The transition was a blur of shifting shadows and the roar of a frozen wind. When the world finally stopped spinning, Kora was no longer in the salt-heavy air of the harbor. She stood in a vast, echoing hall of black stone and cold glass. The Valmont Estate sat like a crown upon the jagged peaks of the Nocturnal Dominion, silent, regal, and suffocating.

  Kora’s feet had barely touched the polished floor before she tried to bolt. But Valerius was an apex predator. In one fluid, violent motion, he slammed her back against the cold marble wall. The impact knocked the oxygen from her lungs. Before she could gasp, he caught both of her wrists in a single hand, pinning them high above her head. His grip was a steel manacle, bruising and absolute.

  "Let! Me! Go!" Kora hissed, her 160cm frame thrashing against his. Her violet witch-light flickered at her fingertips, but the sheer weight of his presence seemed to smother her magic.

  Valerius didn't flinch. He leaned in, his 185cm frame caging her completely. He was so close she could feel the unnatural chill radiating from his skin, a stark contrast to the heat of her own panic. He didn't look at her with anger; he looked at her with a terrifying, calculated hunger.

  He leaned his head down, his nose brushing the sensitive skin of her neck. Kora flinched, her eyes squeezed shut as she waited for the bite—the same violation she had watched her family perform every Blood Moon. Instead, he simply inhaled.

  "Do you have any idea what you smell like, Kora?" he whispered, his voice a low vibration against her skin. "To a vampire, you are a sun that never sets. To me... you are the cure for a curse I never asked for."

  "I am a person, not a bottle of medicine!" Kora spat, glaring into his dark eyes. "You’re just like Malakor. You see a weapon, or a tool. You don't see me."

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  Valerius’s eyes darkened, the rational executive replaced by the ruthless commander. He pressed his body closer, forcing her to feel the hard planes of his chest. "Your father saw a failure. I see a masterpiece. And unlike the King of Elysia, I do not throw away my most valuable assets." He shifted his grip, his thumb grazing the pulse point at her wrist, feeling the frantic, erratic beat of her heart.

  "Kill me then," she challenged, her voice trembling. "Drink until there’s nothing left."

  "Death is too easy a fate for a Solari princess," Valerius murmured, his lips ghosting over her ear. "I have much slower plans for you. You will stay here. You will learn the architecture of this house, the limits of your cage, and the sound of my footsteps. And eventually, Kora, you will realize the dark is the only thing protecting you from the light."

  He released her so abruptly she almost fell. Kora slumped against the wall, gasping as he turned his back on her—the ultimate insult. "The doors are locked by my blood," he said over his shoulder. "In the Nocturnal Dominion, the only person who can hear you is me."

  The heavy doors clicked shut. Panic, cold and sharp, flooded Kora’s chest. She threw herself at the door, lashing out with every spell she knew. She blasted the stone, clawed at the wood, and screamed until her throat was raw. "Valerius! Enough of your games! Let me out!"

  In the high-tech silence of the control room, Valerius watched her through the monitors. He saw her desperation, her violet magic sparking and dying like a failing candle. But as he watched, his stoic expression fractured. The moonlight shifting through the high windows turned a haunting, icy azure. The Blue Moon.

  Inside the room, Kora felt the sudden, agonizing withdrawal. It wasn't just exhaustion; it felt as if the very marrow was being sucked from her bones. She had forced too much magic out, and now the lunar cycle was reclaiming it all. Her lungs seized, her strength vanished, and her world tilted.

  The door flew open. Valerius didn't run to her like a lover; he descended like a storm. He caught her before she hit the floor, his grip tight and punishing. He didn't offer a gentle word. Instead, he looked at her with a furious, rational heat.

  "You're a fool," he hissed, his voice trembling with a possessive rage as he felt her life force flickering. "Did you think I would let you destroy my only asset just to prove a point?"

  He lifted her easily, her 160cm body feeling like a feather in his arms, and carried her deeper into his fortress. He wasn't saving her for her sake—he was securing his prize.