Chapter 10 #2
A looming figure with a frame so broad and unforgiving it made the air feel smaller and tighter.
And again, those eyes...
It got hard to breathe.
Those eyes were the first thing that hit me. A dark, sharp pair that locked onto mine and stayed there. They were punishing, an anchor pressed straight into my chest.
Just like that, the air in the room changed. Like whatever oxygen was left was laced with smoke and static. I could feel the tiny hairs on my arms lift, feel my skin tighten with invisible warning.
He was still watching me. Still silent.
His face—still too beautiful to belong to a human—was calm, carved like it had been shaped by someone who loved cruelty.
That arrogant mouth, the strong cheekbones, the long, veiny neck that hadn’t caught my eyes before.
I didn’t even have to look further to know his arms bore the same cruel beauty—corded and dangerous beneath that black long-sleeved top.
But none of that was what stole the words from my mouth.
It was the look in his eyes.
He looked...down. Not sad in the way a human might be. But drained. It was an undercurrent buried in the black of his eyes, and it unsettled me, making my hand fall from his shoulder.
Did I say something to upset him?
The thought flitted through my mind before I could stop it, and despite myself, I stepped back, my tone softening.
“Why are you staring at me like that? I’m not wrong. Why are you in my house?”
He tilted his head in that slow way he always did. A wolf surveying something already cornered. The move was nothing but predatory.
“Your house?” His voice was low, almost lazy.
My words stalled, caught somewhere between my throat and chest, but I forced them out anyway.
“Yes. My house. I rented this. Including the room you are standing in. Why would you even do this without consulting me?” I paused, blinking as a wild thought struck.
“Wait—hold on. Is this because you saved me? You want me to repay you with a room in my house? If you wanted a place to stay, you could’ve just said so. ”
The second I was done unloading whatever nonsense came first to my tongue, he let out a quiet breath. Then he slipped one hand out of his pocket, revealing a phone cradled in his palm.
My lips parted at the sight. It wasn’t because of the phone, but the way it looked small in his hand.
I had the same phone, the same size. But somehow, it looked two times smaller in his grip. His fingers were long and thick, leaving only inappropriate thoughts in my head. My lower stomach twisted as I forced my eyes away.
He swiped across the screen with his thumb, the other hand still tucked casually in his pocket.
Then, with zero warning, he extended the phone towards me. Fast. I flinched, nearly stepping back as it came close to hitting my face. I scowled and moved just enough to read the screen.
It was a digital receipt.
There was the address, 41 Yelmel Lane, Nimorran, the rental period, the tenant’s name, the amount paid and the landlord, Garvin Lor.
Blood rushed in my ears. I knew that receipt.
Scrambling, I snatched my own phone from my pocket, hands nearly shaking. I opened the saved image of my rental receipt.
Same address.
Same landlord.
Same rental period.
Except…his payment was double mine.
He’d paid twice the amount I had, to live in this same house.
A breath escaped me.
He slid his phone back into his pocket and straightened.
“Technically,” he said, “I own this house.”
“My receipt is older than yours!” I snapped.
“I paid more than you did.”
“That’s because you coerced and bribed him, you fucking cheater!”
His brows twitched together. A small change, but his whole expression shifted with it.
“What did you call me?”
I called you a cheater, I wanted to say.
But the words stuck. I even swallowed them down when I remembered what Weeny Man had told me. And also the way my body had gone tight and weightless the last time he touched me.
If magic still breathed in Nimorran—and I knew it did—then the existence of a creature that wasn’t human was no longer a theory. It was a fact. A ninety-nine percent possibility.
But why is the creature living in my house?
I looked around the room, desperately searching for anything that might give away the lie. Anything not human.
But his imitation of a person deserved a medal. Every detail was perfect. Too perfect. What was his real form? How long had he been cosplaying as a human?
My eyes drifted back to him—I froze.
My heart slammed into my chest.
The moonlight poured through the window, hitting the floorboards between us. My shadow stretched clearly beneath me, long and narrow.
I hadn’t noticed it because of the anger.
But…
Mine was the only shadow.
He was standing inches away right in front of me.
And there was nothing.
No shape.
No echo of his body on the ground.
Just mine.
The memory of the shadowless creature that had craned its neck to my window the night I arrived came crashing down. The one I’d told myself was real. That my mind hadn’t made up.
It had been him.
He’d been here. Staring at me through my window.
A gasp ripped out of me and I staggered back, my phone slipping from my hand and crashing to the floor. My palm flew to my mouth as I slowly returned my gaze to him.
He didn’t move.
He only lowered his gaze to where my shadow stretched alone, seeing what I saw, realising that I saw it.
And then he—nothing. No panic. No explanation. He simply lifted his eyes back to me with the same unbothered stare.
I should’ve asked what he was.
Should’ve demanded why he had no shadow.
Why he’d been at my window.
Why he’d moved into this house.
Why me.
Why now.
I should’ve asked.
But I didn’t.
Because I panicked.
Because flight kicked in.
I snatched my phone from the ground, turned, and bolted out of the room.
In one wild, fractured thought, I considered running out of the house entirely—but to where?
So I took the only door that made sense. Mine.
I flung it open, dashed inside, and slammed it shut behind me, locking it with trembling fingers.