A Desperate Pact

Anya stayed for a while before turning to leave. At the doorway, she curved her lips in a faint smile. "I heard the zombie king sent you a proposal. Are you really planning to say yes?"

My heart skipped a beat. How did she know? I had never breathed a word of it.

…

Two hours later, the door burst open under a violent kick, and Victor charged in like a beast gone mad, slamming me to the ground. "Where's Anya?" His eyes blazed crimson as his hand locked around my throat.

"I don't live in her head. How would I know?" My voice rasped under the chokehold as the suffocating pressure built.

"Don't know?" His face twisted in fury. "She's kind and never makes enemies. The last person she saw was you. Who else but you would do something to her, you vile bitch?"

The next moment, his palm cracked across my face. A loud slap rang in my ears, leaving my cheek swollen and burning.

"Still want to talk tough?" Victor had lost all reason. He yanked my hair and smashed my forehead against the cold, hard floor. Pain exploded, and hot blood poured down into my eyes, dyeing the world in crimson blur.

"For the last time—where is Anya?" He hauled me up like a carcass, shaking with rage.

"I don't know…" My consciousness wavered on the edge of blackness.

"Stubborn to the end." He began dragging me out like dead weight.

"Victor…" A trembling voice called out nearby.

Anya rushed forward and clung to him, her words choked with sobs. "Victor, I'm so scared. Just now, some people were saying I should be married off to the zombie king. They even said it was Zoe's idea."

Time itself seemed to freeze.

Victor let out a chilling laugh, the sound scraping from his throat. Power erupted from him in a violent surge, slamming into my unguarded body with devastating force. Blood gushed from my mouth as pain ripped through my insides, as though every organ had been shattered.

He released me like trash and pulled Anya protectively behind him. "A fine match like marrying the zombie king should be yours personally." Without another glance, he left with her.

I collapsed on the ground, vision dimming, my eyelids too heavy to hold open. Just before darkness claimed me, a voice brushed against my ears.

"Who would've thought my fiancee could look so pitiful?"

My head jerked up. Standing not far away, arms crossed over his chest, was Magnus. My eyes widened in shock, baffled that no one had noticed he had gotten inside.

Magnus stepped forward, silent and imposing. His cold fingers gripped my chin, forcing my head up. Those abyssal eyes held no emotion, only the stillness of death. "Come with me." His voice was steady and low, flat as an undercurrent beneath ice.

My heart lurched in my throat. At my strongest, even with Victor at my side, I had barely managed to hold him off. And now, battered and broken, I was nothing but an ant before him.

The instinct to survive drowned everything else. My fists unclenched, and with trembling fingers, I grabbed the hem of his pants. My hoarse voice shook with desperation. "Alright. Take me away now."