Grace stared at the scar on her hand that still felt a little sore. The scar reminded her of Lucas, who lately had only ever stared at her with a blank expression at the office, then left without a word when Grace tried to talk to him.
Lucas's odd behavior was just as strange as the events that had befallen Grace after the last incident between her, Lucas, and Ezra. Like a nightmare, Grace was always afraid and felt as though there were many pairs of eyes watching her.
One of them was the overpowering scent of roses and blood in her own apartment.
Often, when Grace was preparing warm water for her bath, she would find several dried rose petals in the bathtub. Whether it was a threat or a good omen, such things always made Grace afraid.
"Grace, did you bring your lunch box?" Ezra asked.
Grace turned and nodded, showing the lunchbox in front of her.
"I hate it when the cafeteria kitchen has issues," Grace muttered.
Ezra sat at Lucas's desk to enjoy their lunch together while Lucas was away. Lucas always disappeared during lunchtime and returned exactly when the break ended.
With little enthusiasm about eating her own meal, Grace opened her lunchbox. But she immediately stood up in shock upon seeing its contents.
"What's wrong?" Ezra asked.
"Look!" Grace showed him the contents of her lunchbox.
The rice and side dishes were all there. But on top of the rice, two red rose petals still looked very fresh. They weren't the dried roses that were so characteristic of Lucas.
With a blank expression, Ezra immediately took the petals and ate them himself, chewing quickly and breathing heavily.
"I don't understand why I find so many rose petals every day," Grace muttered.
"Don't ever think of doing anything with the petals you find, Grace. Just throw them away." Ezra advised.
"Why?"
"In our world, roses symbolize love and sacrifice. But roses also symbolize blood and tragic death." Ezra whispers.
"But why am I the one finding them?"
"Because you're already involved with Lucas."
Grace swallowed hard. Her heart refused to believe that Lucas was one of the sources of the strange events she had been experiencing lately, even though her mind agreed with Ezra's words.
Whatever it was about roses, for Grace, they were synonymous with Lucas—whether they were dried roses, roses still blooming beautifully on the tree, or roses scattered on the ground.
"All this time, my hatred for your closeness to Lucas wasn't without reason, Grace," Ezra said, looking at Grace seriously.
"By the moon goddess, I'm angry because Lucas is dangerous for you."
It wasn't a joke when Ezra mentioned the moon goddess in his words, meaning he was ready to take responsibility for what he said. That oath wouldn't be uttered by a werewolf who wasn't prepared to die for his words.
Still, part of Grace denied it, while another part agreed because Ezra had said something that made sense.
"I know," Grace finally said.
They finally enjoyed their lunch meal in silence, each lost in their own thoughts.
Without Grace knowing, Ezra occasionally glanced around to make sure no one was watching them and would attack suddenly.
Despite their earlier argument, Lucas sent a letter to Ezra's house via a black pigeon that could still penetrate the fire barrier surrounding Ezra's house to ward off vampires approaching his home.
Lucas informed Ezra that there were many vampires targeting Grace, including himself.
"Oh, by the way, starting today, I'll be staying in one of the apartments where you live," Ezra said.
"Really? What's going on?"
"To make sure I know who's terrorizing you and tearing out their hearts if I find out who they are."
Ezra emphasized each word as he watched Lucas return to the room.
Lucas's steps halted, and his eyes locked onto Ezra's. Both of them radiated an aura of desire to attack each other, even though the letter Lucas had given Ezra contained information that should have earned him a thank you from Ezra.
"I'm done with my meal, Grace. See you later when I get home." Ezra stood up, tidied up his plate, and left, not forgetting to give Lucas a sharp, threatening glance.
Lucas sat down at his desk and immediately focused on his computer screen and the documents on his desk.
"Have you had lunch, Lucas?" Grace asked, clearing her throat.
"Yes," Lucas replied.
"Are you angry with me?"
"No. Why would I be angry with you?" Lucas turned to look at Grace.
Grace let out a soft laugh, feeling relieved because she thought Lucas was angry with her for asking him to heal Ezra, who was dying.
However, at that time, Lucas had tried to defend her, but Grace had ignored his defense.
"But you've been acting strange since then." Grace couldn't hide her curiosity at all.
"Oh, I just feel guilty for hurting Ezra."
"You don't need to feel guilty. I'm glad you defended me."
Ezra only nodded slightly, returning his gaze to the documents in his hands. He looked very busy with his work, which had piled up so much that he dropped something on the floor.
Grace tried to help by picking up the object, which turned out to be a key card. The same key card Grace had.
"Lucas, isn't this the key to one of the Tulip apartments?"
"Yes. I started living there yesterday."
Grace looked at the unit number on the key card. It was right next to Grace's apartment unit. They were neighbors!