23: The Effects of the Elders
23: The Effects of the Elders
Luca’s POV
A Bargain with the Devil
The Elders had barely left, but their presence clung to the room like poison, seeping into the walls, into the air, into my skin. No matter how many times I’d stood in their presence, the weight of their power always left a mark.
Isabella stood frozen beside me, her breathing sharp and uneven, her chest rising and falling in quick, shallow movements. Her skin still shimmered with the aftershock of whatever dark energy had torn through her moments ago. Even now, I could feel it in the air between us—a silent hum of something ancient and unrestrained, something even the Elders had feared.
But my mind wasn’t on the power she had just unleashed.
It was on the price they had demanded.
Deliver her.
Or lose everything.
I clenched my jaw so hard it ached.
I would rather burn the world to the ground before I gave her up.
But the Elders didn’t make idle threats. They didn’t posture or bluff. If they wanted something, they took it—whether by force or by slow, careful manipulation.
And I knew, deep in my bones, they would not stop until Isabella was theirs.
Which meant I had to find a way to buy us time.
No matter the cost.
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Isabella’s POV
The Monster They Can’t Cage
My whole body trembled, though whether it was from exhaustion or the lingering effects of whatever had awakened inside me, I wasn’t sure.
I tried to breathe through the panic twisting in my chest, but nothing helped. The moment Gregor had spoken those words, everything had changed.
I wasn’t human.
I wasn’t fully vampire.
I was something else entirely. And the worst part?
Even I didn’t know what that meant.
But they did.
The Elders had known the second they laid eyes on me.
And they wanted to own me.
The thought made nausea rise in my throat, but even worse was the way Luca was acting. He hadn’t spoken since they left. Hadn’t touched me, not even when he had pulled me into his room.
And I hated how much that made me feel alone.
"Luca," I whispered, my voice barely more than a breath. I sat on the edge of the bed, curling my hands into the fabric of my dress just to keep them from shaking. "What happens next?"
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Luca stood near the window, his back to me, shoulders tense as if he were barely keeping himself in check. The muscles in his arms flexed as he braced himself against the frame, his fingers digging into the wood.
The way he stood there, completely still yet vibrating with raw energy, sent a shiver through me.
"They won’t wait forever," he said finally, his voice quiet but laced with something dark.
Something inevitable.
A lump formed in my throat. "So what?" I forced out, my voice stronger than I felt. "You’re going to hand me over?"
In a flash, he was in front of me, gripping my chin between his fingers, tilting my face up to meet his. His silver eyes burned with something fierce, something possessive.
"No one takes you from me," he growled, his voice low and dangerous. "Not them. Not anyone."
The promise sent a shiver down my spine, but beneath the strength of his words, I could feel it.
Doubt.
It was there, buried deep, but it was there.
Because even Luca knew that if the Elders wanted something, they always got it.
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His thumb brushed over my lips, his touch far gentler than I expected. A stark contrast to the storm raging inside him.
But there was nothing gentle about the way he was looking at me.
His eyes were full of raw possession, dark and unyielding.
"You’re mine, dolcezza," he murmured, his voice rough with a hunger that had nothing to do with blood. "Say it."
A warmth spread through me, curling low in my belly.
I wanted to fight it. I wanted to pretend I wasn’t affected by him, that I could still hold on to whatever part of me had belonged to myself before all of this.
But it was a lie.
I swallowed hard, my breath catching. "I’m yours," I whispered.
The second the words left my lips, his expression darkened with satisfaction.
His hand slid lower, tracing the curve of my neck, his fingers pressing just above the mark he had left there. A reminder that, in every way that mattered, I was already his.
"You think I’d let them touch you?" His lips grazed the hollow of my throat, his breath sending a shiver down my spine. "I’d kill them first."
My pulse pounded beneath his touch, and I barely had time to think before his fangs skimmed my skin, right over the spot where he had bitten me before.
A warning. A temptation.
And right now, I wanted him to lose control.
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I shifted against him, my body moving on instinct, aching for something I didn’t fully understand.
He felt it. He always did.
"You’re shaking," he murmured, his voice thick with amusement. "Is it fear? Or is it because you’re already wet for me?"
A whimper escaped me as his fingers brushed against the sensitive spot between my legs, teasing me through the thin lace of my panties.
My whole body burned.
"I need you," I gasped, hating how much I meant it.
Luca let out a low, dark chuckle.
"You need me to keep you grounded," he said, slipping his fingers beneath the fabric, sliding through my wetness in slow, torturous strokes.
"And you love how much you can’t fight it."
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Before I could beg for more, he pulled away.
The loss of his touch was immediate, agonizing.
I blinked up at him, my body still pulsing with need. "Why did you stop?"
Luca knelt in front of me, his hands resting on my thighs, but his expression was unreadable now.
"Because if I take you now," he said, his voice impossibly low, "there’s no going back."
His silver eyes burned into mine, full of something dangerous.
Something final.
"I need something from you first."
I swallowed, my heart hammering. "What?"
His voice was a growl, raw and unrelenting.
"Your blood. And your loyalty."
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I didn’t understand.
I thought he already had me—body and soul.
But this?
This was something else.
A blood oath.
Something ancient, something binding.
If I gave it, I would never be free again.
"You’re mine," Luca said softly, his fingers ghosting over my pulse, feeling the frantic beat beneath my skin.
"But this time—I want to make sure no one else can ever touch you."
And I knew, deep in my bones, that if I said yes…
There would be no turning back.