The house was too quiet, Sera stood in the dim hallway, her heartbeat too loud in the silence,The candles lining the walls flickered as if something unseen had just passed through.
She wasn't alone, She felt him, Not Elias,The other one,The one who whispered her name in the dark, who had touched her in dreams she didn't remember having.
And now, he was here,Watching,Waiting. A shiver ran down her spine.
But what terrified her more was the truth she couldn't ignore,She wanted to see him.
A sudden gust of wind blew out the candles, plunging the hallway into darkness**Then**warm breath ghosted over her ear.
"Did you miss me?"
Sera whirled around, her pulse hammering, and found herself staring into deep crimson eyes.
He was close,too close, His presence was like smoke, intoxicating and heavy, curling around her like a second skin.
"You shouldn't be here," she whispered.
A slow, wicked smile curved his lips,"But you want me to be,"Sera opened her mouth to protest, but he lifted a finger tracing the column of her throat.
A dark thrill ran through her,Gods, Why did this feel so familiar? Why did she feel like she had been touched like this before by him?
"You remember me, don't you?" His voice was velvet, sinking into her bones. "Even if he tried to make you forget… your body remembers."
Sera's breath caught as his fingers trailed lower, stopping just at the hollow of her throat,She should have pulled away,She should have screamed for Elias.
But she didn't,Because he was right Something deep, forbidden, and dangerously familiar coiled inside her.
A need she couldn't explain,Then, suddenly a violent gust of power ripped through the hallway,Sera stumbled back as Elias appeared, fury rolling off him in waves.
His silver eyes blazed, locking onto the shadowy man standing too close to her.
"Get your hands off her."
The stranger laughed, Low, amused, unbothered,"You always were so possessive." He tilted his head toward Elias, his expression smug, "Afraid she'll remember what it felt like to be mine?"
Elias's control snapped, In an instant, he was in front of Sera, shielding her, his power surging through the air like a storm.
"You don't belong here," he growled,The stranger smirked. "Neither does she,"Sera's heart stopped.
"What do you mean?" she asked, voice shaky His red eyes met hers, "You were never meant for this world."
The words sank into her like ice,Elias tensed, his entire body coiled, as if waiting for the moment to strike.
"Leave," Elias ordered.
The man chuckled, a sound that promised trouble Then, just as suddenly as he appeared, he was gone.
But not before whispering a final warning "You will come to me, Sera. One way or another."