The days after Dorian's kiss unfolded like a fever dream. I moved through my chores with trembling hands, lips still aching with the ghost of his mouth. Father noticed my distraction and scolded me; the villagers whispered louder, some with pity, others with suspicion.
But nothing could wash him from me.
Not even the fear.
Each night I returned to the ruins, compelled like a moth to flame. Sometimes he let me near, sometimes he prowled the shadows like a caged beast, warning me to stay back lest his hunger undo him. Always, he watched me with those fathomless eyes, a storm of torment and desire that both frightened and thrilled me.
It was on the fourth night that I first felt another presence.
I had lingered too long beneath the stars, tracing the cracks in the ruined stone. A low rustle came from the courtyard, soft but deliberate, and when I turned, I saw her.
She was unlike any creature I had ever seen.
Tall, with skin pale as moonlight and hair blacker than ravens' wings, she moved with a grace both regal and predatory. Her gown shimmered like spilled ink, flowing around her as though the night itself clothed her. But it was her eyes that rooted me to the spot—gleaming red, not flickering like fire as Dorian's did, but glowing steady, like coals banked in ash.
And when she smiled, her fangs glinted.
"You must be the mortal who has captured his attention," she said, her voice like silk drawn over a blade.
I swallowed hard. "Who… who are you?"
Her smile widened. "Ah. He has not spoken of me. How very like him, to cast aside what he wishes forgotten." She stepped closer, and I felt her presence like a cold wind, pressing into my lungs. "I am Selene. His bride."
The word struck me like a blow. "Bride?"
"Yes." She circled me, appraising, her gaze sharp enough to peel flesh from bone. "We were bound centuries ago, when mortals still trembled at his name and offered their daughters in tribute. I was the last. The most faithful. And though he has buried me in shadow, do not be deceived—his darkness is mine to share."
Anger and disbelief fought inside me. "If you were his bride, why does he hide you?"
Her eyes narrowed, a flash of venom beneath her beauty. "Because he fears me. Fears what I became when he abandoned me. I drank too deep of him, mortal. I carry his blood still. Do you understand what that makes me?"
I shook my head, though dread coiled in my gut.
"Eternal," she hissed, her smile breaking into a snarl. "Bound to him beyond death. And I will not suffer some mortal slip of a girl to replace me."
Before I could speak, the air shifted.
Dorian was there, faster than thought, his hand closing around Selene's wrist as she reached for me. His face was carved from stone, eyes blazing with fury.
"Enough." His voice was thunder. "You should not be here."
Selene laughed, a sound both bitter and sweet. "Should not? Oh, my love, I have wandered centuries at your side, and you would banish me now for her? This… fragile thing?" She gestured at me with a contemptuous flick of her hand.
"Leave her," Dorian growled, stepping between us, his body shielding mine. "She is under my protection."
Selene's gaze cut past him, spearing me like a dagger. "Protection? Or obsession? Tell me, little mortal, has he kissed you yet? Has he pressed his fangs to your throat and whispered of forever? That is what he does, you know. He toys with mortals, feeds on their adoration, and leaves them hollow shells. I should know. I was once like you."
I felt my breath falter. A part of me wanted to deny her, to cling to what I had felt in his arms. Yet doubt whispered cruelly—had I not sensed his hunger, his torment? Was I not already teetering on the edge of ruin?
Dorian's snarl silenced her. "Go, Selene. While I still allow you to walk away."
For a moment, I thought she might strike him, her nails glinting like talons, her mouth twisted with rage. But then her expression shifted, softening into something crueler still.
"As you wish," she purred. "But remember, my beloved—I am the shadow you cannot escape. And she…" Her gaze cut back to me, searing my skin. "She will be ashes long before I fade."
With that, she dissolved into mist, vanishing into the night.
The silence she left was crushing. My knees weakened, and I realized I was trembling. Dorian turned, his hands reaching for me but halting before they touched, as if afraid he might break me.
"Liora," he murmured, anguish threading his voice. "You should not have seen her."
I forced my breath steady. "Why? Because it ruins the illusion? Because she was right?"
He flinched as if struck. "No. Because she is poison. She would taint your thoughts, turn you against me before you have the chance to understand."
"Understand what?" My voice cracked with pain and fury. "That you've had brides before? That you will again? That I am nothing but a momentary distraction in your endless night?"
His hands clenched at his sides. His eyes glowed like fire through smoke. "You are not nothing. Do you not feel it? The pull between us? Stronger than hunger, stronger than the curse itself. You are the first light I have seen in centuries, Liora. And it terrifies me."
I wanted to believe him. God help me, I did. But Selene's words still echoed: bride… eternal… abandoned.
I turned from him, though his gaze burned at my back. "Then prove it. Prove that I am not just another shadow in your endless dark."
And I fled before he could answer.