Chapter 1

I had been married to the vampire duke, Victor Blackwood, for five years.

Every month, I surrendered a year of my life to hold his vampire curse at bay.

But when his first crush, Lydia Nightshade, came back, they locked me away in the basement.

I begged him desperately. "I'm sick. I will die if I'm left alone in the dark."

Victor sneered, "You don't even try to make your lies convincing."

But what he never expected was that three days after my death, he, a vampire, would begin to fear the dark.

*****

Victor and Lydia locked me away in the crypt.

"Spend the night in there," Victor ordered coldly. "I'll come get you myself tomorrow. If you're really sick, I'll get you the best doctor in the world."

The heavy stone door slammed shut behind me.

The sound of the bolt sliding into place was piercingly shrill.

Darkness closed in around me.

It was so dark that I couldn't see my hand, and that familiar, suffocating ache tightened around my chest.

The air felt like it was slowly being sucked away.

I slid down into the corner, my back pressed against the cold edge of the coffin.

Mindless, I dug my fingers into the stone floor until my nail broke, warm blood seeping out.

I gasped for air, but it felt like there was less and less to breathe in.

Under the skin of my wrist, something was writhing.

They were the curse marks of the light‑fear backlash.

For five years, every month, I surrendered a year of my life to hold Victor's vampire curse at bay.

I was too feeble now, and the backlash's force struck back.

I bit down hard on my lip, the sharp tang of blood flooding my mouth.

I couldn't let myself black out.

If I lost consciousness, I would suffocate and die right here.

Just then, I heard the soft sound of footsteps in the corridor outside.

It was Lydia.

"Hey, Evelyn." Her voice came through the heavy stone door, barely more than a murmur. "You are afraid of the dark, aren't you?

"I went ahead and sealed up every air vent for you, so now there's not a breeze coming through. Relax. Victor will never know. So you can die quietly in here."

Then came a soft laugh.

Footsteps faded away.

I lifted my head, my throat rasping harshly.

Even the last three air vents were blocked.

I sank into endless confinement and darkness.

I wrapped my arms around myself, crouched on the floor, my hands trembling badly.

The medicine bottle was empty. It had been empty for three days.

I pulled free a talisman.

It was a reversed blood pact.

For five years, I'd spent every bit of my wedding gifts and poured my heart and soul into Victor.

But in the end, he believed Lydia's lies and thought I'd been faking my illness all this time.

So they locked me away in this pitch-black crypt.

I tugged at the corner of my mouth, a hoarse laugh rattling in my throat.

Honestly, feeling sorry for a guy was asking for a lifetime of misery. I totally deserved it.

It was foretold that I had seven years of life left, precisely enough to suppress the curse's final layer.

I fumbled to spread the talisman flat upon the floor.

The pain of my snapped nail had grown numb.

I squeezed warm beads of blood from my lacerated index finger, and they fell onto the invisible talisman.

I could feel the blood soaking into the talisman, bleeding out in blurry stains.

A bone-deep chill crept up from my limbs, seeping straight into my heart.

As the final stroke sealed the pact and the contract was complete, a knock echoed from outside the stone door.