The lie between us

"I know." My hand found his. Warm. Real. "But maybe there's another explanation. Something we haven't seen yet."

I felt the lie burn on my tongue. I hated it. Hated the way it tasted like betrayal and protection all at once.

Because I did know.

"I mean, why will he kill Ash?" I forced a scoff.

Aiden stared at our hands. "I want to believe I'm wrong. I really do. But if I am... why do I feel like I already lost something?"

"You haven't lost me," I said, firmer this time. "Whatever this is-whatever's coming-you don't have to face it alone."

He looked at me like he didn't quite believe it yet. But he wanted to. And that wanting God to do something to me.

The ache in his eyes, the weight on his shoulders, the way his fingers tightened just slightly around mine-it was all a kind of gravity. Pulling me closer. Pulling me in.

Without thinking, I leaned forward.

Slow, deliberate.

I felt his breath hitch before our lips touched. Just the barest brush-soft, trembling. The kind of kiss that asked instead of took. That whispered, "I'm here, instead of I want."

But then his hand moved, sliding up my back, and everything shifted.

Need sparked beneath my skin, slow and hot, curling in my chest like smoke. His lips parted, and I kissed him deeper, like I was trying to press everything I couldn't say into him-everything I was afraid he'd one day know about me.

The kiss turned searching, breathless, like we were both trying to find the edges of something we didn't want to fall out of.

He tasted like grief and adrenaline. Like truth, he hadn't spoken yet. Like everything that hurt but hadn't broken him.

When we finally pulled apart, barely an inch between us, I let my forehead rest against his.

He didn't say anything.

He didn't have to.

The room was warm. Dim. Quiet.

And for now, in that fragile stillness, he was mine.

And I was his.

Even if it couldn't last.

Even if the monsters we kept close eventually dragged us back under.

We had this.

This moment.

This breath.

This choice.

His eyes found mine again, darker now. Still red-rimmed, still raw-but steadier. Something in him had clicked into place, or maybe just come undone differently. His hand moved up to cradle the side of my face, thumb brushing beneath my eye like he was learning me with every touch.

And then he kissed me again.

Slower this time.

Deeper.

Like he'd decided that if the world was going to burn around him, he wanted to feel something before it did. His other hand slid to my waist, tentative but certain, and I let myself fall back, the mattress catching me as he followed.

The heat between us was soft and shattering all at once. The kind that steals your breath before you even notice it's gone.

I should have stopped him.

I should have pulled away when the warmth of his skin started to stir something darker in me.

But I didn't.

Because when he kissed down my neck, every part of me that was still human wanted him. Wanted to be close. Wanted to disappear inside the feeling and not think about blood or guilt or what I'd seen in Sebastian's eyes that night.

But then the hunger started to claw.

It curled in my gut, tight and sudden, like a wire pulled too taut. My pulse stuttered. My lips parted, and not from the kiss.

I could hear his heartbeat-feel it-even through the layers between us. A steady, mortal rhythm that made my fangs press forward behind my gums, aching to tear free. A primal edge climbed up the back of my throat, hunger flaring so fast it almost made me dizzy.

No.

Not now.

I turned my face just enough to breathe him in without tasting his neck.

He didn't notice at first. He was lost in the moment, mouth trailing over my jaw, fingertips skimming the hem of my shirt like he was memorizing every inch.

But I wasn't lost anymore.

I was terrified.

I was terrified of how much I wanted him. And how easily wanting could become needing. How need could become something else entirely.

I squeezed my eyes shut. Swallowed hard. Forced the monster back into its cage.

Control, I told myself. Just hold on.

"Aiden," I whispered, hand on his chest now. Not to push him away-not fully. But to anchor him. And me.

He looked down at me, breathless, lips parted. Beautiful in the way broken things always are.

"Yeah?" he asked, voice thick.

I couldn't tell him.

Not yet.

And then-my ears caught a noise from outside.

Faint, too faint for any human to hear.

But not for me. Not now.

A brush of movement against gravel. Deliberate. Slow.

Not an animal. Too heavy. Too careful.

And the smell

Sharp.

Like guilt pressed into pores.

Like secrets.

I'd recognize it anywhere.

It was Sebastian.

I blinked, pulse thudding, and fangs threatening to push through again just from instinct. I turned away from Aiden before he could notice the change in my face, the sudden alertness in my eyes.

"Want me to grab you something?" I asked, voice soft, sweet.

He looked up from the bed, where he sat in quiet exhaustion, confusion flickering across his expression.

A drink. I think you need one," I added quickly. "Water. Or... something."

He nodded slowly, still a little dazed. "Okay... thanks."

I kissed his forehead gently. "I'll be right back."

Then I was out of the room before he could think to ask why I was moving so fast.

The hallway was silent. Downstairs even more so, the house holding its breath the way old places do when something's waiting just beyond the walls. I didn't go to the kitchen. I didn't touch a glass.

Instead, I slipped through the back door, silent as mist.

The wind cut across my bare legs, and I pulled Aiden's hoodie tighter around me. His scent clung to it-warm and alive. Human. This is a reminder of what I was still trying to protect.

My body knew where he was before my eyes caught him.

Half-shrouded by the trees at the back edge of the yard, leaning against a trunk like he belonged to the dark.

Sebastian.

He didn't move. Not even when I stepped forward.

"You shouldn't be here," I said, voice low. Controlled.

His gaze flicked up to meet mine, pale eyes unreadable. "Neither should he."