The Cursed Heiress

The murmurs stopped clear when it crossed the threshold of the large room. Zoé immediately felt him. It was not the first time that she faced this kind of reaction, but tonight, the intensity was different. Heavier. More threatening.

She adjusted the silky fabric of her dress with a quiet gesture, as if she did not notice anything, and advanced in the crowd, ignoring the stealthy looks that followed her. They knew. Or, at least, they suspected something.

Théo was there. She felt it before even seeing him. A familiar heat, a presence that blurred all the others. When they finally looked, an invisible tension settled together. He stood near the bar, a cup of champagne negligently placed in his hand, but his attention was entirely fixed on her.

Zoé knew what he thought. What was she doing here? Why expose yourself like that? But she had no choice. She had to find the one who tracked her, the one who knew the truth about her cursed heritage and who played with her as a sure predator of her victory.

She stopped in the center of the room, pretending indifference. Around her, conversations continued with forced lightness. But she knew. These people not only saw an heir a little too secret. They perceived the anomaly, this dissonance in his being, something that did not stick with their world of luxury and pretense.

A silhouette approached her. A man with severe features, with too piercing eyes.

- You are good Zoé ... The heiress of the Morel family, isn't it?

Her voice was courteous, but she detected intrusive curiosity there, barely masked doubt. She sketched a mastered smile.

- You already know the answer, otherwise you would not have come to see me.

A fleeting smile passed over man's lips.

- I am surprised to see you here. It is said that you avoid these kinds of evenings.

She slightly tilted her head, capturing the unhealthy glow of interest in her gaze.

- Sometimes you have to be an exception.

She felt a movement on her right. Théo had got closer. She didn't look at him, but her whole body was aware of her presence.

Man did not insist more. He nodded, as if he recorded capital information, then walked away in the crowd. Zoé followed her silhouette of the gaze. He was not his main enemy, but he belonged to the network of those who sought to pierce it up to date.

- It was reckless.

Théo was just behind her. His voice was low, tense.

- I know.

He sighed, placing his glass on a passing tray.

- You are looking for trouble.

- I try to understand whoever wants my death. Shade.

He crossed his arms, detailing her with an intensity that could have waged her if she had not been used to it.

- What if you were the problem?

She looked up at him.

- Do you mean that it is I who attract them?

- I mean that it may not be a question of hunting and hunter. Maybe it's not you who should find your enemy, but he is waiting for you.

A thrill ran through it. He was right. From the start, she had been in a defensive posture. What if, on the contrary, it was a well orchestrated game to force it to reveal itself?

She deeply inspired, seeking to regain control of her thoughts.

- There is someone here tonight who knows what I am. I feel it.

Théo nodded slowly.

- So let's find it before it finds a way of exposing yourself.

He handed her hand. A simple gesture, almost harmless, but which made her understand that she was not alone in this fight. She hesitated for a moment, then slipped her hand into hers. The heat of its contact erased part of its tension.

They melted into the crowd, exchanging looks with those who seemed too interested in their presence. Zoé scanned each expression, each suspicious movement. She had to be fast. Time was playing against her.

Then she saw it.

A man seated in a corner, alone, an intact glass in front of him. He didn't look at her directly, but she felt that her attention was completely turned towards her. His heart was hugging.

He got up slowly, as if he knew she had spotted it, and headed for the exit.

Zoé did not wait. She let go of Théo and launched herself in pursuit.

- Zoé!

It does not slow down. She couldn't.

The man left the room and rushed into a deserted corridor. Zoé followed him, the sound of his heels resonating against the marbled soil.

When she turned the corner, he stopped, as if he was waiting for him.

- You are faster than I would have thought, he breathed with fun.

She stopped a few steps from him, keeping a careful distance.

- Who are you?

He smiles, a smile without warmth.

- Just someone who knows what you are.

She felt her breath block in her throat.

- Why are you getting me out?

- Because you should never have existed.

She felt a vertigo grasp it.

- What do you mean?

The man took a step towards her, and the air around them seemed to grow.

- The curse of your family is not just a legend. This is an error that should have been erased a long time ago. And I am here to correct it.

An icy cold invades his body.

- You are mistaken. I never asked to be born under this curse.

- And yet you are there.

He held out his hand, and an imperceptible shadow seemed to move around him.

Zoé took a step back. She felt her power awakening in her, but she knew she had to be careful.

Then, without warning, he attacked.

She dodged justly, feeling a strength wave pass a few centimeters from her face. His instinct took over. She jumped back, preparing to retaliate, but he disappeared before she could reach her.

Silence fell, as sudden as the attack.

She remained frozen for a moment, seeking to understand what had just happened.

Then one hand landed on his arm.

- Zoé!

Théo.

She turned around, her breath still jerky.

- He knows, she whispered. He knows everything.

Théo hugged her jaw, her hard look.

- So he's going to come back.

She nodded, aware that this evening was just the start. The start of a hunt for which she did not yet know the outcome.

The tire screeching the air, followed by a brutal shock. A cry sounded, then a strange silence settled, as suspended in time. Zoé did not have the leisure to think. His body moved before his mind could analyze the situation.

She ran. Her heart was beating at a frantic pace as she knelt near the child lying on the asphalt. A car immobilized a few meters further, an open door, a woman in shock. Everything was blurred around her, as if the world had been reduced to this precise moment.

The boy was still breathing, but hardly. His arm was twisted in an abnormal angle, and a notch marked his forehead. Too much blood. Too much pain. Zoé felt something awakening in her, a burning force that spread in her veins.

No. Not now.

She closed her eyes a fraction of a second, trying to repress the energy that rumbled in her bowels. But the boy's moan broke his concentration. Her power poured out of her before she could hold him back. His hands cleared the wounded skin and an irradiated heat of his palms, insinuating into the bruised flesh.

The child's breath was almost instantly calmed down. The cuts are absorbed under his fingers. Zoé knew that she had to stop, that she was revealing what she had always hidden, but it was too late.

A movement on his right drew his attention. His gaze met that of a man, frozen on the sidewalk.

He had seen her.

His breath blocked in his throat. The unknown stared at her, her dark look riveted on her with disconcerting intensity. He did not move, did not speak, but she knew he had observed everything.

A trembling hand grabbed his wrist. The child, his eyes still fogged with tears, looked at her with misunderstanding.

- That ... it doesn't hurt anymore.

Zoé backdated, abruptly dropping his hand. She straightened up, the blood beating at her temples. The woman who had frozen near the car rushed to the boy, tears in his eyes.

- My God ... How is it possible?

Zoé did not answer. She couldn't.

She took a step back, then another, ready to go away before someone else realizes the impossible. But the man, still there, did not let her look.

He was not trying to speak. Not yet.

She turned her heels and disappeared in the adjacent alley, her heart beating to break everything.

***

She has a long time, trying to ignore the tremors that rocked her hands. She had done what should not be. Exposed. She was now, and the unknown who had seen him would not forget what he had observed.

Who was he?

The way he watched it ... It was not fear. Or even disbelief. There was something else, a kind of recognition, as if he understood something she still did not know.

She branched off in a quieter street, finally stopping to catch her breath. But a voice, low and controlled, froze it on site.

- Impressive.

She turned suddenly.

He was there.

Now closer, she could better see her face. Angular features, a marked jaw, eyes of a disturbing gray. An imposing aura that seemed to follow him like a shadow. He stood there, quiet, hands in his pockets, but she felt that he was not harmless.

She forced herself to breathe slowly, to keep in capacity.

- I don't know what you're talking about.

A fleeting smile passed over her lips.

- Yes. You know exactly what I'm talking about.

Zoé did not answer. She was not going to give him the advantage.

He took a step towards her, and she stiffens, ready to flee if he was trying anything.

- You healed her. I saw it.

He pronounced each word with calm, but there was an underlying tension in his voice.

- What are you, exactly?

She clenched her fists.

- Just a girl who was passing by.

He haussed an eyebrow, amused.

- A girl who closes injuries in seconds? Interesting.

She had to bite the inside of the cheek so as not to betray her trouble.

- Forget what you saw.

He detailed it, as if he evaluated his options.

- So you are the type to give orders to the people you just met?

- Only to those who know too much.

A silence settled together. A silence charged with inexplicable tension, as if a balance had just been broken.

Then, to his surprise, he smiled slightly.

- I won't forget you, Zoé.

His stomach was tied.

- How do you know my name?

He tied his head slightly, without answering.

She had not seen any concern in her gaze, nor of fear. Just a strange certainty, as if he already knew they were going to meet again.

He took a step back, finally breaking visual contact.

- We will see again soon.

She did not move, observing her slowly moving away, as if he left her time to assimilate what had just happened.

When he disappeared at the corner of the street, she felt her heart beat even stronger.

Who was he?

And why did she have the impression that he already knew much more than she really was?