Lian sat at her new desk, which was a sleek slab of black glass located directly outside the double mahogany doors of Kai's office. The air in the executive suite felt different—colder, thinner, and smelling faintly of expensive cologne and ozone. She felt like a specimen in a high-tech lab, especially with the way the other assistants stared at her as they walked by.
*"If you keep staring at the coffee machine with that expression, people will think you've never seen electricity before,"* Kai's voice drawled in her mind, sounding distractingly close.
"I'm just trying to figure out how to use it without breaking it," Lian thought back sharply. "Everything in this office costs more than my soul."
*"Focus, Lian. Your first task is on your screen. I need the background check on every person who attended yesterday's meeting. And I mean every person—including the janitors who cleaned the room afterward."*
Lian looked at the computer screen. A list of names appeared. She began to type, her fingers flying across the keyboard. As she worked, she felt a strange sensation—a warmth spreading from her chest to her fingertips. It was Kai's focus, bleeding into her own. It made her sharper, faster.
Suddenly, the elevator doors at the end of the hall chimed. A woman stepped out, draped in a white silk suit that screamed "old money." Her hair was a perfect blonde bob, and her eyes were a piercing, icy blue. She didn't stop at the reception desk; she headed straight for Kai's door.
"Excuse me!" Lian stood up, her professional instinct kicking in. "Do you have an appointment?"
The woman stopped, looking at Lian as if she were a smudge of dirt on an otherwise clean floor. "I don't need an appointment to see my fiancé."
Lian felt a sudden, violent jolt in her mind—a spike of irritation and something that felt suspiciously like guilt from Kai's side of the bond.
*"Fiancé?"* Lian thought, her heart skipping a beat for a reason she didn't want to admit. "Kai, you didn't mention a fiancé."
*"It's a business arrangement, nothing more,"* Kai snapped back, his mental voice sounding strained. *"Her name is Elena. Keep her out, Lian. I'm not in the mood for her drama."*
Elena stepped closer to Lian's desk, her perfume cloying and sweet. "You must be the new girl. The one who made a scene in the boardroom. Let me make one thing clear: Kai belongs to the board, and eventually, he belongs to me. You're just a temporary distraction."
Lian felt Kai's anger flare. Through the bond, she saw a vision of him standing behind his desk, his jaw clenched so hard it looked like it might break.
"Mr. Kai is busy in a confidential briefing," Lian said, her voice steady despite the trembling in her legs. "He requested that he not be disturbed by anyone. Including family."
Elena's eyes narrowed. She raised a hand as if to slap Lian, but she stopped mid-air. Her eyes widened, and she took a step back, looking at Lian's face with a sudden, panicked expression.
"Your eye..." Elena whispered, her voice trembling. "What is that?"
Lian glanced at her reflection in the glass partition. The violet spark in her right eye wasn't just a flicker anymore. It was a steady, glowing ember.
Before Elena could say another word, Kai's office door swung open. He stood there, looking like a dark god of vengeance. He didn't look at Elena; his eyes were locked onto Lian.
"Elena, leave," Kai said, his voice dropping to a dangerous frequency. "Now."
"Kai, look at her!" Elena pointed a shaking finger at Lian. "That mark... that's the mark of the Forbidden Bond! You know what the Council does to people like that!"
*"The Council?"* Lian thought, fear finally overriding her defiance. "Kai, what is she talking about?"
Kai walked toward Lian, ignoring Elena entirely. He grabbed Lian's chin, forcing her to look up at him. The violet glow in his own eyes was unmistakable now.
"She's talking about the reason we're both in danger," Kai whispered, his voice only for her. "And the reason you're never leaving this building without my protection."
He turned to Elena, his aura so suffocating that the blonde woman took another step back toward the elevator. "If you speak a word of this to your father or the Council, I will dismantle your family's estate brick by brick. Do you understand?"
Elena didn't answer. She turned and fled into the elevator, the doors closing on her terrified face.
Kai let go of Lian's chin, but he didn't move away. The bond hummed between them, a frantic, pulsing energy.
*"I'm sorry you had to find out this way,"* his voice echoed softly in her mind. *"But the world just got a lot smaller, Lian. And much more lethal."*
Lian looked up at him, her heart racing. "Who are they, Kai? Who is the Council?"
Kai looked out the panoramic window at the city below, which suddenly looked like a giant trap. "The people who think they own our souls. But they're about to find out that some bonds... can't be broken."