Chapter One: The First Taste

The elevator doors slid open with a whisper and Sofia stepped straight into another world.

Eighty floors up, the entire city glittered below her like spilled jewels. One whole wall was nothing but glass; the rest was black marble so polished she could see her own reflection trembling in it. The air tasted cold and expensive, laced with something metallic and sweet that made her mouth water for reasons she didn’t understand yet.

He was already waiting.

He ...