CHAPTER 4

Evelyn's Pov

The arena was LOUD.

The noise, the pulsating music booming from the speakers, the stomping of feet against the metal bleachers, it all created this overwhelming sense of energy. It felt like the entire campus was in the stands, all gathered in one place... Except for me.

“Evie, come on!” Seraphina tugged hard on my wrist and nearly pulled me to my feet. “We're gonna miss the team entering!”

“I'm coming,” I muttered, pulling the sleeves of my already massive hoodie down farther, as if to hide not just myself, but also the reason I wanted to hide.

We found seats close to the front of the bleachers and Seraphina immediately hunched over, her eyes wide and glittering.

“Get ready,” she whispered. “Just watch.”

The lights dimmed slightly, the music shifted from one electrifying track to the next, and the crowd erupted. The team skated out onto the ice, and though the cheering still felt like a physical blow, my eyes scanned the ice instantly... Searching for him. David. I swear, out of all twenty of them, I saw him first. As if he was surrounded by some kind of bubble, nothing else on the ice seemed real, but he just… existed, moving like he knew how powerful he was.

“Oh my god, he is SO perfect,” Sera whispered next to me, but my gaze was on his face, because the second he set his skate on the ice, he looked up directly at me. I gulped and my breath caught. How? In a crowd that size, how could he see me, let alone find me in an instant? He never broke eye contact, pinned me with a stare like he was the only one watching me, and the air prickled on my skin. I quickly glanced away, tightening my grip on the fabric of my hoodie.

“You alright, Evie?” Daya asked from the seat to my other side.

“Yep,” I lied. “Just tired.”

The whistle blew and the game started.

At first, I tried to focus, to take in all the action, but the sound of the crowd cheering with his name, the blur of his movement across the ice, the sheer energy vibrating from the ice beneath us, it was pulling me in, and what was worse, every few minutes, my head would turn and there he would be again, looking straight at me. Not with a casual glance or a sideways flick of his eyes, but with intention, like I was the only thing he was seeing in a sea of hundreds of other people.

Just then, a defenseman charged him with a blind, reckless, furious force.

The arena gasped collectively at the sound of the heavy, jarring crash.

Sera jumped to her feet. “Are you serious?!”

I followed her out, and then I froze. David hadn't fallen. He hadn't even flinched. He just… stood there, like a statue, then slowly tilted his head. I nearly slid out of my seat. My jaw actually dropped when our eyes met again, I actually thought I was hallucinating until my brain finally registered what I was seeing. David’s eyes weren’t brown. They were glowing, molten gold, burning like embers… like some part of him had just been unleashed. The other player recoiled slowly, shaking their head. The whistle shrieked. The arena buzzed with confused chatter. David gave a little smirk that made a prickle travel down my spine and my mind screamed, no, this isn’t possible. But… the terrifying part of that was I wasn't scared. I was fascinated.

After the game, Sera had my arm again, her grip firm.

“We're going down there,” she declared, and we started heading rinkside.

“What?! No!” I stammered.

“Yes. Don't even argue.”

Before I could speak another word, she was dragging me toward the players’ exit tunnel. My heart began pounding erratically against my ribs; this was so wrong. The team began filing out, boisterous and exhilarated, and then he emerged. David. In person, he felt bigger, more imposing than he had on the ice.

Sera stood up straighter, forcing a dazzling smile. “David! That was insane tonight!”

He ignored her, didn't even glance her way. His eyes were locked on mine.

“Evelyn.” My name on his lips was deeper, softer than I remembered.

Sera went completely still next to me.

“... You know her?” she asked slowly.

My throat tightened painfully. “I-”

David took another step closer. He was close enough that I could smell him… the same faint, unfamiliar scent I'd detected last night.

“You left.” He said. It wasn't a question, just a quiet observation.

“I had to,” I whispered.

He just smiled again. “But you came back.”

I felt that strange jolt again, that consuming look he gave me.

Sera tightened her grip on my arm, her fingers digging into my skin, and suddenly, this wasn't just awkward anymore; it was a problem.

Walking back to the dorm was stifling. Not a single person spoke; not even Sera, which told me everything I needed to know.

“You never told me you knew David.” Her words sliced through the tense silence.

I managed a weak smile. “I don't know him. Not really.”

She stopped, forcing me to stop too.

“What do you mean?” Her tone was sharp, cutting.

“Exactly what I said,” I hurried. “We barely talk.” That was the honest part, anyway.

Sera looked at me intently, her eyes narrowed, as if she was trying to see straight through me, and then, he said. “Then why did he say your name like that?”

My chest tightened. “Like what?”

Before she could press me, a sharp, searing pain shot through my wrist. I gasped. It felt like it was burning from the inside.

“What is it?” Daya asked immediately.

“I —” I glanced down. Above my wrist was a faint, dark, circular mark, curved into a half moon shape.

“What the heck is that?” Sera leaned in.

“I don't know.”

But as my fingers brushed against it, I saw David’s face again, saw his glowing eyes, and pulled my hand away as if I'd been burned.

“Just… thought I was stung by something,” I said too quickly.

Daya and Sera exchanged a look, but neither pressed me further. Not yet, anyway.

I couldn’t sleep that night.

Images of David, his gaze, his power, flooded my mind.

I rolled over, pulling my duvet tight around me, when I heard a faint sound. I froze.

Slowly, I turned my head, and my heart skipped a beat. Standing outside my window, three floors up, was David. My breath came out in a ragged whisper.

“How...?” In the darkness, his eyes glowed faintly. I knew, then, with a terrifying certainty, that he wasn't normal.

As if reading my thoughts, he smiled, a shiver crawling down my spine. I wanted to scream, to run, to fight, but I couldn't move. His gaze held me completely.

Then, his voice, clear and resonating in my mind, though his lips didn't move : “You're mine now, Evelyn.”

When I blinked, he was gone as if he'd never been there.

I stumbled back in shock.

Who the hell is David and why does he want me?