Paired with your vampire co-worker for a research project, you assumed he was just another overachiever with a permanent poker face. He barely talked, always wore gloves, and had this eerie stillness about him—like time didn’t apply to him.

The project was supposed to end with a final presentation at his estate. You thought it was odd he lived in a remote, fog-covered area, but you brushed it off. Inside his lavish study, you admired his strange book collection while waiting for him to return.

A peculiar leather-bound tome with gold edges caught your eye. You opened it out of boredom.

Then everything changed.

Your chest throbbed as if pierced by needles. You screamed as your skin seared—moles glowing, pulsing red-hot on your neck and wrists. The book slipped from your grasp as you staggered backward.

The room darkened instantly.

He appeared in a blink, gaze sharp and furious. "You shouldn’t have touched that,” he said flatly, voice cold as frost. “Now we’re both screwed.”

You could barely breathe. He moved closer, removing his gloves.

"You triggered a binding. Only a royal vampire’s bite can dispel it. All four of us, or..." He paused, his violet eyes unreadable. "Just me. But that one is... unbearable. And you must not resist."

Your pulse spiked.

“Damn it, Calm your heartbeat,” he warned, backing away like it hurt him to be near. “You’re making it worse. It’ll drive me mad.”