CASSIAN
Nightmares always came to me before dawn. Sometimes I thought it was my blood, some rotten thing in my veins that kept old ghosts close. Sometimes, I knew it was my fault for letting myself remember.
It started the way it always did. With her laughter echoing through the candlelit room, warm and melodic, like silver bells dancing on summer air. My ethereal form solidified as I materialized beside her bed, drawn by the familiar pull of mortal desire that had sustained me for centuries. But tonight felt different. Tonight, something was wrong.
Elena turned toward me, her dark eyes reflecting the flickering flames, and for a moment I saw not love but fear. "You're taking too much," she whispered, her voice already growing weak. "I can feel myself fading."
I reached for her, my supernatural beauty unmarred by the horror of what I was. "I cannot help what I am," I said, though my voice cracked with something I had never experienced before—remorse. "You knew what I was when you welcomed me."
Her skin, once flushed with life and passion, had grown pale as parchment. The vibrant woman who had laughed just moments before was withering before my eyes, her life force flowing into me like water through cupped hands. I tried to stop, tried to pull away, but the hunger was too strong, too deeply woven into my infernal nature.
"Please," she gasped, her fingers clutching weakly at my chest. "I love you, but you're killing me."
The room began to spin around us, reality bending as dreams do, and suddenly we were no longer in her cozy apartment but in a vast, empty cathedral made of shadows and regret. The stained glass windows depicted not saints, but moments of our time together—her first shy smile, our hands intertwined, her head resting on my shoulder as we watched the sunrise I could barely tolerate.
Blood began to seep from her lips, crimson against her pallid skin. "This is what love means to creatures like me," I said, though I fought against the words even as they left my mouth. "Destruction. Consumption. I warned you."
But even as I spoke, I was gathering her failing form into my arms, cradling her against my chest as if I could somehow hold her soul inside her body through sheer will. Her heartbeat, once strong and steady beneath my ear during our quiet moments, now fluttered like a dying bird.
"No," I breathed, the word tearing from my throat like a prayer I had no right to utter. "Not you. Not because of me."
Elena's hand found my face, her thumb tracing the sharp line of my cheekbone with infinite tenderness. "It's not your fault," she whispered, though we both knew it was a beautiful lie. "You are what you are. I chose this."
The blood was flowing freely now, staining her white nightgown, pooling beneath us on the cathedral floor. Her breathing came in short, desperate gasps, each one potentially her last. I pressed my forehead against hers, my own breathing ragged with grief I didn't know I could feel.
"I'm sorry," I said, the words foreign on my tongue. In centuries of existence, I had never apologized for my nature. "I'm so sorry, Elena."
She smiled then, even as crimson trickled from the corner of her mouth. "If reincarnation is real," she said, her voice barely a whisper now, "if souls really do find each other across lifetimes... I'll find you again. I promise."
Her hand slipped down to my palm, her thumb making one final, gentle circle against my skin: a gesture so human, so full of love and forgiveness that it shattered something fundamental inside me.
"I'll find you," she repeated, her eyes growing distant, "and maybe next time... maybe next time we can love each other without it meaning death."
Her hand went limp. Her chest stilled. The cathedral fell silent except for the sound of my own breathing and the steady drip of her blood onto ancient stone.
My scream tore through the dream like thunder, raw and primal and filled with a grief that echoed off the shadowed walls. I held her lifeless body against me, this mortal woman who had seen something worth loving in a creature born of darkness and hunger.
I woke up tangled in sheets that smelled of sweat and old incense. My hands gripped the mattress so hard my knuckles hurt. Sunlight pushed through the gap in the curtains, thin and gray. I dragged myself out of bed, wiped the sweat off my forehead, and stood in front of the cracked mirror. My eyes looked haunted. Same as always. My hair was a mess, but I didn’t care. The face in the mirror was a stranger. Some days, I hated him.
I got dressed. Black slacks, white shirt, tie knotted loose, jacket over my shoulders. Assistant Professor. Big title for a man who taught the children of fellow monsters how to play nice with each other. I tied my hair back, splashed water on my face, and stepped into the hall.
Nocturne Prep at six in the morning was a quiet place, the only time it didn’t feel hungry. The students were still sleeping off last night’s mischief, and the staff kept their voices low. I nodded at the night porter, who gave me the same suspicious look he always did, and made my way to the staff lounge for coffee.
The lounge was empty, thank the gods. The coffee was cold and bitter, but it did the job. I sat in the window seat, watching the crows pick at the rubbish in the courtyard. It should have felt peaceful, but my nerves were shot. The dream clung to me, sticking to my skin like cobwebs.
My phone buzzed. Headmistress Fox’s name flashed on the screen. My stomach tightened. She never called this early unless something had gone wrong.
“Rhys,” I answered, trying to sound awake.
“Cassian,” her voice was always calm, always polished, “I need you in my office. Now.”
I didn’t bother asking why. I dumped the coffee and walked the empty halls to her office. Every step echoed. Fox met me at the door, her hair pulled into a bun sharp enough to cut glass.
“She’s coming,” she said without preamble.
I blinked. “Who?”
“Alpha Magnus Vale’s other daughter. The bastard.” She said the word like it was a stain on her tongue. “Rae Vale. She’ll arrive today.”
Saraphina’s sister. The words made my gut twist. I pictured Saraphina again—her hair slicked with blood, her body sprawled at the foot of the girls’ dormitory. I’d been the first adult to reach her, pushing through a ring of gawking students. Her eyes had already glazed over.
I’d never really known her. Golden child, troublemaker, one of the Vales, always in the thick of some drama. The school moved quickly to smooth things over, to whisper about accidents, to bury rumors deep. Alpha Magnus wanted the incident forgotten as soon as possible. The House of Vale wanted another daughter in her place.
“She’s enrolling?” I asked, rubbing my forehead. The headache behind my eyes was coming back.
“Yes. Her integration needs to be seamless.” Fox’s tone left no room for argument. “Keep her safe. Keep the students from sniffing out her secrets. And make Alpha Magnus happy. We owe him.”
I wanted to protest, to remind Fox that Nocturne’s “young bloods” weren’t easily tamed. That they circled newcomers like sharks, especially the weak, the alone, the unwanted. But I kept my mouth shut. I was good at that.
“I’ll do what I can,” I said.
“Good. Be in my office in twenty minutes. I want you to show her around.”
I left, walking the halls without really seeing anything. My mind replayed the way Saraphina’s body looked when I found her, the way her blood soaked into the stone, the way everyone stepped back and pretended not to see. We never talked about it, not really. Death was a rumor here, not a lesson.
The rest of my morning blurred past. I graded a few essays, checked on a pair of students who’d nearly poisoned each other in the alchemy lab, and spent too long staring out my office window at the gray sky.
At the appointed time, I headed for Fox’s office. My footsteps felt heavier than usual. I wondered what this Rae would be like. If she was like her sister, or if she was something entirely different. Either way, she’d be walking into a nest of wolves, vampire, demons and anything that went bump in the night. I almost pitied her.
Fox’s door was slightly ajar. I could hear voices inside. I paused, took a breath, and pushed it open.
The first thing I noticed was the scent. Fresh, sharp, with a trace of wildflowers and something deeper beneath. It was the kind of scent that stuck with you, that burrowed under your skin and made your pulse quicken. My incubus senses flared without warning, a whisper deep inside urging me to pay attention.
It was not a warning of old. But it felt familiar. Something old. Something forgotten.
The girl standing in front of Fox was small, dressed in plain black, her shoulders tense like she was bracing for a blow. Her hair was dark and straight, tucked behind her ears, and her skin had that washed-out look of someone who hadn’t slept in days. She clutched a folder to her chest like it was the only thing keeping her upright.
I met her eyes, and the world tilted.
It wasn’t attraction. Not exactly. It was recognition. Something hot and cold surged through me at the same time. My mind was yanked back to the nightmare, to the cathedral where I said my goodbye to my love, the girl with the same wary eyes and haunted mouth.
She looked exactly like her.
My Queen.
My first love. The one who’d died in my arms, her blood on my hands, all those years ago. I saw her face in every dream, heard her laugh in every echo, felt her absence in every empty room. And here she was again, alive, breathing, staring at me like she was waiting for me to remember her name.
I froze. My body didn’t listen to me. My mouth went dry. A thousand memories crashed into each other behind my eyes. Her laughter in the moonlight, her hair tangled in my fingers, the promise I’d whispered against her skin. The way she’d looked at me right before she died, trusting me even as I failed her.
Rae Vale blinked, and the spell broke. She looked away, cheeks burning. Fox didn’t seem to notice my reaction.
“You called me, Headmistress Fox,” I managed, keeping my voice steady, even as my heart slammed in my chest.
“Yes,” Fox said, her tone back to business. “Thank you for coming so quickly, Professor. This is Rae Vale. She’s joining us today. I’d like you to show her around campus. You’re much better at making new students feel welcome than some of their peers.”
RAEThe world tilted. I felt like I was falling, even though my feet were still planted on the carpet."Yes!" she continued, her voice getting louder. "You were a servant. I remember now. Sara told me you were her father's bastard."The blonde gasped, one hand flying to her mouth. They were both staring at me now like I was some fascinating specimen they'd found under a microscope.The dark-haired girl's eyes widened even further, and when she spoke again, her voice was barely a whisper. "Wait. Aren't you an Omega?"The question hit me like a physical blow. I felt my wolf cower inside me, pressing low and small, trying to hide from the predators circling. My tongue felt thick and useless in my mouth."I... I..." The words wouldn't come. My throat had closed up, and all I could do was stand there, opening and closing my mouth like a fish drowning in air.I tried to step back, to close the door, but the dark-haired girl was faster. She shoved her leg against the door frame, blocking it
RAEI stood there for a long moment after the door clicked shut, my back pressed against the wood. My heart was still racing from that conversation with Professor Rhys. The way he looked at me, like he was seeing someone else entirely. And what I'd said about his... situation. I couldn't believe those words had come out of my mouth.The smell hit me immediately.Soap. Industrial-strength cleaner. Bleach. Someone had scrubbed this room within an inch of its life, probably just hours ago. The scent was so strong it made my eyes water. But underneath all that chemical warfare, something else lingered. Something floral and sweet, with an edge of expensive perfume. Saraphina's scent. Faint, but still there, clinging to the corners they couldn't quite reach.I dropped my bag on the floor and looked around. The room was bigger than I expected. A single bed sat against the far wall, wide and neatly made with crisp white sheets. No creases, no stray hairs, no dent in the pillow. Just perfect,
CASSIANI tried to recover. I focused on Rae. I noticed the way she gripped her folder, the tremble in her jaw, the way her eyes darted around like she expected someone to jump out and yell “fraud.” She looked like someone who had learned how to be invisible, someone who had gotten used to being forgotten.For a second, I just wanted to shield her from everything in this school. From the whispers that would come, the cruelty that would follow, the quiet violence that lived in every shadow waiting for fresh blood. But I also wanted to shake her, to demand answers. Why did she look like my woman? Why now, after all these years?I held out my hand, hoping she didn’t see how it shook. “Assistant Professor Cassian Rhys,” I said, keeping it light. “But most people around here just call me Cass. I’m your tour guide, apparently.”She took my hand. Her skin was cold, but her grip was stronger than I expected. The moment our palms touched, a jolt shot up my arm. My incubus instincts screamed, w
CASSIANNightmares always came to me before dawn. Sometimes I thought it was my blood, some rotten thing in my veins that kept old ghosts close. Sometimes, I knew it was my fault for letting myself remember.It started the way it always did. With her laughter echoing through the candlelit room, warm and melodic, like silver bells dancing on summer air. My ethereal form solidified as I materialized beside her bed, drawn by the familiar pull of mortal desire that had sustained me for centuries. But tonight felt different. Tonight, something was wrong.Elena turned toward me, her dark eyes reflecting the flickering flames, and for a moment I saw not love but fear. "You're taking too much," she whispered, her voice already growing weak. "I can feel myself fading."I reached for her, my supernatural beauty unmarred by the horror of what I was. "I cannot help what I am," I said, though my voice cracked with something I had never experienced before—remorse. "You knew what I was when you welc
RAEI hardly slept that night. I tried, but every time I closed my eyes, I saw Saraphina’s smile… or worse, the way Luna Celeste’s eyes had rolled back when she hit the floor. I lay on my cot in the servants’ quarters, listening to the muffled voices and creaking pipes overhead. I wondered how I was supposed to pack up my whole life in a single night. What was there to pack, anyway? A few dresses, all black and plain. Three paperbacks with cracked spines. Some old letters Saraphina wrote me since I did not have a phone before she stopped writing. A scarf that still smelled a little like her perfume.The other servants found me as I sat on the edge of my bed, staring at my empty bag. Martha, who’d worked here since before I was born, put her hand on my shoulder. She didn’t say anything. She just squeezed, her rough palm warm through my nightgown. Someone else, a boy I barely knew, brought a cup of weak tea and left it at my side.“You’re leaving us, Rae?” Martha finally asked, her voic
RAE"She's gone," I said finally. "I'm sorry, Luna Celeste. She's gone."The sound that came out of her wasn't quite human. It was raw and broken, the sound of a heart tearing in half. She tried to sit up, but I kept pressure on her head wound."No," she said. "No, that's not right. She's at school. She's supposed to be safe.""I am sorry," I said, because I didn't know what else to say.My father ended the call and knelt beside us. For a moment, just a moment, he looked like what he was: a man who'd just lost his daughter. Then the mask slipped back into place."Take her to the hospital," he ordered one of his men. "Now."They lifted Luna Celeste carefully, and I watched them carry her away. Blood stained the front of my dress, and my hands were still bleeding from the glass. But I couldn't feel any of it.Saraphina was dead. My sister, who I'd hated and envied and loved. The one everyone compared me to. The one I used to braid hair with, stealing snacks from the kitchen, whispering