Cecilia was once again brought back to the gilded cage she had grown to despise. But this time, instead of the lavish decor and the cold air that usually greeted her, it was the furious storm of Casiel's anger that awaited her.
She was roughly thrown onto the velvet-covered bed, and the soft texture, which should have provided some comfort, only made her feel a wave of disgust.
Standing at the edge of the bed, Casiel looked down at her, his dark eyes burning with a furious fire that seemed capable of consuming her entirely.
"You dare... betray me again!" His voice was low and hoarse, every word forced out through clenched teeth, carrying a suffocating sense of oppression.
Cecilia curled up in the corner of the bed, her body trembling uncontrollably. She didn't dare to look into Casiel's eyes, lowering her head and silently enduring his wrath.
"I… I didn't…" She tried to explain, but her voice was so weak it was barely audible, even to herself.
"Didn't?" Casiel sneered, his lips curling in derision. "Do you think I'm blind? I saw everything—what you did with that vampire hunter, everything!"
Suddenly, he reached out and grabbed Cecilia's chin, forcing her to look up at him.
Cecilia could feel his fingers—cold and strong, almost as rigid as a corpse. But she couldn't move, as if she were prey waiting to be devoured.
"Cecilia, did you think I wouldn't dare kill you?" Casiel's voice came out like the cold winds of hell, sharp and cutting.
Cecilia was forced to meet his gaze. His eyes, dark as endless pits, were filled with fury and disappointment. If she looked closely enough, there seemed to be a trace of wounded bitterness that flickered in his gaze, though it was almost imperceptible.
But Cecilia couldn't care less about the pain he might be feeling. All she wanted was to escape this monstrous creature.
"I… I just wanted… to get away…" She gathered every bit of strength she had and said the words, her voice fragmented.
"Get away?" Casiel's eyes turned even colder. "Do you think you can run? The entire Noxeril Empire is mine! No matter where you go, I'll find you and bring you back!"
With a swift motion, he pushed her back onto the bed, climbing over her and pinning her beneath his body.
His weight was like a mountain, pressing down on her, making it hard to breathe.
"You are my chosen blood-bound bride. You're destined to belong to me. Forever!" Casiel's voice was laced with a wild possessiveness, the kind that bordered on madness.
Cecilia struggled beneath him, but her strength was nothing compared to Casiel's. She could only feel a rising sense of despair as she realized she was powerless to fight him off, at the mercy of his whims, at the mercy of fate.
"Let me go... Please... Let me go..." she cried out, her voice raw and heart-wrenching. Her tears blurred her vision.
But Casiel remained unmoved by her cries.
He lowered his head, his lips crashing down onto hers in a brutal kiss.
It wasn't a kiss of tenderness—it was a kiss of punishment.
His lips were cold, harsh, and relentless, pressing down on hers with an aggression that seemed to want to devour her entirely.
His tongue forced its way into her mouth, taking without regard for her discomfort, as if he were claiming her in the most intimate of ways.
Cecilia felt a surge of pain and humiliation.
She squeezed her eyes shut, gritting her teeth, trying to resist, but Casiel's strength was too much.
Her jaw was forced open, her tongue imprisoned by his, unable to move.
A wave of suffocation swept over her, as if she were drowning in his presence.
She struggled desperately, pounding on his chest with her hands, but it was as useless as trying to move a mountain. Her resistance was nothing but a futile attempt.
Casiel's kiss grew more frantic, more violent, as if he wanted to consume her entirely, make her part of him, so that she could never escape again.
Cecilia's tears flowed freely, mingling with the blood from her torn lips.
When his hand cruelly groped her chest, she realized with painful clarity that she had become nothing more than an object in this vampire's twisted world. She had no hope left.
Just as she thought she might lose consciousness from the suffocating kiss, Casiel finally released her.
He pulled away, looking down at her with a complex mix of emotions in his eyes: anger, disappointment, possessiveness… and perhaps even a hint of something he himself didn't fully recognize—something akin to pain.
Cecilia gasped for air, her chest heaving violently as she struggled to fill her lungs.
Her lips were bleeding, the blood slowly dripping onto the floor.
Cecilia knew this was the greatest humiliation of her nineteen years of life.
Before she could even process what had happened, Casiel, the bloodthirsty monster, spoke.
"Cecilia, remember this—never think you can escape me. If you try, I will truly consume you."
A warning, a command, a threat.
Cecilia was powerless to resist, her body frozen in place like a wounded animal.
Without another word, Casiel turned and left the room, his footsteps fading into the distance.
In that moment, the toll of her captivity struck her in full force. Her heart sank, and she realized that she had become nothing more than Casiel's prisoner—forever bound to him, with no escape in sight.