Chapter 2 – The Girl Who Loved the Moon
Aria couldn't sleep that night.
She lay in her small bed, staring at the rafters, hearing the echo of his name in her head. Lucian. The sound of it had weight, like it didn't belong in her world but had slipped into it anyway, foreign and forbidden.
Her hands still smelled faintly of his blood. She had washed them, but the scent clung to her skin, sharp as iron.
Her mother stirred once in the other room, coughing lightly before settling back into sleep. Ebonfall had been restless these last months—the sickness spreading through town had left many weak. Aria had done what she could, but herbs and poultices only went so far.
That was why she had gone wandering again. She always said it was to gather fresh night herbs for medicines, but deep down she knew she craved the moon's embrace. It was only under its silver glow that she felt… alive.
And tonight the moon had led her to him.
She rolled onto her side, clutching her blanket. The memory of his eyes burned in her mind—red as flame, glowing in the mist. Every tale she had heard since childhood warned her of those eyes. Vampires. Blood-drinkers. Beasts cloaked in beauty.
She should have run. She should have screamed.
But instead, she had touched him.
And for one fleeting moment, she had seen not a monster, but a man.