, casting long slivers of gray across the worn wooden floor. The mist still clung stu

ind with a mixture of disbelief and fascination. A man-Lucian-who emerged from the fog like a shadow carv

he light, her imagination playing cruel

life had b

street below was still shrouded in fog. No

unspooling her world into somethi

an invisible tension. The dusty shelves, the scent of aging paper and leather-bound

ctions, a soft breeze stirred the pages of an o

ran down

it was just the d

elyn felt it again-the sensation of being watched. Not with hostility, but with so

and glanced around. The street was empty, save

under her breath, tastin

nside her mind, as real

The fog seemed thicker, the streets darker. Her

as a siren she

he same alley where

merged from the mist-tall,

," she

eamed faintly i

back," he

ords caught i

he fog swirling arou

e asked

lyn confessed. "I feel like I'

lnerable beneath the eternal mask. "You do

said, "but I

the softest whisper. The touch sent a jolt thr

s to me," he sai

breath

hesitation and longing. Lucian revealed fragments of his story-centuries los

r loneliness, her dreams, and her fierc

n glances, electric touches, and moments when

velyn's hand and led her to a hidden glade just outside town-a

with emotion, "I will show you w

, then with growing hunger and fire. Lucian's kiss was both promise

s moved at the edges of the forest-watching, waiting

ls, blood-soaked nights, and a destiny entwined

ars as Lucian pressed his lips to her neck. The world narrowed t

fangs, a thrill of fear and de

whispered against h

and the fragility of her humanity,