All Chapters of The Billionaire and his Blood-Bride: Chapter 21
- Chapter 30
38 chapters
Chapter Twenty-One – Shadows in the Emberlight
Lana rose, the silence of the estate wrapping itself around her like a second skin. Beyond the thick curtains, rain still whispered against the glass, though it had lost the restless energy of earlier.She found Grey in the adjoining hall, standing with one hand braced against the window frame, staring into the night as if waiting for something to move in the darkness. His coat was gone, his sleeves rolled, the faint lamplight painting the lines of his forearms in bronze.“You left me alone in there,” she said softly.His gaze didn’t shift. “I needed to think.”“About?”Grey’s profile was cut in sharp relief, the shadow along his jaw like a drawn blade. “About whether this is already out of our hands.”She stepped closer. “You mean — if it’s too late?”Finally, he looked at her, and she almost wished he hadn’t. His eyes were dark, not with anger, but with the sort of clarity that came from staring down the inevitable. “If someone knew to find us at Willowmarch, they can find us anywhe
Last Updated : 2025-09-04
Chapter Twenty-Two – Bait in the Dark
The plan wasn’t spoken aloud in its entirety — not because it was complicated, but because saying it would make it too real.Lana sat on the edge of the bed in the guest room, her coat draped over her lap, watching Grey move around the room with the precision of someone setting a trap. Every object he touched — the lamp, the small mirror on the dresser, even the chair by the window — seemed to be placed for a reason.“You’re making it obvious,” she said finally.“That’s the point.”She frowned. “So we’re… advertising that we’re here?”Grey glanced at her. “We’re letting them think we’re predictable. They need to believe we’ve settled in, that we’re comfortable enough to be careless.”“And then?”He didn’t answer immediately. The lamplight caught on the sharp angle of his cheekbone as he straightened, tucking something — she couldn’t see what — into his coat pocket. “Then they’ll come to us.”A shiver worked its way down her spine. “You’re assuming they’re watching.”Grey stepped close
Last Updated : 2025-09-04
Chapter Twenty-Three – The Man in the Rain
Grey was already moving before Lana’s mind caught up.By the time she reached the front hall, the heavy door was swinging shut behind him, rain sweeping in through the gap like a curtain of needles.She plunged after him without thinking, her boots slipping on the slick stone of the porch. The night hit her like a wall — rain pouring in relentless sheets, wind howling through the trees. Somewhere ahead, Grey’s figure moved like a shadow within a shadow, cutting across the drive toward the tree line.“Grey!” she shouted, but her voice was ripped away by the storm.He didn’t look back.Branches clawed at her coat as she pushed into the woods. The beam of Grey’s small flashlight — no, she remembered, a lantern — flickered ahead, weaving through the darkness. It cast brief, sharp images: wet leaves like glass, the glint of a puddle, the curve of a boot disappearing behind a trunk.The man was fast, but Grey was faster. His long strides ate up the ground, his focus absolute. Lana tried to
Last Updated : 2025-09-04
Chapter Twenty-Four – The Locket Between Them
The rain had softened to a steady drizzle by the time Grey returned from securing the shutters. The study felt smaller now, as though the storm had pressed the walls in around them. Shadows stretched long in the flickering light, and the smell of damp earth drifted in from somewhere unseen.Lana sat curled in the armchair nearest the fire, a blanket draped over her shoulders. She was still chilled to the bone, though she wasn’t sure whether it was the rain or the memory of that man’s sudden vanishing.Grey placed the lantern on the table, the flame dancing behind the glass. He pulled the locket from his coat pocket and set it down between them.It gleamed faintly, a small thing that seemed far too light to carry so much weight.“You’re going to open it?” she asked, her voice soft but edged with anticipation.“Not yet.”Her brow furrowed. “Why not?”He met her gaze for a heartbeat, then looked away. “Because once I do, there’s no undoing it. And because tonight…” He exhaled slowly, rub
Last Updated : 2025-09-05
Chapter Twenty-Five – The House That Wouldn’t Sleep
The storm hadn’t lifted. Rain whispered against the high windows, and every so often the wind rattled the shutters in a way that made the walls seem to flinch.Lana sat forward in her chair, elbows on her knees, eyes fixed on the locket. Grey hadn’t moved it from the table. It gleamed faintly in the lantern-light — small, harmless-looking, and utterly dangerous.“Do you think he’s still in the house?” she asked at last.Grey didn’t look up from the brandy glass in his hand. “If he is, he’s not making the mistake of being seen twice.”She shifted in her seat. “Then he knows we know.”“That’s usually how it works,” Grey said dryly, but his gaze flicked to the door, listening. Always listening.The quiet was too fragile to last. Somewhere upstairs, a door banged open and then shut again — not with the slow, heavy sigh of old wood, but with force. Deliberate.Grey was already on his feet, the blade in his hand. “Stay here,” he said.“Like hell I will.” Lana was up before she thought about
Last Updated : 2025-09-05
Chapter Twenty-Six – The Man Upstairs
The sound came again — slow, deliberate, the kind of step that wasn’t trying to hide.Lana’s eyes flicked to Grey. He didn’t speak, didn’t move for a moment. He was counting the seconds between each creak, measuring the weight, the pace.“Not Seraphine,” he said finally. His tone wasn’t reassuring.He rose from his chair with a quiet precision, blade in one hand, lantern in the other. The shadows the light cast on the walls seemed to crawl ahead of him, stretching toward the staircase. Lana followed, her pulse thudding in her throat.The air on the stairs was different — thicker, as though the walls themselves were listening.Halfway up, the faint murmur of voices reached them. One voice, male, steady. Another… softer, younger, almost coaxing.Grey held up a hand. Lana froze, straining to hear.“—said you wouldn’t bring them here,” the male voice was saying. “It isn’t time.”A pause. Then the girl from before — the one who had fled into the rain — answered. “They already have it. If w
Last Updated : 2025-09-05
Chapter Twenty-Seven – Splinters in the Dark
Grey took the stairs two at a time, the lantern beam cutting through dust motes that swirled like disturbed ash. The sound that had drawn him — that deliberate slam — had come from the far end of the upper hallway.He didn’t look back at Lana. She was still downstairs, framed in the glow from the hearth, standing opposite Seraphine’s messenger.The man had given his name only as Calder, and even that had been spoken as though it didn’t matter whether she remembered it. He leaned casually against the wall near the front door, peeling away one damp glove at a time. His movements were slow, deliberate — the same measured cadence as the three knocks he had given earlier.Lana didn’t trust him. His eyes were too still, his posture too relaxed for someone who claimed danger was close.“What do you mean he’s still here?” she asked.Calder tilted his head toward the ceiling, listening. “The man you almost caught in the woods — the one you chased into the Willowmarch. He isn’t finished.”“That
Last Updated : 2025-09-05
Chapter Twenty-Eight – The Double at the Door
The knock came again.Three times. Even slower now.Lana stared at the front door, her pulse quickening despite herself. Calder didn’t move, though the cord in his hands was drawn so tight the wood of the door seemed to bow inward.“Someone’s playing with us,” Lana said.Calder’s expression didn’t shift. “Not someone. Him.”“But you’re here,” she said.His eyes slid toward hers, calm and unnerving. “Not all of me.”Before she could ask what that meant, footsteps sounded overhead — heavy, uneven — and Grey’s voice cut through the silence.“Lana!”She turned toward the stairs, relief mixing with confusion. He sounded close, but she couldn’t see him.The knock came again, perfectly timed, as if to answer him.Calder stepped away from the door without loosening the cord. “Do not open that.” His tone had no edge of pleading, only certainty. “If you do, you’ll invite him in.”“Invite who?” she asked, exasperated.“You already met him,” Calder said. “You just didn’t see his face.”⸻Upstairs
Last Updated : 2025-09-05
Chapter Twenty-Nine – Shadows at the Threshold
The night held its breath.Outside, the wind had died down, but the air felt heavier now — as if the darkness itself had weight.Lana stood by the window, fingers pressed lightly against the cool glass. The estate grounds stretched away in shadow, the trees like silent sentinels against the black sky. Somewhere far off, an owl called — a long, mournful note that echoed between the branches.“Do you see anything?” Grey’s voice was close behind her, low and steady.She shook her head, but her eyes didn’t leave the dark. “Nothing yet. But I feel it. Like the whole forest is waiting.”Calder moved quietly to stand beside them, the tension in his posture unmistakable. His eyes flicked to every shadow, every sway of the branches.“They’re coming,” he said.Lana swallowed hard. “Who? The ones you said were outside?”Calder nodded. “The watchers. The ones who see everything but never show themselves until the last moment.”Grey’s gaze hardened. “We can’t let them catch us off guard.”A sudden
Last Updated : 2025-09-05
Chapter Thirty – The Gathering Storm
The house held its breath.Outside, the trees whispered secrets to one another, the wind threading between branches like fingers tracing an ancient spell. Grey stood near the front window, his silhouette sharp against the dim glow of the lantern light, eyes narrowed, watching the darkness where the watchers waited.Lana remained by the hearth, the fire casting long, flickering shadows that danced across her face. Her fingers toyed nervously with the delicate chain of the locket around her neck — the very same locket that had set all this into motion. The silver glinted softly, but the weight of its secret pressed heavily on her chest.Calder paced the length of the room, hands clenched behind his back, the lines of his face carved deep with worry. He glanced at the others, his voice breaking the fragile silence. “They’ll come for the locket soon. The watchers don’t wait.”Grey’s gaze flicked to Calder, his jaw clenched but his voice calm. “Then we need a plan. The house isn’t just a p
Last Updated : 2025-09-05