He wasn't supposed to be here.
He was in the company of Elias and the rest of the group when he saw the black silky haired girl walk out of the hall with Jessi. Yes, He knew Jessi, who wouldn't?
He had yet to see her face but he was so intrigued by her that it made him question what exactly she was.
The elegant woman at the cafe crossed his mind, the puzzles were damn
Now here he was.
That thought occurred to Devin in full clarity as he stood behind the east hall near the edge of the school's side courtyard—an overgrown space between two old buildings where the ivy refused to be trimmed, and the grass grew wild in patterns no one had planted.
But his feet had moved on their own.
Something—someone—was pulling at the air. Not like gravity. Not like scent. It was something more ancient. Like instinct. Like belonging.
He'd felt it since the moment she arrived in Hawthorne.
Only today, it was no longer distant.
It was a call.
Devin stepped out past the vine-draped wall, and then he saw her, putting a halt to his cold heart.
She stood near the old brick fountain—half crumbled, half forgotten—spinning in place, arms slightly raised, her face turned upward as if listening to something he couldn't hear. Her black hair whipped around her like a veil caught in wind.
She looked otherworldly.
And it hit him harder than anything he'd trained to withstand.
The pull.
It wasn't carnal.
It was cosmic.
Devin took a slow step forward.
He didn't want to interrupt.
But his body didn't wait for permission.
She turned too fast.
Spun.
And walked right into him.
Their bodies met—not hard, but fast enough to jolt them both. Her forehead brushed his chest. Her shoulder caught his arm. Her hair tickled his collarbone.
She recoiled with a quiet gasp, hand going to her nose, face scrunching.
"Ow," she murmured, blinking.
Devin opened his mouth.
He meant to say something. Something neutral. "Are you alright?" or "Sorry, I didn't see you."
But then—
She looked up.
And everything stopped. Like seriously time froze around them literally
Her eyes.
Green. Damn green. too green
Not the green of leaves or grass or glass.
Emerald. Luminous. Ancient.
Like light that had never dimmed. Like moss over stone in a temple long buried. Like the kind of green that trees remember when they dream.
Devin's words died in his throat.
Because these were the eyes from his dreams.
Exactly. Precisely. Undeniably.
The forest. The pulse. The fire.
Her.
And the breath he had been holding slipped out too late.
She blinked at him, wide-eyed and uncertain.
He dropped his gaze instinctively, ashamed of staring.
And made it worse.
Because now he saw the rest of her.
Long, flowing black hair like silk ink. Skin kissed by earth and starlight. A mouth that looked like it was built for sweet soft kisses.
He swallowed hard.
Felt the guilt of it. The stupidity. The heat crawling up his neck.
I'm not supposed to feel this.
Not here. Not now. Not with her.
And yet—
A piece of him whispered:
"Oh damn she's beautiful ."
The words he couldn't say lodged behind his tongue.
She was stunning.
But it wasn't her beauty that wrecked him the most.
It was the recognition.
" It's the same eyes as the ones in my dreams "
It was like looking into the memory of a vow he hadn't made yet.
A truth planted long ago, now breaking through the soil.
And he had no words for it.
Not yet.
--------------------------
Devin didn't speak.
He couldn't.
The weight of her gaze pinned him in place—not like a weapon, but like gravity. Like standing on sacred ground for the first time and realizing he hadn't earned the silence.
She was still watching him. Curious. A little dazed. Rubbing the bridge of her nose with her sleeve like the collision had jolted her more than she let on.
He noticed the smallest things.
How her brows furrowed slightly when she was confused.
How the sunlight behind her lit her hair like black glass.
How she didn't look away.
And for a breath, neither did he.
But then it all hit at once—the full impact of being this close. Of seeing the girl who had lived in his dreams without ever showing her face, and realizing… those dreams had been warning him. Or maybe preparing him.
It was too much.
Too real.
Devin took a step back.
He cleared his throat, barely managing a word. "Sorry. You okay?"
She nodded slowly. "Yeah. I just—wasn't looking."
"A.. Alright"
Her voice. Soft. Measured. Like someone used to keeping the world at a distance.
He didn't trust himself to keep standing there.
Didn't trust the feeling building in his chest—too fast, too sharp.
And he knew, in that moment, if he stood there any longer, he'd reach out without thinking. Not out of lust or impulse. But something stranger.
He just needed to know she was real.
He couldn't afford that slip.
So he gave a slight nod.
Neutral. Distant. Controlled.
The Knight way.
Then he turned and walked away—measured steps, shoulders squared, eyes forward.
Behind his ribs, something unspooled.
He didn't go far.
Just to the edge of the courtyard, where a side path led toward the back lot. Somewhere no one would see him pause.
Devin exhaled and leaned against the stone wall.
Shaking.
"This is ridiculous, seriously? I wasn't expecting such a reaction"
He closed his eyes. Collecting his emotions
And in the dark behind his eyelids, he saw hers again—those eyes.
"Devin what the hell is wrong with you" He scolded himself
Those beautiful eyes
Not just beautiful.
Not just strange.
But ancient.
It felt like.....
Like they didn't belong to this century. Like they were grown from something buried. A seed never meant to bloom again.
And now, somehow, she was here.
And somehow, he had felt her coming long before they met.
The pull hadn't ended with the dream.
It had only just begun.