GILDEONHe and Arah bolted toward the scream, weaving through the chaos of students and professors stumbling over each other in confusion. They turned a corner and came face to face with the aftermath.A college girl was on her knees, frozen. Eyes wide. Hand trembling. Three deep claw marks carved across her cheek, blood leaking in steady rivulets down her neck.“Oh my god, what happened to her?” one student squealed.“Gross. Did you scratch yourself or something?” another said, clearly too dumb to register the danger.“Hey, help her! We need to get out of here!” someone else shouted.Others had their phones out, filming—something that didn’t surprise him one bit.Arah was already moving, guiding the students away with firm but calm urgency, pushing bodies aside as she cleared space.Gildeon wasn’t focused on the girl. His eyes swept the hallway, then caught on a male student who’d paused mid-step, frowning as a drop of liquid hit his nose. The student glanced up but saw nothing above
ARAHShe reached across the bed, only to find cool, empty sheets. Gildeon was gone. But outside the house, she could hear his voice, talking to Roselia.She glanced down at her forearm. The vine strands had withered, and the bite wound was already healing.Sliding out of bed, she headed outside and found the two standing over the ritual vine circle on the ground. Part of it was broken, with paw prints scattered through the dirt.Arah spotted Barky by the doghouse, munching on his food like nothing had happened.Roselia paused mid-sentence when she noticed her. “Miss Arah, you’re awake.”Arah smiled and walked over. Gildeon pulled her in by the waist and pressed a kiss to her forehead. Her heart skipped at the gesture. For a moment, it was hard to believe this was the same man she’d been living under the same roof with almost a year ago.“How was your sleep?” he asked.“Fine. I just wish you’d woken me when you got up.”He brushed a lock of hair from her face. “You’ve been through a lo
ARAHShe heard the unmistakable flutter of wings in the distance—heavy, powerful. They sounded too large to belong to the owl.And then she heard something else. A loud, familiar, inhuman heartbeat.Gildeon’s.Her own heart pounding, she rushed out of the house and into the front yard—just in time to see Gildeon land in his beast form. His wings beat the air, whipping gusts of wind against her face. Then, slowly, they began to shrink—until they vanished completely from his back.She had a thousand questions, but they all slipped away the second she met his gaze.She sprinted toward him and threw her arms around his massive form. She didn’t care about the roughness of his hide or the searing steam rising off his scales.“Where did you go? Why did you disappear? I was worried,” she blurted, her voice trembling with emotion. Everything was welling up inside her, and for a moment, she thought she might cry. She only pulled away when the heat between them became too much.“I had to take car
GILDEONHe’d first crossed paths with Sharko during his and Arah’s early weeks on Caylao Island. Back then, he’d been sweeping the place—mapping the terrain, scouting escape routes, tagging danger zones. Getting a feel for the land.That had been when he saw it—a woman being assaulted by Sharko’s men.He hadn’t come to Earthland to play hero. Meddling in human filth hadn’t been part of the plan. But that scene had reminded him of what happened to Nalini. So he’d made an exception. He’d beaten the bastards and saved the girl.A day later, he’d stumbled onto one of Sharko’s operations—human trafficking, on top of drug dealing and whatever other scum-work the gang ran. That was also when he met Donny’s brother and helped free him from their clutches.Gildeon had confronted Sharko directly—broke enough bones to make him piss himself and swear he’d shut down his human trafficking ring and leave helpless women alone. Gildeon had thought the warning had landed.But after what had nearly happ
GILDEONHe still had a few days left in his hibernation. But then he heard Ghulik’s voice. Said bad men were trying to hurt Arah.Sharko’s bad men.That was all it took.He tore out of his cocoon without a second thought.In the past, he might’ve held back, avoided tapping into the rest of his abilities. Not anymore. He’d nearly lost Arah one too many times, and he’d sworn never to restrain himself again. So, he sprouted small-scale wings and flew through the night in his dragon’s mortal form—with Ghulik on his back.As long as Gildeon wasn’t in his full beast form, the island would be safe from his destruction.Not long after, he landed atop a jagged rock outcrop with a clear line of sight to Cora’s house. His dragon eyes locked onto Arah’s flickering blue-green aura in the distance. She stood with Cora, Mabel, and another woman he didn’t recognize, all being questioned by the police.Another unfamiliar woman lay on a stretcher, getting loaded into the back of an ambulance. Body bags
ARAHRoselia hadn’t been able to remove the bullet, but she managed to stop the bleeding, prevent further damage, and numb the pain. Mabel’s friend would still need to be taken to a hospital for proper treatment. Roselia explained that if she tried to heal her using supernatural methods and alter her memory at the same time, it could cause unpredictable side effects.Mabel’s friend had fallen unconscious. They bandaged her wound and gently moved her to the couch. Cora brought over a blanket and draped it over her.“W-What are we going to do with them?” Mabel’s sister asked, staring at the three corpses lying across the living room.Arah handed her a glass of water. “I think it’s better to leave them as they are. The police will take care of it.” She figured the authorities would arrive soon, especially if they believed Sharko’s gang had already finished whatever they came here to do.Thug Number Two would be a problem. He’d definitely run back to Sharko and report what happened. Then
ARAHShe had a narrow window before any sudden movement might make one of the thugs pull the trigger out of pure reflex.Or panic.Before she even realized it was possible, her wind tattoo split into two. One lash coiled tightly around the ankle of the thug who was about to assault Mabel’s sister, dragging him down. He hit the floor face-first with a grunt, arms flailing to catch himself. The other streaked across the room and smacked the gun from the hand of the man holding Cora.Arah bolted down the stairs, snatching the fallen gun mid-run, and aimed the gun at Thug Number One. She’d never held one before and had no real idea how to use it. But she’d seen enough movies to get the general idea.Still, she hoped it wouldn’t come to that. To her, manmade weapons felt far more volatile than anything supernatural.She saw Cora grab a coat rack from the corner and swing it hard at the back of Thug Number One’s head. The man let out a stunned grunt, stumbling forward from the blow. He turn
ARAHThug Leader motioned to his men to let the girls go, but then pointed at Mabel, her sister, and the girl who’d offered Arah a cocktail earlier.“Those three, and of course, Cora—they all stay.”He turned back to Arah, sneering, probably waiting for her to object. But she stayed silent. He seemed like the egotistical maniac type. If she pushed him too far, he’d only make things worse.Arah settled for glancing at the girls as they whimpered, shuddered, and ran out of the house.“Don’t you dare snitch, or we’ll come after you,” one of the thugs growled, stepping aside and pointing his gun at each of them as they passed.Arah hated how calm they all looked. Like they weren’t worried at all that the girls might bring help. It said even more about the kind of power Sharko’s gang held over the island.“Now…” Thug Leader lifted her chin with the muzzle of his gun. “You said you’d give me a night I’d never forget?”“I need assurance they won’t be harmed,” she said carefully, nodding towa
ARAHShe stared at the lifeless body of the male stripper, sprawled out across the unfurled cardboard box. Blood seeped from the bullet wound in his back. He’d tried to run after the thug leader warned him not to.And they killed him. Just like that.To scare the hell out of them even more, the thugs had dragged his corpse back into the house—for everyone to see. It looked eerie under the strobe lights.The room was tense. The music was still playing, but one of the thugs had turned the volume down. All the girls were huddled together in the living room, clutching at each other like their lives depended on it. Some were curled up on the couch, the others slumped on the floor with their knees drawn to their chests. Everyone was shaking and crying. No one said a word.Their phones had been taken, so there was no way to call for help—unless, of course, Mabel’s call to the police had gone through.One of the thugs paced behind them, gun in one hand, a slice of strawberry cake in the other