DRACULA'S VELVET VOW: MINA'S MIDNIGHT BARGAIN

Mina Harker had spent three years proving that monsters could be studied, catalogued, and locked behind a proper door.

Then the door opened from the inside.

It was waiting in the archive beneath Whitby House, where Mina had been hired to authenticate a collection of stolen journals. The last book had no author, only a red wax seal pressed with two initials: D.V.

When she broke it, the room became colder.

A voice behind her said, “You always open what is meant to stay closed.”

Mina turned.

The man beside the shelves looked too elegant for the dust. Black coat. Pale hands. A smile that made the darkness feel intimate.

“Count Dracula,” she said.

“Mrs. Harker.”

“You know my name.”

“I know every name that has ever been written beside mine.”

He reached for the journal. Mina held it against her chest.

“You came for this.”

“I came for you. The book is only the invitation.”

Mina should have called for Jonathan. Instead, she noticed the faint mark at Dracula’s throat, shaped like a bite from a silver key.

“You’re hurt.”

His gaze dropped to her mouth. “You sound disappointed.”

“I sound curious.”

“Curiosity has ruined better women.”

“So has marriage.”

The smile vanished.

The journal opened in her hands. A fresh line appeared on the page.

MINA HARKER WILL COME TO THE CASTLE WILLINGLY.

She looked up. “I don’t remember agreeing.”

Dracula stepped closer, close enough for her to feel the cold coming off his skin.

“Not yet.”

The lock on the archive door clicked.

Mina reached for the handle. It would not turn.

Dracula lifted his wrist, exposing the pulse beneath his pale skin.

“Take one taste,” he said. “Then decide whether I am the monster.”

Mina’s heartbeat answered him.

Above them, every clock in the house began striking thirteen.