Soulbound

The Weight of Eternity

The night air was cool against her skin, a soft breeze stirring the leaves of the trees that lined the darkened street. The moon hung low in the sky, casting a pale glow over the rooftops and the cobblestone path she walked. She moved with the grace of someone who had walked these streets many times before, her steps soundless, her figure cloaked in shadow. To any passerby, she might have seemed like just another lost soul wandering through the night, but beneath the surface, she was anything but ordinary.

She had long forgotten her birth name, the name her mother had whispered in her ear as a child. The name that had once defined who she was, back when her life was simple, back when she was human. Now, she went by many names, changing them as often as she changed cities, countries, even continents. She had been alive for so long that her human memories were faded, like old photographs left out in the sun too long. Her real identity was buried beneath centuries of falsehoods, the countless personas she had adopted over the years. Tonight, she was Isabella Devereaux, a woman of refined elegance and mystery, living on the fringes of high society in Paris.

But even this name, this life, was a lie.

The truth was much darker, more tragic, than anyone could ever guess. She wasn't merely a woman of elegance and mystery. She was a vampire.

She stopped in front of a grand old building, the kind that whispered of centuries gone by, its stone walls weathered by time. She had seen buildings like this rise and fall, had watched as empires crumbled and new ones took their place. History had become a blur, a succession of wars, revolutions, and new technologies. The world around her changed, but she remained the same—unchanging, undying.

Isabella—or whatever name she chose for herself—had lived many lives in these long centuries. She had been a noblewoman, a pauper, a courtesan, a scholar. She had lived through wars, plagues, and revolutions. She had seen the rise of kingdoms and their fall, watched as humanity clawed its way through history, all the while remaining untouched by time. But in all these years, there was one thing she had never been able to escape—the weight of eternity.

Immortality had once seemed like a blessing, a gift that could grant her freedom from the ravages of time. But as the decades turned into centuries, the burden of living forever began to weigh on her soul. She had watched as the people around her—the ones she had dared to care for—grew old and died, while she remained forever young, forever frozen in time. The faces of those she had once loved haunted her dreams, their lives flickering out like dying embers, leaving her alone in the darkness.

For so long, she had tried to forget. She had embraced the darkness that had been forced upon her, reveling in the power that came with it. She had hunted, killed, fed. She had lived in luxury, taking whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted. But no matter how much she tried to fill the emptiness within her, the hollow ache remained. The truth was that she had never asked for this life, this existence that had been thrust upon her without her consent.

Her thoughts drifted, as they often did, to the night that had changed everything.

She had been a young woman then, innocent, full of life and hope. She had fallen in love with a man who had seemed perfect in every way—handsome, charming, wealthy. He had swept her off her feet, made her feel like the center of his world. They had married in a lavish ceremony, and for a time, she had been happy. But that happiness had been fleeting, an illusion.

She had discovered the truth about him on a stormy night, the sky flashing with lightning as the truth was laid bare before her. He was not a man at all—he was a vampire. And he had never truly loved her. She had been nothing more than a pawn in his game, a prize he had claimed for himself.

When she had confronted him, demanded answers, he had laughed. His laughter had echoed through the room, cold and cruel, as he revealed his true nature. And then, before she could escape, he had attacked her, his fangs sinking into her neck. She had screamed, fought against him, but it had been futile. His strength was too great, and soon, the darkness had consumed her.

When she had awoken, she had been changed. Her body had felt different—stronger, faster, but also cursed. She had become like him—a vampire, condemned to live forever in the shadows. And he had expected her to remain by his side, to embrace the darkness with him. But she had refused. She had fled from him, from the life he had forced upon her, and had never looked back.

That had been centuries ago. She had traveled the world since then, using different identities to hide from him and from the other vampires who served him. But no matter where she went, no matter how many times she changed her name, she could never escape the curse that had been placed upon her.

Now, she was tired. So very tired of running, of hiding, of living a life that wasn't truly hers. She wanted to be free of this existence, to be free of immortality. She wanted to die.

And that was why she had come to Paris.

The whispers had led her here, to this city of lights and shadows. Rumors of a way to reverse immortality, a way to end her curse, had reached her ears. It was said that the secret lay deep within the headquarters of the Vampire Council, hidden away from all but the most powerful vampires. And her husband—the one who had done this to her—was one of those vampires.

Her jaw clenched as she thought of him, the man who had stolen her life, her humanity. The man who still hunted her, even after all these centuries. He was one of the Council's highest-ranking members, and she knew that if she was to find a way to end her immortality, she would have to face him again.

But this time, she would be ready.

She stared up at the grand old building before her, her resolve hardening. The whispers had brought her here, and she would do whatever it took to find the answers she sought. She would infiltrate the Council, face the monsters who ruled it, and uncover the secret that could end her eternal suffering.

And if that meant confronting the man who had damned her, so be it.