My Fiancé Erased Our Nine-Year Mark For His Blood Servant Chapter 07
The Mark Meant for Him
“You’ve already taken enough from her.”
Lucien ends the call and places my phone back on the nightstand.
I slowly open my eyes.
The new Eternal Mark beneath my collarbone is still warm.
“Was that Adrian?”
Lucien turns toward me. The matching mark is visible above the open collar of his shirt.
“Don’t think about him anymore, Evelyn.” His voice softens. “Look at me instead.”
I push myself upright.
For the first time in days, pain does not tear through my body.
The silver burns have closed, leaving only faint scars. Strength has returned to my limbs, and the sharp ache beneath my skin has disappeared.
Only a few hours ago, the Blackwood physician told me the silver had damaged more than my skin. Combined with the blood loss, it had weakened my bloodline until my body could no longer heal itself.
Ordinary treatment might have kept me alive for a few days.
Only an Eternal Mark with a highborn vampire could save me.
House Blackwood and House Ashford had already been discussing a marriage alliance. Lucien simply offered to complete the bond sooner.
But he did not touch me until I was awake.
“If we do this, it cannot be undone,” he told me. “My life force will become yours, and yours will become mine.”
Then he asked me twice.
“Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
“Is this what you choose?”
I looked at the man who had protected everything Adrian threw away.
Then I answered, “It is.”
The bond healed my body.
It could not save my child.
Lucien reaches out when I move to stand.
“Slowly.”
“I’m fine.”
“You nearly died last night.”
“But I didn’t.”
His hand remains around mine until he is certain I can stand on my own.
The bedroom door suddenly flies open.
Adrian strides inside, still dressed for his wedding. His tie hangs loose around his neck, and there is a dark stain on one sleeve from Sophia’s blood.
He stops the moment he sees me.
He studies my face and steady posture. His gaze passes over the faint scars circling my wrist without seeming to notice them.
“You’re fine.”
For one brief second, relief crosses his face.
Then he sees the mark beneath my collarbone.
His expression freezes.
His gaze shifts to Lucien and lands on the identical mark above his heart.
The relief disappears.
“What’s that?”
No one answers.
He already knows.
Adrian’s face twists with disbelief.
“You formed an Eternal Mark with him?”
“Yes.”
The word has barely left my mouth when anger replaces his shock.
“So this was your plan.”
I stare at him.
“What?”
“You were never injured.” His gaze returns to mine. “You were never pregnant, were you?”
Lucien steps between us.
“Be careful what you say next.”
But Adrian barely looks at him.
His gaze stays fixed on me.
“You told me the silver was hurting you. You claimed you were carrying my child. Then you disappeared and bound yourself to another man.”
His voice grows colder with every word.
“You planned this with Lucien. You lied because you wanted to punish me for marrying Sophia.”
For a moment, I cannot speak.
Even after everything, some part of me believed that seeing me alive would make him grateful.
Instead, he looks at my healed body and decides it proves I was lying.
Lucien’s expression turns deadly calm.
“The only reason she can stand in front of you is because of this bond.”
Adrian finally looks at him.
“What are you talking about?”
“The silver entered her blood. Her body was failing.”
“That’s impossible.”
“I shared my life force with her through the Eternal Mark. The bond healed the burns and repaired the damage you caused.”
Lucien’s eyes turn cold.
“It’s not so different from the bond you formed with that human girl.”
Adrian looks back at me, guilt flickering briefly in his eyes.
His anger begins to crack.
His eyes drop to my stomach.
“And the baby?”
Silence fills the room.
Lucien answers before I have to.
“The bond healed Evelyn.”
His voice is merciless.
“It could not bring back the child she lost.”
All the color drains from Adrian’s face.
He stares at me as if he no longer recognizes me.
“There really was a baby?”
“There was.”
His lips part, but no words come out.
Finally, he whispers, “Why didn’t you tell me how serious it was?”
A bitter laugh escapes me.
“I told you I was pregnant. I begged you to get all that damn silver off me.”
My fingers curl at my sides.
“You chose not to believe me.”
“I didn’t know.”
“You didn’t want to know.”
Adrian takes a step toward me.
“Evelyn, come home with me.”
Lucien immediately moves into his path.
Adrian ignores him.
“The ceremony isn’t finished. I left Sophia at the altar. We can still fix this.”
“Fix what?”
“Us.”
He gestures toward the mark beneath my collarbone.
“Tell Lucien to remove it.”
“You know an Eternal Mark cannot be removed.”
“There has to be a way.”
“There isn’t,” Lucien says.
Adrian’s eyes flash.
“You had no right to bind her while she was injured.”
“She was awake,” Lucien replies. “I explained every consequence. Evelyn chose this herself.”
Adrian looks at me again.
“You chose him?”
“I chose to live.”
“I would have saved you.”
“You were the reason I needed saving.”
He flinches.
I continue before he can deny it.
“Lucien respected my decision. He gave me his strength without asking me to wait for another woman to die first.”
Adrian’s gaze falls on our matching marks.
The bond he once promised me now belongs to someone else.
His voice drops to a whisper.
“That mark was supposed to be mine.”
“It was.”
I meet his eyes.
“Then you chose Sophia in the name of love, while I chose someone else just to survive.”
“And even that is too much for you to accept?”