The moon hung low and blood-red in the sky, casting its eerie glow across the silken canopy of the Imperial Gardens. Crimson lanterns swayed in the warm wind as if dancing to the quiet rhythm of something unseen—something ancient, something powerful. Beneath their flickering light, Elias stood motionless, his obsidian hair brushing the top of his collar. His eyes, dark with questions and burning desire, were fixed on the solitary figure stepping through the archway.
She wore a cloak the color of fresh blood, and her presence was thunderous despite the silence.
"Who are you?" Elias asked, his voice controlled, but his body tense with the raw edge of alertness. The aura that clung to her was suffocating—no, seductive. It clung to the air like sweet perfume laced with poison.
