Chapter Four
Lucas
I had no idea when we fell asleep. We were both lost in the fire of the moment. It had consumed us completely.
I woke in the middle of the night, the darkness thick and heavy around us. For a moment, I just lay there, listening to the faint sounds of her breathing beside me. She was so close I could feel the warmth radiating from her, feel the quiet rise and fall of her chest. Her face was softened in sleep, peaceful and unguarded. Something stirred deep inside me as I watched her, a pull that felt raw and undeniable, like a force I’d been resisting for far too long.
Her long, honey-blonde hair spilled on my pillow like a million tiny little stars sparkling in the night. Although her eyes were closed now, I remembered them being strikingly, almost out-of-this-world blue. Her porcelain skin was now in scratches and I yearned to tend to her, but I dared not touch her, almost as if she might disappear if I did so.
I’d heard stories, tales whispered among my kind, about souls that called to one another across time, souls that somehow fit together like two halves of the same strange, broken whole. I’d always dismissed it as romantic nonsense, the stuff of fairy tales meant for humans, not for creatures like me. But as I looked at her, that certainty I’d always clung to began to crack, unraveling thread by thread.
She’s the one.
The thought struck me with a strange, fierce clarity, and I tensed, my body rigid as I tried to shake it off. It sounded insane—no, it was insane. She was human, a mortal who belonged to the daylight, to a world far from mine. Yet, every instinct in me screamed that she was meant to be here, with me, that she was mine.
I tried to fight it, to push down the intensity of it all, but every time I looked at her, it felt like my chest tightened, like I was drawn to her in a way I couldn’t explain, couldn’t rationalize. And fighting it… well, that felt crazier than anything else. I couldn’t deny what was right in front of me, not any longer.
A faint sigh escaped her lips, and she shifted closer in her sleep, her head almost brushing against my arm. I lay there, frozen, afraid to move, afraid to wake her, as if disturbing her would shatter whatever fragile thing had been woven between us. I’d spent so long in shadows, wrapped in secrets and darkness, but here, beside her, it felt like there was a chance for something else, something brighter.
And maybe that was what terrified me the most—the thought of finally having something real, something I couldn’t protect with walls and locks. I’d kept myself hidden from the world for so long, convincing myself it was safer that way, better for everyone involved. But now, all I wanted was to be known, to be seen, even if it meant risking everything.
She was my soulmate. It sounded absurd, and yet I couldn’t deny it. Something deep and ancient, something primal within me knew it was true. I closed my eyes, inhaling deeply, letting the thought settle, letting it become a part of me.
I watched as she stirred, her lashes fluttering against her cheeks, and a rush of warmth flooded through me. She blinked awake, and I could see the moment realization dawned in her eyes. There it was… the flicker of memory that turned into something akin to embarrassment. My heart sank slightly at the sight. Her cheeks flushed and just like that, she was pulling away from me.
“I… I’m sorry,” she stammered, sitting up abruptly and tucking her hair behind her ears as if she could hide from what had just happened between us. “I’ve never done anything like that before.”
“It’s alright,” I assured her. I could feel the weight of her words as she was wrapping herself up in them, like a protective blanket. “It was a moment—a good one. Nothing to be ashamed of.”
She shook her head, her expression firming as she gathered herself. “I just want to pretend like it never happened. It was… a spur of the moment thing.” The way she spoke made my heart ache. I knew she was trying to reclaim some control, some distance, and I wanted to reach out, to tell her that it didn’t change what I felt, that it was still there, simmering just beneath the surface.
“We need to focus on what’s going on, on my case,” she continued, and I nodded, reluctant but understanding. I’d never wanted to make her uncomfortable or push her too far too fast. “I need to find out what happened to him, to the person I was looking for.”
“Of course,” I said, though part of me recoiled at the thought of setting aside what had just happened between us. “We’ll figure this out together.”
“No, no, you don’t need to help me,” she said, shaking her head. “I couldn’t ask that of you.”
“Of course you could,” I told her. “We’re…” I wanted to say connected but I changed my mind at the last minute, and instead, she chose the word for me.
“Even,” she said simply. “I helped you and you helped me. That means no one owes anyone anything.”
I frowned. “That’s one way of looking at it.”
“That’s the only way of looking at it,” she urged in a way that made it obvious there was no chance of her discussing it.
I sighed heavily, realizing that this would be more difficult than I thought. She was a stubborn one. That was probably one of the reasons why I was so drawn to her in the first place. Who else would make such an insane decision as to allow a vampire to drink their blood. Only a mad person.
I promised myself I wouldn’t forget this moment, that I’d show her how I felt when the time was right. When she was ready to see what was so clear to me—that we were made for each other, two souls drawn together by forces beyond our understanding.
“Let’s start by going over what you know,” I suggested, shifting my focus to the task at hand, even as a part of me longed to reach for her, to pull her back into the warmth of my embrace. “You said you had a lead?”
“Yes,” she said in a professional manner, as if nothing had happened between us. “I am looking for a man named Henry Livingston. The last place he was seen was a town called Ravenshade. That’s where I went, and like I told you, that’s when it all happened. They jumped me and I ended up here, in this God forsaken place. I… I need to find him and bring him home.”
I didn’t want to tell her that there was a good chance the man wasn’t among the living. It depended on many factors. But she didn’t need to know that right now.
“I see,” I told her instead.
“His family is paying me good money for my services, and I can’t let them down,” she quickly added, as if that was the most important reason she was doing this.
“This is a dangerous place,” I told her simply. “You shouldn’t be walking these streets alone.” One glance in her direction assured me that she was well aware of that fact herself.
“I’ll be fine,” she replied rebelliously. “I don’t need anyone to protect me.”
“There is safety in numbers,” I reminded her. “There is just a few of us, roaming these streets with just a semblance of freedom. And to be honest, I have no idea how long that might last. So, it would be best to stick together. Besides, it’s not just you and me. There’s a few of us.”
“There is?” A flicker of hope lit up in her eyes, in those beautiful eyes. “Who are they? Vampires?”
“Vampires,” I shrugged. “Humans.”
“Both?” she asked with a frown. “How come?”
I chuckled rolling my eyes. “You haven’t been here long, so you can’t know. But I would have expected you to have done your homework.”
She pouted, and her lips became more kissable than ever before. It took all of my conscious effort not to grab her and take her again right on that couch.
“I did do my homework,” she snapped back at me, showing me more than just backbone. There was strength, defiance, rebellion. There was refusal to allow anyone to bring her down. I liked it. “My homework was on Ravenshade. Not on… this place.”
“Nusquam,” I told her, not expecting her to know. But she surprised me yet again.
“Nowhere?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.
The name seemed to settle over her like a shadow, her eyes narrowing in that familiar mix of confusion and dread. I’d seen that look a hundred times before, on the faces of others who’d stumbled into this dark underworld, but with her, it hit something deeper inside me, something that tightened like a vow.
“Mhm,” I nodded. “Nowhere. Nusquam… this place isn’t supposed to exist. Not to anyone outside.” I paused, letting the weight of it sink in. “That’s why you’ve never heard of it. It’s hidden from the rest of the world, blanketed by dark magic so thick it makes us invisible. No one on the outside even knows we’re here.”
Her face paled, and I could feel her grasping for something to hold onto, something to make sense of this nightmare she’d landed in. I knew the look all too well—the fear of realizing that the life you’d known was no longer reachable, that escape was more than just a matter of finding the nearest door.
She swallowed, her gaze searching mine as if hoping I’d tell her I was wrong. “And the people here… vampires, humans… they’re prisoners?”
I nodded, bitterness curling inside me. “Kidnapped, captured, hunted. The shifters bring them here and turn them into slaves.” I glanced away, feeling the old anger stir, my jaw tightening at the thought of the horrors hidden within this place. “It’s a factory, a machine. It exists to feed their power, their dominance, and they don’t care who they drag down to get it.”
The silence that followed was thick. I could see the realization setting in, her understanding growing with every beat of silence. She looked away, her hands clasping tightly in her lap, and I wanted to reach out, to say something that could reassure her. But here, there were no comforting lies, no easy ways to soften the truth.
Instead, I took a breath, steadying myself. “But there’s a way out,” I added, holding her gaze, willing her to see the promise in my words. “It’s not easy, but there’s a way. And I’ll get you there. Whatever it takes.”
She nodded, though her eyes were still clouded with doubt. And as I watched her, I knew that whatever happened, I wouldn’t let her fall into the same chains this place had wrapped around so many others. I would fight to see her free, even if it took every last ounce of strength I had.