CHAPTER TWO: GRAY EYES

I was halfway down the corridor when I heard footsteps behind me.

I glanced over my shoulder.

Nobody.

I frowned.

For a moment, I wondered if I'd imagined it.

Then my phone vibrated inside my coat.

I pulled it out.

One message.

No name.

No number I recognized.

Stop looking.

My heart skipped.

I stared at the screen.

Another message appeared.

You don't know what you're getting yourself into.

I slowly looked around the corridor.

Nothing.

The guards were still standing near my father's studio, their expressions unreadable as usual.

I quickly locked my phone.

Someone was watching me.

The question was—

who?

I started walking again, but this time, I paid attention to every sound around me.

Every footstep.

Every movement.

Every shadow that crossed the walls.

A few minutes later, I reached the palace's eastern exit.

I pushed the doors open.

Cold morning air hit my face.

I stepped outside.

Then I saw him.

A man stood beside a black car parked near the far end of the driveway.

He wasn't wearing a palace uniform.

He wasn't one of the guards.

And he definitely wasn't supposed to be there.

I slowed down.

He seemed to notice me at the same time.

For a moment, neither of us moved.

He wore dark clothes and a black mask that covered most of his face.

I couldn't see his features.

But his eyes—

They were gray.

I'd never seen eyes like that before.

Not because they were beautiful.

Because they were unreadable.

Cold, but not empty.

Calm, but somehow threatening.

I should have walked away.

Instead, I found myself staring.

He tilted his head slightly.

“You shouldn't be here.”

His voice was low.

Calm.

Almost annoyingly calm.

I raised an eyebrow.

“Funny. I was about to say the same thing.”

His eyes narrowed slightly.

I couldn't see his mouth behind the mask, but somehow, I knew he was amused.

“Then we're both observant.”

“And you're trespassing.”

I folded my arms.

“Am I?”

“Yes.”

I glanced toward the palace gates.

“I don't see any guards stopping me.”

He looked around casually.

“Maybe they're afraid of you.”

“Are you?”

“No.”

The answer came too quickly.

His eyes lingered on mine.

“You should be.”

My amusement disappeared.

There was something about the way he said it.

He wasn't joking.

I took one step closer.

“Who are you?”

He didn't answer.

Instead, he looked at me.

Not casually.

He studied me as if he were trying to memorize my face.

It made me uncomfortable.

And, annoyingly, curious.

I waited.

A few seconds passed.

He still said nothing.

I sighed.

“You know, that's rude.”

His gaze finally shifted to mine.

“What?”

“Staring at someone without introducing yourself.”

His eyes dropped briefly to my coat before returning to my face.

Then he said my name.

“You're Shane.”

My body stiffened.

“How do you know my name?”

The question came out sharper than I intended.

He didn't answer.

I took another step closer.

“Who sent you?”

“Does it matter?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because you're standing outside my family's palace wearing a mask and talking to me like you already know me.”

His head tilted slightly.

“And you ask too many questions.”

A faint smirk appeared beneath his mask.

“I guess we're even.”

For the first time, something changed in his eyes.

A flicker of amusement.

I hated that I noticed.

He stepped closer.

Not enough to touch me.

Just enough that I could feel the shift in the air between us.

My heartbeat quickened.

I refused to step back.

His gray eyes remained fixed on mine.

“You should stop looking.”

My breath caught.

The same warning.

The same words from the message.

My fingers curled.

“You sent that message?”

He didn't answer.

“You're the one who's been watching me?”

Still nothing.

I stared at him.

“You know where they are?”

His eyes hardened.

For the first time, his calm expression seemed to crack.

“Go home, Shane.”

“You know them.”

My chest tightened.

“Forget what you saw.”

He stepped back.

“I don't forget things.”

“I noticed.”

Then he turned toward the car.

I didn't know why, but my body moved before I could think.

I reached for his arm.

He stopped.

So did I.

His gaze dropped to my hand.

I slowly pulled it away.

For a second, neither of us spoke.

Then his eyes lifted to mine again.

Gray.

Cold.

Unreadable.

But there was something else there now.

Recognition.

And that scared me more than anything else.

“You'll see me again,” he said quietly.

I frowned.

“Is that supposed to be a threat?”

His eyes held mine for another second.

“No.”

He opened the car door.

“It was a warning.”

Then he got inside.

The car drove away before I could ask another question.

I stood there, watching it disappear beyond the gates.

My heart was still beating too fast.

I looked down at my hand.

The same hand that had almost stopped him.

Who the hell was that man?

And more importantly—

How did he know about my family?

I looked back at the palace.

The morning suddenly felt colder.

For the first time that day, the blood outside my father's studio didn't feel like the most dangerous thing I'd seen.

It was him.

The stranger with the gray eyes.

And somehow, I knew this wasn't the last time our paths would cross.

I just didn't know yet that meeting him would change everything.