Accidentally Married To A Demon - Mila Young Page 0,11

everything that had happened since I arrived here. Rog. Batten appearing unexpectedly. Me bleeding on the contract. And now in this dream with this creature. It was no coincidence, was it?

"I never lied about that," he whispered. "One finds that a great many talents develop over the centuries that I have prowled this boring ball of dirt and water."

"Well, at least you admit to being a predator." Egging the creature on was probably a bad idea. "So what are you, exactly? Not a lot of creatures are capable of working a blood contract, and most wouldn't care about what happens to a rotten old vineyard in Transylvania. So... a blood demon?" I may have broken things off with my family, but I was forced to read a lot about the supernatural growing up to know I had been played.

The darkness shimmered closer, the bright red eyes latching on to me. It felt like it was holding on to me physically.

"Go on," he whispered.

"I mean, what else is there to say?" I turned back around to look at myself in the mirror, feeling the eyes still on me even though there was no sign of a reflection of the monster behind me. "You tricked me into signing a contract with my blood. Let me guess, something to release you from whatever it is that's binding you to this fucking place? What I don't understand is... what the hell is up with the wedding dress?"

"You don't understand a great deal." The voice was hissing, and I could feel the heat of it against my ear. "Why would I ever want to leave my home?"

"So I... didn't release you?" Now my head hurt.

"Quite the contrary."

I scowled. "What the hell is the contrary of releasing you? If you were already bound, what the hell did I..."

Even with it out of sight, it felt like he was laughing at me, and that burned through me. I turned back around, meeting his eyes once more.

"What was the contract? What did you trick me into?"

"It sounds like you should have read the fine print before signing stuff. You'd think your generation would learn that lesson, what with all the Terms and Conditions that you're putting your names on."

I took a step forward, feeling blood rushing in my ears, reaching out for the power that seemed only too eager to jump to my fingertips.

"What... did you do?"

"I did nothing. My physical form is bound to this vineyard by my own devices. When your aunt appeared, I cared for her a great deal, even if she was never much good at caring for this place. I assume it was because her true intent was to study my presence. But it matters little. With your blood, by drinking mine, you have bound yourself to me, and in turn to this place, just as I have been. Until death parts us, as it were."

The dress suddenly started to make a lot of sense, and a sinking feeling dropped through me. I looked down at it, eyes widening. There was something in me that refused to accept what he was saying.

"We... are not getting married."

The smile grew closer, the eyes gleaming more intensely.

"Time to wake now."

The world fell away from me, and it started to feel more like a dream. All the colors turned back, melding into the darkness of the creature until all I could see were the eyes and the fang-filled smile.

And then it all disappeared. Light was pouring into a room through the cracks in the shutters. I blinked a few times, trying to get my bearings.

Every second of the dream was burned into my memory, and yet despite that, I felt oddly rested. I couldn't remember the last time that I'd woken up feeling rested.

"Fucking magic," I whispered. Nothing was ever how it seemed, and when I was feeling rested like this, it usually meant that there was a reason for it.

I really didn't want to go into any reasoning as to what might have allowed me to feel rested after the day I'd had.

The bed was surprisingly comfortable, and aside from the slats on the windows, the whole room looked like it was reasonably modern. There were even outlets in the walls, and as I checked my phone, sure enough, there was Wi-Fi.

"Bare necessities."

I pulled the window open, regretting it immediately as the bright light made my eyes hurt until they adjusted to it.

It was morning. I'd arrived at the vineyard sometime in the mid-afternoon, which I