Bound By The Midnight

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tion from a spiteful human, fabricated by one of her own kind. Yet, it carried with it the scent of defiance that I could not ignore. Katherine Monroe, a flower-seller

intent on humiliating her. It should have been inconsequential, yet something about Katherine's name, the faint trace of her unique aroma lingering on the wind, stirred a hun

se eyes burned with cold obedience-and the subdued whispers of the assembled onlookers. Before me, on a raised platform bathed in the harsh flicker of torches, knelt the accu

bvious pain. In that moment, the triviality of the false accusation receded into insignificance, replaced by the overwhelming presence of a h

r ears alone-they were for every being in this hall to know the consequences of insolence. Yet even as I spoke, an unfamiliar sensat

ilence. I approached her slowly, each step deliberate, until I stood before her, the smell of her blood mingling with her ra

that refused to crumble even as her body bore the marks of my guards' cruelty. The taste of her fear, the subtle, sweet tang of her blo

e sensation was overwhelming-a rush of warmth and vitality flooding through me as her blood coursed into my veins. Each drop was rich, vibrant, unlike the ordinary suste

admiration. I maintained my impassive expression, though within I seethed with a dark pleasure that was both unexpected and unwelcome. The act was brutal-a reminder of the price humans pai

eneath the veneer of authority lay a simmering promise. In private, I would attend to her wounds, not merely to heal her but to study the extra

eyes, the way her delicate features had held their ground even as her body convulsed with pain, and the indescribable taste of her blood that now coursed through me. In that brutal

on of ledgers and reports, yet my thoughts were far from the mundane business of running an empire. Instead, I was consumed by the memory of that taste-the fierce, unforgettab

und that unique note that had awakened something deep within me. For I knew, with a certainty that chilled me as much as it thrilled me, that no other blood, no other offer

ined to keep that promise hidden beneath layers of discipline and authority, even as the memory of her scent and taste lin