Seraphina did not sleep that night.The encounter with Aurelian had left her mind buzzing, alive with fear, anger, and an undercurrent she refused to acknowledge something far more intimate, sharp, and unnerving. She sat on the edge of her bed, staring at the pale glow of the city through her window. Rain misted the glass, streaking the lights below into blurred patterns that reminded her of a dream she could barely recall. The mark beneath her collarbone throbbed faintly, a reminder that her life had changed forever.
She tried to will herself back into reason.
It was just a man. Just a strange man. Just a night she shouldn't have taken.
And yet the warmth lingered, pulsing in rhythm with her heartbeat. That warmth was no longer merely physical. It was alive. Responsive. Dangerous.
By morning, exhaustion had claimed her. But even sleep was restless, filled with flashes of shadowed corridors, whispered names she did not recognize, and eyes golden, unyielding that had watched her across impossible distances.
When she finally opened her eyes, a knock at her door froze her in place.
"I know you're awake," said the low, controlled voice that had both terrified and fascinated her since the night of the bar.
Seraphina's heart thundered. She approached the door cautiously.
"What do you want?" she asked, trying to sound braver than she felt.
"I told you last night," he said, his tone softer than she expected, "I am here to keep you safe. But safety requires proximity."
She considered retreating into her apartment, locking every door, ignoring him. But instinct whatever part of her was no longer fully her own made her hesitate.
"I'm not your responsibility," she said finally.
"You are mine now," he replied simply. The words landed with a finality that made her knees weaken.
She stepped aside. "Five minutes. Not a second more."
He nodded once, barely moving as he crossed the small space into her apartment. Every motion of his seemed deliberate, as though the air itself bent around him to accommodate his presence.
"You need to understand what is happening to you," Aurelian said, lowering himself into a chair opposite her. His eyes never left her face. "And you need to accept it before it consumes you."
She shook her head. "I don't understand anything. And I don't want to."
"You will," he said. "Because if you don't, others will understand it for you. And they will not be kind."
Her stomach tightened. "Others?"
"The world you live in is smaller than you realize. Underneath it, there are currents of power, families, ancient magic, and rules written in blood. Your blood has awakened. That makes you visible. And dangerous."
She flinched as the words sank in. Dangerous. That was the exact word her instinct had screamed from the moment she first saw him.
"Why me?" she demanded. "Why does it matter that I… exist?"
Aurelian leaned back, his expression hardening into the mask of control that had always unnerved her. "Because the mark you carry belongs to a line that was supposed to vanish. And yet, here you are."
The weight of that truth pressed down on her. A life she had always thought mundane, ordinary, safe was gone. She wasn't just a woman who had made a reckless choice. She was something more. Something that could unmake the world she knew.
"I don't want to be this… whatever you're saying I am," she whispered.
He stood, moving closer until the faint warmth of his body brushed against hers. "No one wants to be what they are destined to be. But destiny is indifferent to desire."
His presence made her pulse spike. She tried to step back but found her movements slower, her body reluctant, as though some unseen tether had anchored her to him.
"You're… you're different," she said finally, voice trembling.
"I am," he admitted. "And so are you. That is why you cannot be unprotected. Not tonight. Not tomorrow. Not ever, until you understand the power you carry."
She wanted to scream, to argue, to resist. But fear sharp, raw, and immediate pushed past all defiance. Because she had felt it. The pulse beneath her skin, the heat in her veins, the world bending slightly around her. She could not unfeel it. She could not ignore it.
"So what happens if I refuse?" she asked, her voice low, dangerous in its tremor.
"You will not refuse," he said simply, almost gently. "Not because I will force you, but because the moment you step outside unprepared, the world will decide for you. And I will not be there to save you."
The threat hung in the air, not cruel, but undeniable. She realized then that his version of protection was not comfort. It was containment. And yet… in the same breath, it was the only thing keeping her alive.
Hours passed with neither speaking much, each aware of the fragile, electric space between them. Every small sound the hum of the refrigerator, the ticking of her wall clock felt amplified, as if the world had tightened around her apartment, watching.
She noticed the way he observed her. Not with desire, not with judgment, but with attention so complete that it left her vulnerable in ways she had never experienced. It was terrifying. And strangely intoxicating.
Finally, Aurelian spoke again. "Tonight, you will see what you truly are capable of. Not just what the mark signifies, but what lies dormant beneath it. You will understand why the Council the powers that govern from the shadows will move against you if you remain ignorant."
Her hands clenched into fists at her sides. "I don't want to see. I don't want to be part of your world."
"You already are," he replied quietly. "The question is whether you will survive it."
Before she could respond, he reached for her hand. Not to pull her, not to force her, but to anchor her. Warmth spread from his touch, and the pulse beneath her skin flared again. She gasped, instinctively drawing back.
"It reacts to me," he said. "The bond is alive. You can fight it, deny it, pretend it isn't there but it is. And until you learn to control it, it will control you."
Her chest tightened. She realized, with sudden, sobering clarity, that she was no longer free. Not in body, not in spirit, not even in thought.
Aurelian's eyes softened fractionally, almost imperceptibly, before hardening again. "I will not cage you," he said. "But I will not allow harm to touch you. Not from the world. Not from yourself."
She wanted to hate him. She wanted to scream, run, push him out and slam the door so hard it would leave a mark. But she couldn't. Because despite everything, she knew the truth: He was right.
She was not ready.
And without him, she would not survive what was coming.
The weight of that reality pressed down, suffocating and inevitable.
And as night fell, with the city lights shimmering faintly through her windows, Seraphina understood the truth she could not admit even to herself: protection was not comfort. It was a prison.
And she was already trapped.