!"
"That doesn't matter to the curse." Dante's jaw clenched. "Magic doesn't care if we're strangers. It just chose us, bound us together, and now we have thirty days to complete three impossible trials or we both die."
The ruby fell out of my bag, rolling across the floor. It stopped exactly halfway between us, still glowing.
I reached for it—and it burned my hand. I yelped and jerked back.
Dante reached for it—and it burned him too.
"It won't let either of us hold it alone," he said quietly. "Only together."
He was right. I could feel it through the bond. The curse had rules. We were partners now. Whether we liked it or not.
"I can't be bonded to you," I said desperately. "You work for the royal family. The same family that killed my mother!"
"And my father," Dante shot back. "You think I want this? You think I want to be magically chained to a thief I'm supposed to arrest?"
We glared at each other across the glowing ruby. Two strangers, two enemies, now cursed to work together or die together.
"What do we do?" I finally asked.
Dante's expression hardened. "We work together. We research the curse. We complete the trials. And then we go our separate ways and never see each other again."
"Fine."
"Fine."
But even as we agreed, I felt his lie through the bond. And he felt mine.
Neither of us believed we'd survive this. Neither of us thought we could complete trials designed for people who actually cared about each other.
We were doomed.
Suddenly, Dante's head snapped toward the door. "Someone's coming. Multiple people."
"How do you know?"
"I can feel their intent through the bond." His eyes met mine. "They're coming to kill us both. We need to move. Now."
He grabbed my hand—the connection sparked but didn't burn—and pulled me to my feet.
"Together?" I asked.
"Together," he confirmed. "At least until we figure out how to break this curse."
We ran for the window. Behind us, the door burst open. Gunshots rang out.
Dante grabbed the ruby with his free hand—with both of us touching it, it didn't burn—and we jumped.
Three stories down. Into darkness. Into whatever came next.
As we fell, the ruby blazed to life in our joined hands, and a voice whispered:
"The first trial awaits. Face your deepest fear together, or die alone. The forest of nightmares opens at dawn. Run, cursed ones. Run, and pray your bond is strong enough to survive what's coming."
We hit the ground hard but together, the curse somehow protecting us from the impact.
And somewhere in the distance, I heard howling.
The shadow creatures were coming.
And the real nightmare was just beginning.