The shadows in the Valerio manor deepened, coiling around the marble pillars and gilded halls like serpents sensing blood. The air pulsed with a tension Selena couldn't shake. Every whisper of wind, every flicker of candlelight seemed to speak of something ancient and inevitable.
Ever since the mark had burned itself into her soul, something inside her had shifted. Her dreams had turned into haunting visions—memories not hers, yet carried with the clarity of firsthand pain. A woman in white, bleeding beneath a crimson moon. A beast with glowing eyes chained by obsidian cuffs. Whispers in a forgotten language etched with longing and rage.
Selena woke gasping each night, her sheets soaked, her skin burning where Dante had nearly marked her.
Now, she stood in the grand library of the manor, her fingers ghosting across the spine of an ancient tome. The room smelled of old paper, leather, and something darker—like spilled wine and blood. The moment she'd entered, a particular book had called to her. She didn't know why, but it buzzed beneath her fingertips like a heartbeat.
Before she could open it, the doors creaked open, and Dante's advisor, Cassius, stepped in.
He was tall, lean, and wrapped in midnight-blue robes that shimmered when the light hit them just right. His eyes were ageless. His voice, always calm, now trembled with restrained urgency.
"You felt it," he said without preamble.
Selena turned sharply. "The mark?"
Cassius nodded. "It's not just a bond. It's a call. You've awakened the relic."
"What relic?"
He walked forward and placed a wrapped bundle on the table between them. Unfolding the black velvet, he revealed a blade. It wasn't large, but it gleamed with an otherworldly shine—dark silver, etched with runes that shimmered red.
Selena stepped back instinctively. "That's not a relic. That's a weapon."
Cassius looked at her gravely. "It's both. This is the Fang of Covenant. It's one of the seven relics made in blood and magic during the First War. It binds fates. Tames beasts. Seals oaths that not even death can undo."
"And you think Dante and I need to use it?"
Cassius hesitated, then nodded. "If he marks you without the Blood Oath… he'll lose himself. The beast will take over. You saw a glimpse of it. Next time, it won't stop."
Selena's heart pounded. She could still feel Dante's claws grazing her skin, his voice gravelly with power he barely restrained. But she also remembered how he stopped himself. How he whispered her name like it was the last thread keeping him sane.
"What does the Blood Oath entail?" she asked.
Cassius didn't answer with words. Instead, he opened the tome she'd almost touched. Its pages were parchment-thin, and as he flipped to the marked section, the air thickened.
The passage read:
"To bind the beast to heart and blood, the chosen must bleed in moonlight. The relic must drink. The beast must swear. And the flame of the soul must burn anew. Only then shall the madness be chained."
Selena swallowed hard. "Bleed? Swear? Burn?"
Cassius closed the book. "You must give him a piece of your soul. And he must offer you the same. If either of you hesitates…"
He didn't finish the sentence. He didn't need to.
---
That night, Dante returned.
Selena waited for him in the atrium under the open sky. The moon hung heavy and low, casting silver light across the black pool. She wore white—a shift that made her glow like a spirit.
He appeared without warning, stepping from shadow to moonlight like a phantom. But she saw it instantly—he was barely holding himself together.
His eyes burned too brightly. His fangs were slightly extended. His breath came in short bursts. He was fighting the beast.
"I need you," he rasped.
Selena didn't flinch. "Then take me. The right way."
She held out the Fang of Covenant.
Dante's eyes widened. "Where did you get this?"
"Cassius gave it to me. We need to do the Blood Oath. I saw what happens when you lose control."
He turned away. "I can't risk it. If I bind you to me—if I make the Oath—it means you can never leave. Your soul becomes mine. If I fall, you fall with me."
Selena stepped closer. "Then don't fall."
He laughed, bitter and broken. "You don't know what I am."
"I don't care. I feel what we are. And I know the darkness doesn't scare me anymore."
He faced her, eyes wild. "Then make the Oath. Let the relic taste your blood."
With trembling hands, Selena pricked her finger on the Fang. A single drop of blood fell onto the blade, which sizzled with red fire. Dante did the same, his drop joining hers. The blade pulsed.
They stood face to face, the relic glowing between them.
"Speak the vow," Cassius said, stepping from the shadows.
Dante took Selena's hand and pressed his forehead to hers.
"I, Dante Valerio, swear by blood, soul, and flame—to protect, to possess, and to never forsake the one I bind to."
Selena repeated, her voice strong despite the burning pain in her chest.
"I, Selena Raye, swear by blood, soul, and flame—to trust, to tether, and to never break the bond I now seal."
The moment the words left their lips, the blade vanished in a burst of black flame. A symbol—like a burning crown with fangs—seared into both their skin.
Selena screamed, the pain unlike anything she'd felt.
Dante roared, clutching his chest.
Then silence.
They collapsed into each other's arms, smoke rising from their linked bodies. For a heartbeat, everything was still.
Then Dante gasped. "It's done. The beast… it's caged."
But Cassius's face remained pale.
Selena looked up. "What's wrong?"
Cassius lifted the ancient tome, a second page revealed.
"Should the Oath be forged under a blood moon… the bond shall not merely tame. It shall awaken what sleeps beneath."
Selena's eyes widened. "The blood moon is tonight."
Suddenly, the sky trembled.
Dante clutched his head and screamed—
And the beast's laughter echoed through the night.