Elias didn't leave the room for hours.
The chain—silver, thin, and glowing faintly red where it connected to his collar—remained stubbornly locked around his neck. He tried everything. Pulling. Burning. Even pressing a knife to it. But it wouldn't break.
Magic, of course. Varian's twisted sense of ownership made flesh.
He wanted to scream.
But when the knock came—soft, polite, utterly un-Varian—Elias felt dread rise like bile.
He opened the door cautiously.
It wasn't Varian.
It was a servant. Or at least… something that resembled one. A shadowy figure in a pale mask and long black robes, bowing low.
"His Grace requests your presence in the Garden of Bones," the thing rasped.
Elias almost laughed. "Of course he does."
He followed the masked servant through a maze of corridors, each lined with black stone and torches that burned with cold blue flame. Eventually, they reached a gate of twisted bone and black iron.
Inside was the garden.
It wasn't like anything he'd imagined. Bone trees spiraled toward a blood-red sky. Pale, thorned flowers glowed with eerie light. Statues of writhing bodies curled between cracked fountains of silver water.
Varian sat in the center.
On a throne of white stone carved from skulls.
He looked amused as Elias entered. "Took you long enough."
"Maybe I hoped you'd be gone by the time I got here."
Varian chuckled. "Today's task is simple. Sit on my lap."
Elias blinked. "What?"
"You heard me."
"That's not a command. That's—"
"Obey," Varian said smoothly, "or forfeit."
Elias ground his teeth. "What's the forfeit?"
"A kiss. But you don't get to choose where."
Elias froze.
Varian tilted his head. "Choose."
"…Fine."
Glaring, Elias walked forward and dropped himself unceremoniously on the demon's lap.
Varian didn't flinch. His arms wrapped around Elias like a possessive snake.
"Comfortable?" he murmured against Elias's ear.
"You're disgusting."
"And you're warm."
Varian's hands slid slowly along Elias's waist. Not groping—just claiming. His head dipped, lips brushing the curve of Elias's neck.
Elias flinched. "That's not part of the deal."
"No," Varian agreed. "It's the reward."
Then he kissed the chain.
Right where it met skin.
Elias gasped as the magic pulsed through him—hot, electric, like a brand.
He hated how his body arched toward the heat. How part of him whispered: Just let him touch you again… just for a moment…
"I'm not your toy," Elias whispered.
Varian's voice was velvet. "No. You're my obsession."
And the worst part?
Elias believed him.
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Ready for Chapter 12?