The First Command

The crypt was colder now, as if the walls themselves sensed the shift of power inside it. Torches sputtered, shadows dancing like restless spirits on the carved stone. Blood still streaked the floor where my fangs had pierced Kael’s neck. The hunter, who moments ago had sworn to end me, now stood frozen, trembling between fury and submission.

I leaned against the coffin, arms crossed loosely over my chest, watching him like a predator watches a wounded wolf.

“Stand,” I said softly.

It wasn’t a shout. It wasn’t even a threat. It was simply my voice—low, velvet, laced with ancient power.

Kael’s entire body stiffened. His hands curled into fists so tight the veins bulged on his forearms. His jaw flexed as if he could grind my command out of existence with his teeth. And yet, his legs straightened, muscles twitching under his coat. Slowly, reluctantly, he stood.

He glared at me, storm-gray eyes sharp enough to cut. “What… did you do to me?”

I smiled faintly, tilting my head. “What you would have done to me, hunter. Claimed your enemy.”

He took a step forward—no, his body tried to take a step forward. His boots scraped the stone, but his chest heaved with strain, every movement like swimming through chains.

“You’re fighting it,” I murmured, approaching him. “That’s good. I like my servants strong enough to hate me for a while.”

Kael’s lips curled back in a snarl. “Servant? I’m not—”

I pressed a finger to his lips, silencing him. The touch burned his pride more than my venom burned his blood.

“Yes,” I whispered. “You are.”

He jerked his head away from my hand, but his body didn’t retreat. His pulse was loud to my ears, a drumbeat of anger and defiance and… something else he hadn’t realized yet.

“You think I’ll help you?” he spat. “You think I’ll kill for you?”

My eyes flared crimson, and the torches dimmed around us. “I think,” I said, each word slow and deliberate, “you will obey. Whether you wish it or not.”

I circled him like a wolf circling a stag. My gown hissed against the floor, shadow trailing behind me like a living thing.

“You have two choices,” I murmured behind him. “Resist until you break… or bend until you belong.”

Kael’s shoulders rose and fell with his breath. “I’ll never belong to you.”

I stopped in front of him again, inches away, tilting my head to study the silver scar that ran along his jawline—proof of a life spent killing my kind. Slowly, deliberately, I touched it with my fingertip.

“You already do,” I whispered.

His storm-gray eyes locked onto mine. There was hatred there. But also confusion. And buried under the confusion, the first flicker of fear.

I smiled, fangs flashing. “Try to strike me, Kael.”

He didn’t hesitate this time. He lunged, grabbing his blade from the floor and swinging it up toward my heart in a single fluid motion. Silver gleamed; the edge hissed with enchantments.

But the blade stopped an inch from my chest. His arm trembled, shaking violently as if invisible hands held it back. His breath came in harsh gasps. Sweat rolled down his temple. He pushed harder, teeth bared, a growl rumbling in his throat.

He couldn’t move it forward.

I reached up slowly, curling my pale fingers around his. “Good boy,” I murmured, lowering the blade until it clattered uselessly to the floor again.

Kael staggered back, staring at his hands as though they belonged to someone else. “What have you done to me?”

I stepped closer, forcing him to look at me. “I’ve bound you,” I said softly. “Your blood is mine. Your heartbeat answers to me. Hate me. Resist me. But you will move when I command it, and you will stop when I say stop.”

His voice dropped to a harsh whisper. “I’ll find a way to break this.”

I leaned in, my fangs grazing his lip, my words brushing the shell of his ear. “Break me first.”

His breath caught. His entire body went rigid. For a heartbeat, the world felt like it was only the two of us—the hunter and the queen—bound by something neither fully understood yet.

Then I stepped back, my expression shifting from seduction to command. “You will come with me to the surface. There are hunters in the city who still dream of my death. You will lure them to me.”

Kael’s eyes flared. “I won’t—”

But his feet moved. His body turned toward the crypt entrance, compelled by my will.

I smiled. “You already are.”

The torches died as we left the crypt. Above us, the city waited, oblivious to the storm about to descend.

I could hear Kael’s heart pounding as he followed me into the dark. Bound by blood, we were now locked in a game of power, hatred, and temptation.

And I had no intention of losing.

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