Chapter 3 Marry Me or Die

Zara's POV

"Because to the world you are dead."

I stared at Rael unbelievably, trying to control my laughter.

"You bloody liar." I spat my voice, rough and barely sounding like mine. Rael didn't blink, he just looked at me as if I were stupid. Then he turned and signaled to the maid.

"Turn it on."

A maid picked up the remote without a word, like she was used to obeying, and pointed the remote to the screen mounted in the corner of the room.

Click, static, then the news. I almost laughed again, it felt so ridiculous, like he had hired actors and scripted this moment, it looked like some twisted test. But then I saw it. They used my graduation picture, the same one hung in my father's study. The screen read.

Zara Monroe laid to rest- Heiress pronounced dead after a tragic disappearance.

A video began to roll, it was my fucking funeral. A closed casket, a sea of black, and then I saw Jade clutching Ethan like she'd lost his soul. Her head was buried in his chest, his arms wrapped around her like she was his world. Mara stood beside them, dry-eyed, dressed in black lace; she looked smug, like she wasn't the reason I was six feet under.

I could feel the tears threatening to fall at the corner of my eyes, my breath caught, and I could barely process the words the reporter was saying.

"Zara Monroe's body was found badly decomposed after an alleged kidnapping and murder. Due to the condition, the family has opted for a closed-casket ceremony. Her husband, Ethan Monroe, has stepped in as acting CEO of Monroe Holdings, with her sister Mara as executive assistant, and the police have concluded their investigations and closed the case."

"They buried me, uh?" I whispered. "They made it look so real. I'm still here, I'm not dead." I whispered. I could feel the dirt in my throat and the taste of blood."

Jade wiped fake tears on the screen. "She was my best friend. She had such a kind heart. I miss her every day."

Liar, I tried to sit up, but pain stabbed through my ribs, but I didn't care.

"Turn it off," I screamed. No one moved; it was as if I were talking to the air.

"TURN OFF THE FUCKING TV!" The maid jumped and scrambled for the remote.

The screen went blank. I was shaking as my hands were cold and my mind was on fire.

"They think I'm dead." Real stepped closer, his gaze never leaving me.

"I told you."

"I need to leave," I choked. "I need to go back. I need to..."

"Go where?" he cut in, voice sharp.

I tried to push off the bed. My legs didn't move. My body trembled with weakness.

"I don't care anywhere that isn't here!"

Rael didn't flinch. He simply said, "You leave, you die. That's how this works."

"Who gave you the right to decide that?"

"I don't need rights," he said. "I have power."

"You can't just keep me here!"

"I'm not keeping you," he replied. "I'm protecting you. You just don't realize it yet."

I laughed bitterly. "You're delusional."

He leaned in slightly. "No. I just live in a world you don't understand."

I was about to snap again when he added, quieter this time, "But you will."

"What is this place?" I asked, breath ragged. "What kind of city buries secrets like mine and walks around in shadows?" Rael didn't answer immediately; instead, he walked to the window and parted the heavy curtains. The moonlight shone like it owned the night.

"This territory," he said, "isn't ruled by men in suits. It's ruled by instinct. Blood. Teeth."

I swallowed. "You're insane."

"You're alive because of me," he said, turning back to face me. "You crossed my land. You bled on it. That makes you part of it."

"I didn't ask to be!"

He stepped closer. "And yet... here you are."

Silence stretched between us for what seemed like forever. I hated him because there was something raw in his voice. Something scarred.

"Why?" I asked, softer this time. "Why didn't you just leave me?"

Rael tilted his head, studying me like a puzzle that refused to solve itself.

"Because people don't claw their way out of graves," he said simply. "Not unless they're meant for more."

More?

I didn't know what that meant.

But I hated that it made sense.

"I want answers," I whispered.

"You'll get them."

"When?"

"When you're strong enough to survive them."

I looked down at my arms. At the tubes. The bandages. The weight of what they'd done to me.

And then I asked, almost against my own will, "What are you?"

Rael smiled, it wasn't kind or comforting. It was savage.

"Not human," he said. "And soon... neither will you be."

I swallowed, my throat burning. "I don't care what you are. I'll find a way out of here."

Rael's golden eyes gleamed amused, but not soft. Nothing about him was ever soft.

I nodded, lips trembling. "I'll find a way."

He moved closer. The bed dipped beneath his weight, but it was his voice that made my blood still. His voice was low and lethal.

"I could send you back," he murmured. "To the man who tried to kill you, you want that?"

My breath hitched. I didn't speak, I just stared at him. Rael grabbed my chin, his fingers were rough but gentle, and stared at me, like he could strip my thoughts bare.

"Or..." he whispered, "you can stay. As mine."

My pulse thundered. I wanted to look away, but it was as if I were under his spell.

"Be my Luna, Zara." My mouth parted, but no sound came out.

"Marry me," he said, each word sharper than the last. "Or die."

The room went still,  and I gasped. Rael released me as if letting go was an act of mercy, and then, with a voice like a prophecy, he said.

"Because if you think being dead was hell... You haven't survived me yet.