The rest of the lecture was a blurred nightmare of racing pulses and cold sweats. Every time Lyra shifted in her seat—the creak of her leather jacket, the heavy thud of her boots—Sera felt a phantom touch against her skin.When the bell finally rang, Sera didn't walk out; she bolted. She needed air. She needed to be away from the dark gravity of Lyra Vane.But at Saint Jude's, you don't escape a predator simply by changing rooms.
Sera sat on a stone bench in the center of the university quad, surrounded by students who looked like they belonged in a catalog—perfect hair, designer backpacks, and carefree smiles. She felt like an alien."Sera! Wait up!"**Jade** ran toward her, looking flushed. "Did I just see what I think I saw? Lyra Vane sat next to you in Power Pol? And you're still... alive?""She was just being a bully, Jade," Sera said, her voice tight as she clutched her books to her chest. "She's trying to intimidate me because I saw her at the club. That's all.""I don't know," Jade whispered, dropping her voice. "I saw her talking to **Jax** in the parking lot afterward. He looked like he was giving her orders, but her eyes were stuck on the building you walked into. Be careful, Sera. People like her don't just 'sit' next to people. They mark them."Sera felt a chill. Mark them. Like territory."I have to go to the library," Sera murmured. "I have a research paper due.""The library? On a Friday afternoon?" Jade groaned. "There's a pre-game party at the Kappa house. Everyone is going. Even... *they* might be there.""Exactly why I'm going to the library," Sera replied, her jaw set.
The university library was a gothic cathedral of dust and silence. Sera hid herself in the deepest part of the North Wing, where the books on "Ancient Trade Laws" were kept—a place no one visited.She opened her laptop, but her mind kept drifting to the purple bruise on Lyra's neck. She wondered what it felt like to be that reckless. To be so consumed by a feeling that you'd let someone mark you in public.She reached up, tentatively touching her own neck. Her skin was flawless. Unmarked. Untouched."It's a lonely look for a Princess."Sera gasped, her laptop nearly sliding off the desk.Lyra was leaning against a bookshelf three feet away. She had a black hoodie on now, the hood pulled low, but those dark, piercing eyes were unmistakable. She was holding a single red apple, tossing it up and catching it with a rhythmic *smack* against her palm."How did you find me?" Sera hissed, her heart starting that frantic drumbeat again."I'm good at finding things that are lost," Lyra said, stepping into the small circle of light from Sera's desk lamp. She didn't come closer than the edge of the table. "And you look very lost, Seraphina.""I'm studying.""You haven't typed a word in twenty minutes," Lyra countered, her voice dropping to that gravelly purr. "You've been staring at the shelf, wondering what it would feel like if I walked through those stacks and pinned you against the wall."Sera's face turned a violent shade of scarlet. "You are arrogant and... and delusional."Lyra took a slow, deliberate bite of the apple, the crunch echoing in the silent room. She chewed slowly, her eyes never leaving Sera's. "Is that why your pupils are dilated? Is that why your breathing hitched the second I spoke?"Lyra stepped forward, and for the first time, Sera saw the precision in her movements. This wasn't just a girl from a street race. There was a lethal, calculated grace to the way she moved."Stay back," Sera whispered, though she didn't move an inch.Lyra stopped just at the edge of the desk. She leaned over, her hands flat on the wood, boxing Sera in without actually touching her. The slow burn was agonizing. Sera could feel the heat radiating from Lyra's body, could smell the faint scent of rain and adrenaline."I heard your father has three bodyguards waiting for you at the gate," Lyra whispered. "They think they're keeping the world out. But they're actually keeping you in. Don't you want to see what's outside the gate, Sera? Don't you want to see what happens when you stop being a Rossi and start being... a woman?"Lyra reached out, her fingers hovering just an inch away from Sera's cheek. She didn't close the gap. She let the tension build until it was a physical weight in the air."I'm a virgin, Lyra," Sera blurted out, the words escaping before she could stop them. She wanted to scream the moment they left her lips.Lyra's hand froze. Her eyes flickered, a momentary flash of something—surprise? Guilt?—crossing her face before it was replaced by a look of pure, dark hunger."I know," Lyra breathed, her voice so low it was almost a growl. "I could tell the moment I saw you. You're the only thing in this whole city that hasn't been corrupted yet."Lyra pulled her hand back, tucking it into her hoodie pocket. The sudden withdrawal felt like a slap."Consider this a warning, Princess," Lyra said, her voice turning cold and professional again. "The library is a safe place. But the world is getting smaller. And my patience is getting shorter."She turned and vanished into the shadows of the stacks before Sera could even breathe.In the distance, the library's heavy clock chimed. Sera sat in the dark, her skin humming where Lyra *almost* touched her. She was a Rossi. She was a virgin. And for the first time in her life, she hated both of those things.