For a while, Selene managed to convince herself that nothing had changed. She still returned to Velkris when she could. She still listened to him speak in that low, dangerous voice that had once made her heart race. She still knew the exact expression that appeared on his face whenever he was amused, angry, or trying not to show that he cared. But there was something between them now. Something neither of them could pretend not to see. Lucas. His name had become an invisible presence in every conversation they had. Whenever Selene disappeared for days, Velkris knew where she had gone. Whenever she returned with another story about Lucas's progress, another discovery about his abilities, another plan for the creature she was determined to create, Velkris's patience became thinner. One evening, they stood beneath the dead branches of an ancient tree overlooking a valley swallowed by darkness. Velkris had been silent for several minutes. Selene knew that silence. It meant he wa
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