I woke up with a headache and a stranger's hand on my shoulder. I screamed. The man stepped back immediately. "Easy."

"Don't touch me." I scrambled backward until my spine hit the headboard. My eyes darted around the room. I didn't recognize it.

The ceiling was high, the walls were dark, and heavy curtains covered windows that looked tall enough to belong in a palace.

A palace? My stomach twisted. The last thing I remembered was Lucien, his face, his crimson eyes. The men kneeling before him, then nothing. I looked down at myself.

I was wearing same dress, same shoes. No blood. No injuries. But something was missing.

My phone. I searched the bedside table. I couldn't find it. The stranger cleared his throat. "You've been unconscious for several hours."

"Where am I?" He didn't answer. "Where is Lucien?" The man's expression tightened. That wasn't the reaction of someone hearing an unfamiliar name.

He knew him. Of course he did. I threw the blanket aside. "I'm leaving."

"You can't." I stopped. "Excuse me?" You aren't permitted to leave this room. I stared at him. "Who exactly do you think you are?" Before he could answer, the door opened. Two more men entered, both dressed in black. Both unnervingly calm.

The first man stepped aside. The older one looked at me. Then, to my horror, he bowed. "Good morning, Your Majesty."

I blinked. "No." He straightened. "Your Majesty."

"Don't call me that." I shouted. He exchanged a glance with the other two. I pointed toward the door. "I don't know where I am. I don't know who you people are. I don't know what happened last night, and I certainly am not anybody's majesty."

Nobody laughed, cause that wasn't funny actually. And that frightened me more than if they had. The older man walked toward me. "My name is Dorian Valecrest."

Okay... I waited. He seemed to expect the name to mean something. It didn't. "I'm Lucien Veyr's chief adviser." My stomach dropped. "Where is he?"

"Handling a matter of state." Matter of state? "Then take me to him." Dorian's expression became unreadable. "That won't be possible."

"Why?" I screamed. "Because His Majesty specifically ordered that you remain here." I stared at him.

"Ordered?" Yes. "Tell him I don't take orders from strangers." A faint flicker of amusement crossed Dorian's face. It disappeared almost immediately. "I suspect he'll find that unsurprising." I moved toward the door.

One of the guards stepped in front of me. I stopped. "You cannot keep me here." We aren't imprisoning you. "Then move." He didn't. I looked at Dorian. "What is this place?"

The royal palace. My mouth went dry. "No."

"The palace of Veyloria." I laughed once. It came out wrong. "Veyloria isn't real." Dorian said nothing. I looked around the room again. The enormous bed, the dark wood, the strange silver symbols carved into the walls, the heavy curtains. Everything suddenly felt less like a hotel and more like a nightmare someone had spent a fortune decorating.

I turned back to him. "Take me home." Dorian's expression softened. "I wish I could."

"Why can't you?" He hesitated. Then he reached into his coat. He pulled out a small black envelope. He placed it on the table beside me. I stared at it.

"What is that?" Your death warrant. My blood turned cold. "What?" Dorian didn't blink. "Someone ordered your execution three hours ago." I stared at him.

"Mine?" Yes. "Why?" His silence lasted too long. "Because of who you are." I swallowed. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"I know." He opened the envelope. Inside was a single sheet of parchment. There was writing on it. I couldn't read the symbol at the bottom. But I recognized the handwriting.

My heart stumbled. I'd seen it before. Not recently, years ago. On birthday cards. On the notes my mother used to leave beside my breakfast. My mother's handwriting.

I grabbed the paper. "Where did you get this?" Dorian's eyes narrowed. "You recognize it?" I looked at him. "Where did you get it?"

He didn't answer. "Who gave you this?" Still no answer My fingers tightened around the parchment. "Where is my mother?" The room went silent. Dorian looked genuinely surprised. "You remember her?" The question hit me strangely.

"Of course I remember my mother." Something changed in his face. He glanced toward the door; then back at me. "Interesting." "What is?"

Before he could answer, the door opened again. This time, nobody needed to announce who had entered. Every person in the room immediately lowered their head. My body went rigid. Lucien walked in.

He had changed clothes. Black shirt, black trousers, no tie. His dark hair was slightly disordered, and there was a thin line of blood across one knuckle. His eyes found mine. He didn't look at anyone else. "Sera."

I hated the way my name sounded in his voice. Like it belonged there. Like it had always belonged there. I stepped toward him. "You kidnapped me."

"No. You had me brought here unconscious." You were unconscious before I arrived. His jaw tightened.

Dorian quietly left the room. The guards followed. The door closed. Suddenly, it was just Lucien and me. I folded my arms. "I want to go home."

"I know." Then let me.

I can't. "Why?" He walked toward me. I didn't move. His gaze dropped briefly to my hand. I followed it. The black ring was still on my finger. I tried pulling it off. It didn't move.

"What is this?" Lucien stopped. His expression changed. Where did you get that? "I woke up wearing it. He stared at the ring, then at me. "You don't remember."

"Remember what?" He looked almost pained. "That you put it on." I shook my head. "I didn't."

You did. "When?" His silence told me everything. There was something I couldn't remember. Something important.

I stepped closer. "What happened last night?" Lucien looked at me. His eyes were unreadable. Then he said quietly: "You became my wife." I laughed. I actually laughed.

Because the alternative was screaming. "I'm sorry?" He didn't smile. "You heard me." I looked down at the ring. Then back at him. "You married me?"

"No." My confusion deepened. "Then what do you mean?" Lucien's eyes held mine. "You didn't marry me, Sera. I claimed you." My breath caught. He stepped closer. And for the first time since waking up, I understood why everyone in this place was afraid of him.

Not because he was the Vampire King, not because he had crimson eyes. But because when Lucien Veyr looked at me... he looked like a man who had already decided I belonged to him. And somewhere deep inside me, something answered. Something I didn't understand. Something that terrified me even more than he did.