Chapter 4 – The Scent of Blood
Aria tried to forget him.
She told herself he was gone, just a fevered dream conjured by the mist and her restless heart. But she couldn't escape the memory of his crimson eyes, or the way he had spoken her name as if he had known it all along.
Three nights had passed since their second encounter, and still she wandered, carrying her basket of herbs, pretending her purpose was to serve the sick. But she knew the truth. She was searching.
The streets of Ebonfall were silent, broken only by the dripping of water from old gutters and the distant bark of a stray dog. Fog coiled low, wrapping around her ankles like a living thing.
She had just bent to pick a sprig of wolfsbane growing near the church ruins when the air shifted.
The hair at the back of her neck rose.
Someone was watching her.
Aria straightened slowly, her heart thundering. She turned—and there he was.
Lucian stepped from the shadows as though he had always been there, waiting. His coat swept against the ground, his presence commanding yet silent. He moved like a predator, unhurried, certain of his power.
Aria's breath caught. "You… You came back."
His gaze locked onto her, intense, unblinking. "You shouldn't be here."
Her pulse quickened, and she hugged the basket closer to her chest. "Neither should you."
For a moment, silence stretched between them. The fog thickened, the lamps flickered. Then, in a voice so low it was almost a growl, Lucian said, "You shouldn't stand so close to me. I can smell your blood."
Her lips parted, but no words came. She saw it then—the faint tremor in his jaw, the tension in his body as if he were holding himself back with great effort. His eyes glowed faintly, catching the lantern light, and she realized how dangerous this moment was.
"You're hungry," she whispered.
He closed his eyes, jaw tightening. "I told you. Stay away."
Yet when she should have fled, Aria found herself stepping closer. "Then feed from someone else. Why do you keep coming back to me?"
His eyes snapped open, burning red. He took a sharp breath, and for a terrifying heartbeat she thought he might seize her, fangs at her throat. But instead he turned away, his voice ragged.
"Because I can't stay away."
Aria's chest tightened. She reached out before she could stop herself, her hand brushing his sleeve. His body went rigid beneath her touch.
Lucian turned to her slowly, his eyes a storm of hunger and restraint. "One day," he murmured, "I won't be able to resist. And when that day comes, it will destroy us both."
Then, with a rush of wind, he was gone—swallowed by the fog, leaving her alone with the pounding of her heart and the echo of his warning.
Aria sank to her knees, clutching her basket, trembling not with fear… but with something far more dangerous.
She wanted him to come back.