CHAPTER FOUR

JULIAN

I hate going to parties. 

Always have, ever since I was a kid.

Maybe it’s the noise, or it’s the being around people, or maybe it’s the forced social interaction.

Whatever it is, I do my best to avoid parties.

But one thing I can’t do is say no to Theo.

Which is how I find myself in Rose Clarke’s mansion, attending her boisterous, and quite frankly, pointless party.

All because Theo asked me to.

I’m almost regretting saying yes as the DJ switches to another song.

I wince. I already know that by morning, I’ll be struggling with a migraine. And it won’t be because of the alcohol.

The music is too loud. It pounds against my skull, heavy bass vibrating through the floor and up my spine. The air is thick with alcohol, sweat, and expensive perfume clinging to bodies that are way too close to me.

I hate parties like this.

But Theo loves them.

And where he goes, I follow.

I stand beside him near the edge of the room, a red plastic cup in my hand that I haven’t touched. My eyes stay on him as he laughs at something someone says, his head tipped back slightly, that easy, effortless smile on his lips.

He belongs here, with these people. He just… fits.

People gravitate toward him like it’s instinct. Like they can sense something warm in him, something safe.

My grip tightens slightly around the cup as I watch the scene.

A guy leans in too close to Theo, brushing his arm as he speaks. He doesn’t pull away. He just smiles, nodding, listening.

Something sharp twists in my chest.

I don’t like it.

I don’t like it at all.

I want to stop it, to pull Theo away and hold him tight but I can’t. Because I don’t have the right to.

Because I don’t want to risk losing him as my best friend.

So, instead of surrendering to the caveman instincts rising in me, I take a sip of the alcohol in my cup instead.

It burns on the way down and I wince, but I relish the burn. It chases away the bitterness coating my tongue. It relieves the heat building in my chest.

Theo glances at me with a smile. “Are you okay? I know parties aren’t your scene.”

My heart warms at his concern and I force a smile to my face for his benefit.

“I’m doing fine, don’t worry.”

He gives me a small, amused look, like he knows I’m lying but won’t call me out on it.

“Okay,” he says.

The guy beside him lingers for a moment longer before drifting away, and I feel something in me settle.

Better.

Much better.

I exhale slowly, lifting the cup to my lips and taking another sip. It tastes awful but I can’t get enough.

“I’m going to grab another drink,” Theo says after a moment. “You want anything?”

I shake my head. “No.”

“I’ll be right back.”

I nod, watching him disappear into the crowd.

And just like that, the room feels different. It feels colder without him around. Everything feels loud and overwhelming.

I shift my weight, scanning the room without really seeing anything. Everything blurs together. Faces, voices, laughter, movement.

None of it matters.

None of them matter.

I’m about to go looking for Theo when I feel a prickle run down my spine. It feels like I’m being watched.

I turn slowly, scanning the room.

And then I find him.

Nikolai Soren.

He’s leaning casually against the far wall across the room, one hand tucked into the pocket of his trousers, the other holding a glass of something dark. His posture is relaxed, casual to the point of looking lazy but I know it’s deceptive.

It’s just another thing about him that draws people in.

I have a feeling there’s nothing casual or relaxed about him. There’s just an air of danger that surrounds him.

His gaze is fixed on me.

My breath catches.

For a moment, neither of us moves.

We both stand there, staring at each other, as if daring the other to make a move first.

Then, he pushes off the wall.

He drops his drink on the nearby table and he starts walking toward me.

Each step is unhurried, controlled, deliberate.

My body goes still as he closes the distance between us, the noise of the party fading into something distant, something irrelevant.

It’s like everything around us has disappeared.

I can’t register anything else but him.

I watch him as he approaches, frozen in place. Like he is a predator and I’m nothing but prey, helplessly awaiting its death.