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Dusk brings a surreal calm.

Because this is the night I’m going to choose which human will become my personal blood source for when I’m turned into a vampire.

“Are you ready?” Aerix asks, his wings extending behind him as I finish getting dressed.

I nod, smoothing down the black silk dress I’ve chosen. It’s elegant enough to assert my status, but not so gaudy as to prance around the barns looking like I’m going to a party instead of choosing one of the humans there for possible death.

“I am,” I say, meeting his midnight eyes, both terrified and exhilarated for what’s to come.

He studies my face, cold air swirling around us as he takes my hand. “You’re perfect,” he murmurs, satisfaction evident in his voice .

“Only because you made me this way.” I give him a soft smile, drawing strength from his touch.

He brushes his thumb across my knuckles, his eyes glowing with dark pride. “Every artist needs their muse,” he whispers. “You were always mine, Zoey. And after you’re immortal, the entire Night Court will see my completed masterpiece.”

“Then let’s create something the Night Court will never forget,” I tell him, and he draws me to him, his lips claiming mine, his fingers tracing lines across my back that make my entire body shudder with desire.

Aerix pulls back first, his wings flaring before folding against his spine again.

“Not yet,” he says, his voice rough with an edge of frustration. “As tempting as you are—and believe me, you’re very, very tempting—we need to finish this first.”

I huff in annoyance, but he’s right. We need to get this next part over with.

So, I let him lead the way out of the palace, where Nyx joins us, carrying us on her back as we prowl across the blood moat’s bridge. The courtyard is beginning to stir with night fae going about their evening routines, but they step aside as we pass, eyes downcast.

Word must have spread about what I did last night.

Good. Let them talk. Let them fear me. Let them see that I belong to their prince now.

The path to the barns takes us through a section of the Night Court I’ve never visited—past the artisan quarter where fae craftsmen work. Then, eventually, we’re making our way through a series of increasingly sparse gardens, until we reach a tall, dark stone building with narrow, barred windows.

“The barns,” Aerix says, his voice neutral as he pushes open the heavy iron door.

“I thought they’d be… wider,” I say simply.

“Why build out when you can build up?” he says with a deadly smile, helping me off Nyx’s back, opening the doors, and leading me inside. “It takes up less space this way.”

The ceiling stretches impossibly high, with cells lining the walls in circles that rise all the way to the top.

The center remains open, creating a dizzying atrium effect where every cell is visible from the ground floor.

Pale moonlight filters through skylights, casting elongated shadows across the stone floor.

“It’s bigger than I expected,” I say, my voice sounding small in the vast space.

“The nobles enjoy their options,” he says simply, his hand settling at the small of my back. “And you have your pick of the entire lot. Now, allow me to take you on the grand tour.”

He holds out a hand, and I take it, squeezing it to ground myself.

“You’re going to do great,” he assures me, as if he can sense my nerves. “You’ll know which one is right for you when you meet them.”

It’s the same advice we gave people when they came by the animal shelter where I volunteered that one summer. As if I’m here to adopt a stray.

But I don’t shudder. I don’t give away a hint of emotion. My immortal future is on the line, and I won’t have Aerix doubt my ability to handle what’s coming next.

He has no reason to doubt it—because I can handle what’s coming next.

So, I walk next to him with my head held high, looking at each person we pass. In one cell, a man stares blankly at the wall. In another, a woman flinches at our approach, pressing herself into the corner. Another sits perfectly still, as if hoping to become invisible.

I pause at a cell where a young man watches us with calculating eyes.

“No men,” Aerix reminds me, his body stiffening, his wings flaring. “No man other than me is going to touch you ever again.”

“As they shouldn’t,” I assure him, yanking my gaze away from the man and continuing forward.

That’s when I see her.

Sophia sits on a narrow cot in her cell, her posture ramrod straight. Her clothes are different now. Plain and utilitarian—nothing like the elegant outfits she wore in the human wing.

But unlike the others, Sophia doesn’t cower. Instead, she watches us, her eyes following our movements with a clarity that seems out of place in this living hell.

Aerix says nothing when I stop in front of her cell. He simply stands beside me, his magic a cool, constant presence as I process what I’m seeing.

Sophia rises to her feet, approaching the bars with deliberate steps.

“Zoey,” she says, soft but steady. No tremor, no tears. Just recognition.

“Sophia,” I reply, studying her. Even here, stripped of everything, there’s dignity in the way she holds herself.

“Taking a tour?” she asks, her eyes flickering to Aerix before returning to me.

He steps forward, ice crackling at his fingertips as his wings spread in a display of dominance.

“Not just a tour,” he says, his voice carrying a musical lilt of satisfaction as he speaks. “She’s here to choose her first pet. You see, tonight is a special night for my consort. Tonight, I’ll transform her into something magnificent. Something eternally mine.”

The temperature drops around us as his magic intensifies, frost patterns forming on the bars of Sophia’s cell.

“She’ll be mine to worship forever,” he continues, his voice dropping to that possessive register that makes my skin tingle. “My masterpiece. Perfect in every way.”

The way he says it—like I’m already immortal, already his forever—makes me step closer to him, as if I’m assuring him that I’m going to be everything he wants me to be and more.

Sophia’s eyes narrow, her gaze shifting from Aerix back to me.

“You think this makes you powerful?” She gestures at my dress, my posture, my place beside Aerix. “Because it doesn’t. You’re becoming the exact thing we feared.”

“And look where fear got you,” I reply simply. Not cold. Not cruel.

Just honest.

Sophia steps back from the bars, still maintaining eye contact. “We all make choices,” she says. “I hope you don’t regret yours.”

Aerix’s magic shifts, his wings ruffling, the air around us chilling further as he places his hand at the small of my back.

“Shall we continue?” he asks me, as if Sophia is simply a minor inconvenience. “There are many more to see before you make your selection.”

I nod, letting him guide me away from Sophia’s cell. But I can’t help glancing back, just once. When I do, it’s to the sight of Sophia sitting back down on her cot, her spine straight, her gaze forward .

She hasn’t broken. She hasn’t surrendered her dignity. She’s simply... adapted. Like I did.

But unlike me, she doesn’t have a prince’s power to save her.