The rain began softly, tapping like fingers against the glass.
Soon, it turned into a heavy, steady downpour that turned the world outside into a gray blur.
Inside, Evryn stood by the window.
Her breath fogged the glass.
She told herself that Auren should leave.
He was a King; he shouldn’t be standing in the mud like a servant.
But she knew the truth now.
The spell was like an invisible chain.
He couldn’t leave even if he hated her.
That thought made her heart ache.
She hated that he was a prisoner, and she hated that she was his cage.
Outside, Auren did not move.
The cold rain soaked his clothes and ran down his face, but he stood still.
He had given her the truth, and now he was giving her the power to decide what happened next.
Evryn pressed her hand against the cold window.
She could just barely see his dark shape standing in the storm.
He looked so lonely.
Her chest felt tight.
She couldn’t stand it anymore.
She ran to the door and pulled it open.
The wind blew the rain onto her face.
Auren was right there, leaning on a wall of the street, looking like a ghost in the dark.
“It’s raining,” he said quietly.
His voice was steady, but he looked tired.
“Where are you going?”
Evryn looked at him.
His hair was dripping, and his shirt was stuck to his skin.
She wanted to be angry, but all she felt was a deep, painful sadness for both of them.
She didn’t say a word.
She couldn’t.
Her throat was too tight with emotion.
Instead, she simply stepped back, leaving the door wide open.
It was an invitation.
Auren watched her for a second, searching her eyes for a sign of hate.
When he found only a soft, broken kind of care, he stepped inside.
He brought the smell of rain and the cold night air with him.
As the door clicked shut, the silence in the room felt heavy.
They were close again, trapped together by magic, but for the first time, the distance between their hearts felt much wider than the room.
The rain kept falling, loud and heavy against the roof.
The sound filled the small, quiet house.
Auren stood by the door, dripping wet.
His hair was messy and dark from the water.
He didn’t move, looking like he wasn’t sure if he was allowed to stay.
Evryn didn’t say anything at first.
she went to the stove and heated some water.
She carried it to the wooden tub, and warm steam began to rise into the air.
“You will get sick if you stay wet,” she said softly.
Auren almost laughed.
He was a vampire; he didn’t get sick like humans do, but he didn’t say that.
He just watched her.
She gave him a towel.
“You should wash,” she told him.
He took off his wet shirt; The water ran down his strong shoulders and back.
He had the body of a warrior, covered in old scars from many battles.
Evryn looked at him for a second, then quickly looked away, her face feeling warm.
Auren stepped into the warm water and sat down.
The steam made everything in the room look soft and blurry.
“Evryn,” he said quietly.
She stopped and looked at him.
“You are not a burden,” he said, his voice deep and serious.
“And you are not a mistake.
I don’t want you to think this is your fault.”
Evryn’s shoulders tense as she glared back at him through the thick mist.
“It is me,” she said, her voice trembling with bitter certainty.
“All of this is because of me.
Whoever the one is who did this…
he knew me, Auren.
Not you.”
Before he could even open his mouth to argue, she turned on her heel and moved out of the room, leaving the door swinging shut behind her as the heavy steam swallowed his silent frustration.
she hid in her room while he bathed.
She put out dry clothes for him, her hands moving with a heavy heart.
She felt him enter the room before she heard him.
She turned around slowly.
Auren stood there with a towel around his waist.
Water was still on his skin, and his damp hair fell over his face.
He looked strong, but also tired and quiet.
He sat on the edge of the bed without saying a word.
Evryn knew she should leave, but she felt guilty.
He had suffered so much pain because of the spell.
She wanted to help him.
She took a small towel and stepped toward him.
Gently, she began to dry his hair.
Her fingers brushed his skin, and her heart skipped a beat.
Auren lowered his head, letting her care for him.
The room felt very small and very quiet.
Then, Auren reached out, his large hands gripping her waist with an aching softness, pulling her forward until she was standing right between his knees.
He rested his forehead against her abdomen, holding her close as if he were terrified she might vanish into thin air if he let go.
“We need to talk,” he whispered, his voice thick, vibrating against her.
“We are not done.”
Evryn closed her eyes, the raw vulnerability in his tone making her throat tight, threatening tears.
“We are done, Auren,” she said softly, the words breaking over them like a fragile glass pane.
Gently, she placed her hands over his, sliding his fingers away from her waist.
For a agonizing second, their fingers tangled and lingered together in the space between them.
Neither of them wanted to let go.
The silent pull was suffocating.
Yet, she forced herself to take a step back anyway.
She walked to the door.
Before turning the handle, she paused and looked back at him over her shoulder.
“I will help you with everything…
until you are free from me,” she said quietly.
As she gripped the doorknob, Auren sharply stood up from his place, his towering shadow instantly stretching across the room.
“Where are you going?”
“I will sleep on the couch,” she replied with a tight, exhausted shrug.
“Make yourself at home.”
“No,” Auren countered immediately, his voice unyielding.
“You will sleep in your own room.”
“you are my guest.
I am not letting you sleep on a cramped couch.”
“I have no intention of sleeping on it,” Auren said, a classic, arrogant smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.
“It won’t fit me anyway.
And besides…
I am a king.”
Evryn let out a dramatic, frustrated groan, tossing her hands in the air.
“Ah!
So you are going to use the ‘king card’ against me now?
Unbelievable!”
“I didn’t say that,” Auren chuckled smoothly, closing the distance between them in a single, effortless stride.
Before she could protest, he caught her by the waist and pulled her back into the center of the bedroom, kicking the heavy wooden door shut behind them.
“The bed is more than big enough for the two of us.
Just take a side.”
“Auren, don’t you dare do this!” she hissed, planting her hands firmly against his solid chest.
“I am absolutely not sleeping beside you.”
“What?
Do you not trust me?” He raised a mocking eyebrow, then reached over and grabbed a mountain of extra pillows from the top of the wardrobe.
With a dramatic flair, he dropped them right down the center of the mattress, building a literal fortress of fluff between their sides.
“There.
Look at that.
You are totally safe from the big, bad monster now.”
Evryn glared at the pillow wall, then at his smug face.
Huffing, she snatched her nightdress from the chair and marched out to change.
When she returned, she climbed into her side of the bed, pulled the blanket up to her chin, and rigidly stared up at the ceiling.
Auren lay on his own side, hands behind his head, matching her ceiling-staring contest.
The silence stretched until Auren broke it, his tone shifting to something more serious.
“You should start thinking about who could have cast that spell on you.”
Evryn groaned, rolling her head toward the pillow barricade.
“My mind is completely shut right now, Auren.
I can’t think about ancient curses or political enemies.
The only thing I have the brainpower to be aware of right now…
is you.”
Auren smiled, a soft, low sound escaping his chest.
A long moment passed.
Auren turned on his side, peering over the barrier.
Moving like a shadow, Auren silently gathered the fortress of pillows and tossed them unceremoniously onto the floor.
“Sorry, but you are blocking my view,” he muttered under his breath, a faint smirk flashing on his lips as he cleared the barrier.
The smugness bled out of him, replaced by a heavy, suffocating tenderness.
Her words from earlier echoed in the quiet corners of his mind.
I will help you with everything…
until you are free from me.
Free from you?
Auren thought, his chest tightening with a sudden, vicious ache.
I never want to be free from you, little bird.
He stared at her, imagining the moment the spell finally broke…the moment she would look at him and decide she no longer had a reason to stay.
The mere thought of them separating caused a sharp, physical pain to lance through his chest.
It was a terrifyingly new feeling for him.
For centuries, he had survived in absolute control, but she had ruined that.
My world will turn entirely gray the moment you leave me, he admitted to himself, his gaze softening completely.
You are the only one who made my life light, Evryn.
Moving with agonizing slowness so he wouldn’t disturb her, he reached across the sheets and gently took her small hand in his.
He leaned in, dropping a soft, lingering kiss onto her knuckles, before pulling her hand close against his chest, tucking it securely within his grasp.
He closed his eyes, letting the rhythmic sound of her breathing soothe him.
When Auren’s eyes snapped open again, it wasn’t to the quiet harmony of her breath, but to the distant, muffled voices.
The space beside him was completely cold.
Auren sat up abruptly, a deep, dark frown carving into his brow as he stared at the indentation where she had been.
Damn it.
How did I not feel her get up?
A spike of frustration and mild panic shot through him.
Over the centuries, Auren had learned how to mimic human rest to give his body a break, but a true, vulnerable “deep sleep” was supposed to be impossible for him.
His vampire mind and body were always inherently aware, tuned to the slightest shift in the air, the softest footstep, the tiniest change in a room’s pressure.
Yet last night, wrapped around her scent and holding her hand, his legendary defenses had completely failed him.
He had slept like a normal, fragile human.
Silently cursing his own traitorous body for letting its guard down, Auren swung his legs out of bed, his silver eyes flashing with sharp awareness.
He didn’t put on a shirt.
He simply walked out into the hallway in his dark trousers, his bare chest marked by the light of the sunny morning.
When he reached the kitchen, he saw them.
Evryn was standing by the table.
She was smiling at Steven, her hands resting on a basket he had brought.
The morning sun made her look soft and beautiful, a sharp contrast to the cold rain of the night before.
“Thank you for bringing everything,” she said to Steven.
Her voice was kind.
Steven nodded, his eyes warm as he looked at her.
“You shouldn’t have to carry things alone, Evryn.
I’m here to help.”
Then, Steven looked up.
He saw Auren.
The air in the room suddenly felt very thin.
The two men stared at each other.
Steven didn’t move, but his muscles tightened.
He stood his ground.
Auren stood there with his silver eyes glowing like ice.
He looked at Steven not as a rival, but as an ant he could crush if he chose to.
After a long, tense moment, Auren moved.
He walked into the light with a slow, smooth grace.
He didn’t look at Steven anymore.
It was as if the other man had disappeared.
Auren reached out and took the basket from Evryn’s hands.
His fingers brushed hers gently, a subtle, lingering warmth that felt like a silent claim.
He looked down at Evryn, his silver eyes no longer cold.
They were soft, filled with a quiet, fierce protection that he didn’t even try to hide anymore.
Before she could step away, Auren raised his hand, his touch surprisingly tender as he gently brushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear in a silent, intimate morning greeting.
He knew her too well; he knew that despite her fierce independent streak, she wouldn’t dare refuse his touch and embarrass him here, right in front of a stranger.
Evryn closed her eyes, taking a long, sharp breath to steady the sudden, betraying flutter in her chest.
When she snapped them open again, she glared up at him with all the false fury she could muster, though the slight pink dusting her cheeks utterly ruined the effect.
“If you need somewhere to stay,” Steven said evenly, his voice smooth but carrying the weight of a command disguised as hospitality, “I can give you the family house.
It is empty.”
The offer was polite on the surface but layered.
Auren understood it clearly.
He felt something tighten inside his chest…
He knew exactly what Steven meant: Distance.
Separation.
Get out of her house.
“Thank you but there is no need,” he said, his voice dropping into a low, calm that brooked no argument.
“We will leave soon.”
“Thank you again, Steven,” she said gently, her voice a soft bridge between the two men.
“I’m fine.
Don’t worry about me.”
Steven studied her a moment longer, his gaze searching her face for a crack in her resolve, then he nodded once.