Chapter 2
DAMNED TEMPTATION
VASILEIOS
Silence.
That was all that was left once the storm inside me had quietened.
I sat in the chair before the fire, watching the flames twist and claw their way upward, shadows licking the walls like restless ghosts. My hands were still stained, faint traces of her blood hidden in the cracks of my skin, and the scent of it lingered in the air like a memory that refused to die.
I had washed, yet I still felt her on me.
In me.
Her voice. Her fear. The way her heartbeat had raced beneath my touch. All of it echoed, looping through my mind like a curse I had willingly accepted. I had told myself it was necessary, that she was a means to an end, but that lie was beginning to rot.
The darkness within me purred in the quiet, its presence restless and hungry.
It was never truly silent, only waiting, whispering thoughts I didn’t want to hear when it came to her.
I tried to remind it of the bargain, of the dagger, of the brothers who would come for her.
That she was nothing more than the bait, the key, the weapon we needed, and nothing more.
But then there was another voice, faint but persistent, one I hadn’t heard in centuries. It asked why she had to suffer for my revenge. Why I cared if she breathed. Why I had touched her the way I did, careful, reverent, as though I feared she might break.
Because she had already broken.
And still she had looked at me in those fleeting moments without fear. Whispers of something more in her gaze than distrust or terror.
She was certainly brave; I would give her that.
Why not give her our world…my darkness taunted, for once wanting to feed on something far more precious than power and our greed for it.
“Fuck!” I snarled tossing my glass into the fire in anger and frustration, knowing she was a fucking complication I didn’t need!
Everything I had sacrificed had led to this point, and I couldn’t risk losing it now. Not when I was so close…so fucking close to achieving my revenge.
No, I couldn’t let her get under my skin any more than she already had. Which meant I would have to keep her at a distance.
Yes, that’s what I would do, my darkness be damned. It could howl in its pain and whine in its need for her all it wanted, but for once, I would not listen. I would not let it dominate me.
A temptation I would not give in to.
But what of your own temptation? Its voice urged in my mind making me grit my teeth.
“No! I will not yield to her…wait, what is this…” I asked the night as I turned the moment a sound broke through the quiet. One soft but distinct, the creak of old wood shifting under cautious feet.
I closed my eyes and exhaled, the ghost of a smile pulling at my mouth, despite myself.
So, the little rabbit had decided to wander after all.
But of course, she had.
I could feel her presence moving down the hall, light and hesitant, like a whisper against the edge of my mind. My shadows stirred, eager to follow, to surround her, to keep her where she belonged.
But I didn’t move. Not yet.
Part of me wanted her to find what she was looking for, whatever that might be. The other part wanted to see how far she’d go before fear pulled her back.
I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees, the firelight painting my hands in shades of gold and scarlet.
She was trouble, and she was walking straight into the lion’s den.
And still, I couldn’t bring myself to warn her.
Because where was the fun in that?
The house was silent, save for the distant whisper of the wind moving through its bones. I rose to my full height, standing at the edge of the firelight for a moment longer before making my move toward the door. The weight of the silence pressing against me like a second skin.
My only comfort, until her.
I shook this secret thought from my mind and hardened my gaze.
My shadows followed without being told, spilling across the floor, gliding ahead of me through the darkened corridors. They moved the way smoke does, soundless, patient, tasting the air for her. And there she was. Her scent, faint, human, and sweet, drifted to me long before I saw her.
Soap and skin.
Blood and fear.
She had ventured farther than I’d expected. Bold, or foolish…Maybe both.
I found her in the kitchen, bathed in the low amber light that filtered through the old hanging lanterns.
She moved slowly, her steps careful, as if the floor might betray her.
The soft burgundy fabric clung to her in a way my body couldn’t help but notice.
As if parts of me I thought long dead, were stirring back to life without asking them too.
For a long time, I simply stood in the doorway, watching.
She was unaware of me, her focus narrowed on the metal first aid box I had used and left on the table. Then she moved to the cupboards and drawers after a frustrated sigh left her.
She opened them, one by one, her trembling fingers searching for something. I realized what it was only when she paused before the counter, pressing a hand to her head and whispering a quiet curse under her breath.
She was in pain.
Now that was different, for I couldn’t recall the last time I hadn’t relished the sight of another’s pain. Since when did I care for anything beyond my cause? And worse, what was happening to me that I now found another’s suffering… distasteful?
I could have spoken then. I could have ended her search with a single word. But I didn’t.
Instead, I let myself indulge in silent curiosity. Indulge in just the sight of her. That quiet peace that came with watching her.
The rise and fall of her shoulders as she breathed.
The way the light caught in her hair, golden red threads glinting against the dark strands still damp from her shower.
The small sounds she made, the clink of a cupboard door, the sigh when she found nothing.
It settled somewhere deep inside me, stirring something I didn’t want to name.
She didn’t belong here. Not in my world of shadows and blood. Yet she fit within it far too easily.
My darkness shifted restlessly beneath my skin, curling with want, with memory.
It remembered her warmth. The pulse of her throat beneath my touch.
The quiet bravery that infuriated and enthralled me in equal measure.
It whispered ‘mine’, again and again, until the word became a hum that filled the hollow spaces inside me.
I gripped the edge of the doorframe, the old wood splintering slightly beneath my fingers.
The restraint it took not to step forward and reach for her was maddening.
I could feel every instinct in me straining to close the distance, to test if her skin was as soft as I remembered, if her scent would undo me all over again.
She bent slightly, peering into another drawer, and the movement pulled at something sharp and human inside me. Desire? or maybe Regret? The two had become so entwined that I could no longer tell them apart.
When she straightened, she stilled for a moment, as if sensing the air had shifted. My shadows recoiled before her gaze could find them, but it was too late. I saw the shiver travel down her spine, heard her breath catch.
It was the smallest sound she made, barely a whisper, but it was enough to break me.
I took one step forward, just enough for the floorboard to creak.
Her head snapped up.
And in that instant, her wide blue eyes…
Found mine.