Chapter 5 A Deal With Blood

I didn't sleep after that night at the theatre. Every sound seemed louder, every shadow longer. His words replayed in my mind like a curse: the book binds itself to your blood.

By dawn, I'd convinced myself it was a dream brought on by exhaustion. By nightfall, I knew better.

The letter on my desk wasn't there when I left. Now it was. A single line in that same elegant script:

"The Codex is calling again. Meet me where the sun cannot reach."

I should have ignored it. But I didn't.

The underground library beneath the museum was silent, the air thick with age and secrets. He was waiting for me beside the oldest section, where the ancient volumes were chained to the walls.

"You came," he said softly.

"I had questions."

His gaze held mine, steady, unreadable. "You want answers? They come at a price."

I folded my arms. "And what do you want as payment?"

He stepped closer. The scent of rain and something metallic filled the air. "A drop of your blood," he said. "The Codex already recognizes you, but to protect you from it, I need to link your essence to mine. It's the only way to keep you alive."

My pulse raced. "You expect me to just believe that?"

"You already do," he murmured, voice low and hypnotic.

He reached for my hand, his touch cool, almost electric. "This isn't about faith. It's about survival."

He withdrew a small, ornate blade ,silver with strange runes etched along its edge. "A cut, no deeper than a whisper," he promised.

I hesitated, breath caught between fear and fascination. There was something intoxicating about standing this close to him, about the calm certainty in his voice.

When he sliced his own palm, the blood was darker than crimson , thick, gleaming, otherworldly. He offered the blade.

"Do you trust me?"

"No," I whispered. "But I can't seem to walk away either."

Our blood met. The air seemed to hum, and for a moment, the walls themselves shuddered. Symbols from the chained books began to glow faintly, alive with energy that shouldn't have existed.

He closed his hand around mine, and the world tilted. I saw flashes ,ruins, fire, faces I didn't know but somehow recognized.

Then it stopped.

He released me, eyes burning faintly red before settling into darkness again. "Now you're bound to me," he said quietly. "Until this ends."

"What exactly have you done?" I asked.

"Saved you," he said. "Or doomed us both."