Marked By Masks and Secrets (Everlasting Possession #1)

1

KYLO

T he first time I saw her, I thought she was an angel.

She was a celestial being of light, an innocent lamb dressed in a delicate white dress that gently billowed in the wind. A vulnerable, wide-eyed, tiny little creature.

She was everything that I was not.

She was everything I’d forsaken the day I turned.

And her scent—gods above and below—her scent. My fangs ached painfully in my gums. It was abnormal for a signature to be this potent from so far away.

I watched her from across the city square. Gentle rays of morning sun illuminated her long blonde hair. When she moved a piece out of her face, I held my breath, imagining how the feathery-soft strands would feel against my own calloused fingers.

She lugged an empty merchant’s wagon behind her, as if she’d already sold all her goods for the day. Questions about what she sold and to whom burned in my mind. It was an unquenchable need to know exactly who she was and who’d sent her to ruin my perfect focus.

Her light pink wagon rattled against the cobblestone, and she made an adorable little huff when the wheels caught in a dip, and she had to pull it free.

I rose to my feet, nostrils flaring and teeth grinding together. My gaze traced the delicate floral detailing on the skirt of her dress and the white sneakers stained green and brown as if she frequently traipsed through meadows.

When she weaved through a mass of people and crossed the street, this strange and uncharacteristic insanity didn’t cease.

It multiplied.

I couldn’t help but follow her—this vulnerable little forest nymph, oblivious to the predator who was homed in on her fluttering jugular.

I forgot about today’s agenda. My careful strategizing could wait. Harmony had been scolding me for months about balance and fun and taking time for myself.

This was likely not what she’d had in mind, but progress was progress.

At least, this was the careful justification I was crafting about my current morally questionable behavior.

My delicate distraction moved through the streets with purpose, unaware of the beast stalking her from the shadows. She was lost in her own world, only looking up to sneak peeks at the colorful boutiques, flower and crystal shops, and storefronts decorated with blooming flowers and greenery. Her longest pause was in front of a bookstore, where she eyed one of the new fiction novels on display in the front window. I made a mental note of the title.

She didn’t greet anyone, nor did she entertain the men who nodded or smiled or leered her way.

My lip curled into a snarl. Violence bubbled under my skin as I stared at one of those men who’d turned to his friend to whisper something vile.

It would be a shame if his tongue went missing.

When we reached a residential neighborhood, a few drops of sanity finally penetrated through my primal need to hunt my blonde angel.

What the fuck was I doing?

That question rattled around in my immortal brain as I watched her climb a steep hill to an expansive, opulent estate. Marble columns lined the front, seating arranged on the vast front porch. Flowers bloomed in meticulous landscaping, and large oak and willow trees stood scattered around the property.

Of course, she was a wealthy little mortal princess.

It was strange—her blood was distinctively human, yet it was also stronger, like a witch’s or shifter’s. She smelled of morning dew and wildflowers, honey and springtime, with an elusive, darker note I couldn’t quite place. Perhaps if I were closer to her, I’d be able to uncover all the fragments of her essence.

I should’ve stopped this madness when I watched her disappear around the back of the mansion.

But, I didn’t.

I cloaked myself in shadow before climbing the cobblestone path. It was a skill I hadn’t yet perfected, but I’d be able to hold the glamour for a short while.

As long as I was careful and kept my distance, I’d be fine. Then I could pretend this never happened, and I could go back to vastly more important matters.

That was all this was—a consequence of working too long of hours year after year, letting myself become consumed by my ambition without a single break in focus.

I’d always been prone to obsession. It was a predisposition that was often rewarded in games of power and domination.

Under the canopy of a massive willow tree, I watched the blonde princess read on a blanket in the center of a sprawling flower garden. Now I was certain she’d been sent from the heavens. Glimmering white statues of deities and mythical creatures, meticulously trimmed shrubs, and benches filled the space, along with fountains and bird baths gently flowing with fresh, cool water.

It was as though I’d entered Helia’s domain, the goddess of the sun, humanity, and all things living and beautifully vulnerable.

When she popped a grape into her mouth, I had to suppress a groan. My cock swelled in my dark pants, my fangs throbbing now. I imagined those soft, pink lips on mine.

I wanted to corrupt her innocence, to stain her with my darkness.

A slight blush arose on her fair cheeks, and those full lips tipped up in a slight smirk. She was on her stomach, her feet kicking slightly as she flipped the page.

What the hell was she reading?

All of my muscles tightened, forcing myself to stay perfectly still as my predator’s gaze narrowed and blood ran molten.

Her essence overpowered my judgment. When she rolled over on her back, and her dress hiked up to reveal her upper thighs, my jaw clenched hard.

So much of her was on display. A cool summer breeze pushed the skirt ever higher, and she was slow to pull the fabric back down as her eyes stayed glued to the page.

She suddenly laughed, and it was the first time I’d heard a sound leave those beautiful, plump lips.

Her giggle melted something hard and cold inside me. It shocked me out of my stupor, reminding me of a part of myself I’d lost long ago.

And I didn’t like it. Not at all.

At the same time, my shadows threatened to leak as if to snatch her from this princess palace and drag her into my world of violence and depravity instead. My cock stood painfully alert to her every breath. What would she look like if I stole those breaths away?

As soon as my threads of control began to unravel irreversibly, I left without a trace.

She didn’t leave me , though.

I wondered how far away I’d have to go to shake the haunting sound of her infectious laugh.

I wondered how much time would need to pass before I’d be free of her.

But I soon discovered that thoughts of my angel multiplied at a frightening rate the longer I stayed away.