Kaison Pov
When I returned to the mansion three weeks later, she was gone.
No note. No explanation. Nothing to indicate where she had gone or why she had left. I searched every room, questioned every staff member, but found only emptiness where she had been.
Something in me shattered that day. The carefully cultivated control I had maintained my entire life splintered like glass striking stone. My blue flames erupted unbidden, scorching the walls of her abandoned room.
I deployed every resource at my disposal to find her. Private investigators. Contacts in law enforcement. My own assassins, instructed to search but not harm. For months turning to years, I hunted, following the faintest rumors of a shadow-wielding woman across continents.
Nothing. It was as if she had never existed.
But I knew better. The phantom imprint of her lips still burned against mine. The memory of her whispering "I love you" still echoed in my dreams. She had been real. She had been mine. And somehow, she had slipped through my fingers like the shadows she commanded.
If—when—I found her again, I would not let her go. She would become my wife, bound to me in ways that would make escape impossible. The thought should have troubled me, this possessive fury that had replaced the gentle patience I had shown her before. But the betrayal of her disappearance had awakened something primal in me, something that would not rest until she was returned to my side.
The ringing of my phone interrupted these dark thoughts. My grandfather's name flashed on the screen—a rare occurrence that demanded immediate attention.
"Yes?" I answered tersely.
"Your presence is required at the family estate. Tonight," came the clipped response. No explanation. None needed. When Augustus Monroe summoned, one obeyed.
The Monroe mansion in S City stood as it had for centuries—imposing, elegant, radiating old power. As I strode through its halls, family members parted before me like water around stone. My parents, my siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins—all gathered for some occasion I had not been informed of.
A young woman stepped forward as I entered the main drawing room, her smile professionally charming, her hand extended in greeting. "Hello, I'm Jasmin Chen. It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Mr. Monroe."
I ignored her outstretched hand, my eyes finding my grandfather seated in his customary place by the fire. The sharp crack of his cane against the marble floor silenced the room.
"You will greet your marriage properly, Kai," he commanded, his voice belying his fragile appearance. "Miss Chen comes from an excellent family. Her father's security firm would make a valuable addition to our portfolio."
I felt my temperature rise, blue flames licking at my fingertips before I controlled them. "My Marriage partner?" I repeated, my voice carrying the chill of arctic winter.
Grandfather rose, crossing to stand before me. Despite his advanced age, Augustus Monroe remained a formidable presence. Without warning, he struck me across the face with enough force to make the room gasp collectively.
I didn't flinch. Didn't move. Simply absorbed the blow as I had absorbed countless others throughout my training.
"Say hello to Jasmin," he repeated. "She is the woman I have chosen as your marriage partner. You two should get to know each other."
The silence that followed was absolute, the family holding their collective breath to see how I would respond. Even Miss Chen had the good sense to look uncomfortable.
"I told you," I said, my voice deadly quiet, "I don't need you to find me a marriage partner."
Blue flames engulfed my hands now, creeping up my forearms—a visible warning that even Augustus Monroe heeded, taking a step back despite himself.
"I have tolerated your interference in business matters," I continued. "I have expanded the Monroe empire beyond even your ambitious vision. I have done everything expected of the heir to this family."
I turned to Miss Chen, inclining my head slightly. "My apologies for the discourtesy, Miss Chen. You seem like a perfectly lovely woman. But I have already found the person I will marry. When I find her again."
Grandfather's face purpled with rage. "The shadow girl? That nobody you've been wasting resources searching for? She is beneath you, Kai! Beneath the Monroe name!"
My flames flared higher, licking toward the ceiling. Several family members edged toward the exits.
"Be very careful, Grandfather," I warned softly. "There are lines even you should not cross."
For a moment, I thought he might strike me again. Instead, he laughed—a harsh, humorless sound. "You think you love this girl? You, who were raised to value power above all else? What could she possibly offer our family?"
"More than you could possibly understand," I replied coldly. "And when I find her, not you, not this family, not all the power of the Monroe name will keep me from making her mine."
I turned to leave, but his next words froze me in place.
"What if I told you I know where she is?"
Slowly, I faced him again, my expression carved from ice. "Don't play games with me."
A cruel smile twisted his withered lips. "No games, grandson. I've known for some time. The question is, what are you willing to trade for that information?"
In that moment, as blue flames danced around my clenched fists and my grandfather's calculating eyes measured my reaction, I knew I would agree to whatever price he named. Because Mira—my shadow, my heart, my obsession—was worth any cost.
"Tell me where she is," I demanded, extinguishing my flames with effort. "Name your price."
Augustus Blackwood's smile widened, triumph gleaming in his eyes. "S City," he said simply. "She's been here all along, hiding in plain sight. With her family."
Her family? Mira had never mentioned family. Another lie. Another deception.
"Who?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.
"The Spellman."
The name struck like a physical blow. The Spellman—one of the few families in S City whose power rivaled our own, whose dark reputation in the underworld was as legendary as the Monroe'.
"And my price," Grandfather continued, satisfaction evident in his tone, "is that you will take over Project K—the experiment your cousin Cole so foolishly abandoned when the GreyStone facility burned. The one that was meant to give us control over darkness itself."
GreyStone. The psychiatric hospital that had burned to the ground four years ago, taking dozens of patients and staff with it. What had they been doing there? And what did it have to do with Mira?
"Agreed," I said without hesitation, already turning toward the door. I would sort out the details of this mysterious project later. For now, only one thought consumed me:
Mira was here. In S City. With the Spellman.
And nothing would keep me from her this time.