Iron Roses by Nikki Blake

They bound me to him with blood.
Before I even knew what love was.
I was ten when the ritual sealed us.
A sacred vow.
A whispered command.
Protect her as shadow, as blade, as brother.
But they didn’t ask me if I could survive her loss.

Now she’s gone—my vow buried with her.
And in her place stands the girl who shares her blood.
The one I was never meant to want.
The one they hunted through fire and silence and blood-soaked marble floors.

Elaria Fontanesi walks into my world broken.
A daughter of betrayal.
A girl forged in grief.
She doesn’t know who I am.
Or what I did to protect the house that murdered hers.
But fate isn’t patient.
And history doesn’t stay buried.
We are bound again—by legacy, by duty, by a lie sealed in shadow.

She sees the scars I never let show.
And I feel the pull I swore I’d never answer again.
This isn’t devotion.
It’s obsession veiled in loyalty.
A love that should have died with her sister…
But refuses to stay buried.
He was meant to protect me.

Now he just might ruin me.
And God help me—I think I’d let him.