Chapter 19 Dangerous Distance
DANGEROUS DISTANCE
Morning arrived in a slow crawl across the skyline, the grey wash of dawn spreading over Shanghai like a bruise that refused to heal.
I had not slept, not truly, because every time I closed my eyes, the memories of the night before rose behind my eyelids with punishing clarity.
I saw the brief shimmer of hope in Alora’s eyes when she agreed to meet me today, the way she had smiled at her phone after reading my message.
The quiet warmth in her expression that no one else seemed to give her. But I also saw Xue’s face, the suspicion tightening his mouth when he dared to ask about witnesses, the arrogant flicker of curiosity when he mentioned a girl.
That single word had been enough to ignite something violent inside me, and now it pulsed like a warning through every vein in my body.
The demon had been right to roar. Because if Xue even suspected that someone out there mattered to me, that meant she had already become a target whether he admitted it or not.
And by reacting the way I had, it meant that I had only confirmed his suspicions.
I had let him know that Alora could be used against me.
So I did the only thing I could.
I followed her from a distance.
I landed on the rooftop opposite her apartment building long before she woke, the air crisp and edged with the promise of rain as it skimmed against my skin. My wings folded into me with a familiar, almost reluctant pull.
From this vantage point, I could watch every street corner, every alleyway, every shift in the shadows.
I could see anyone who came too close to her doors.
I could smell the scent of strangers. I could detect the faintest trace of Xue’s men if they dared linger near her home.
They thought they were predators, but they had no idea what real hunting felt like.
I remained there for hours, unmoving, every sense sharpened, every instinct coiled tight.
If any one of Xue’s men approached, even with innocent intention, I would tear them apart before they could blink.
The demon prowled beneath my skin with restless energy, frustrated that we were here watching instead of taking her with us immediately. Frustrated that fear for her safety had overridden desire.
‘If they touch her,
We kill them all.’
My demon hissed, voice scraping the inside of my skull like claws on stone. And despite the coldness in those words, despite the brutality that threaded every syllable, there was something else there too.
Protectiveness.
Possessiveness.
Yes, I answered silently, we would.
When the doors finally opened, and Alora stepped outside, the world seemed to pause around her. I flew lower, masking my presence from the world, drawing in on my supernatural powers to do so. I landed on one of the smaller buildings next to her apartment, so I could watch her with a sharper gaze.
She wore another soft sweater, this time burnt orange, and paired it with a pleated brown skirt. Her sweater was also long enough that she could bury her hands inside when she was nervous or cold… or both.
She stood on the pavement with her shoulders slightly raised as if bracing herself for the day.
Even from this distance, I could see the subtle tension in her brows.
The hesitance in her posture, the way she glanced back toward the building as though expecting something sharp to leap from behind the glass.
She looked small in that moment, not physically but in the way someone looked when they carried the weight of too many expectations.
The sight made my chest tighten with an ache I had no language for.
I followed her from the rooftops as she began her walk toward campus, staying far enough back that no one would ever sense me.
I watched every car that slowed near her, every person who lingered too long in her direction, every man who looked twice.
She checked her phone repeatedly, holding it close to her chest each time she looked, her lips pressing together with a fragile hope she probably didn’t even realize was showing on her face.
She was waiting for me, waiting to hear from me.
Waiting for something to look forward to.
Guilt twisted inside of me because I could not meet her.
Not today. Not with Xue’s suspicions gnawing at the edges of my world like a sickness.
Not when the price of being seen with me could be her life. I couldn’t do that to her.
The phone in my pocket felt heavier than the Seal itself. It took everything in me to pull it out and type the lie I hated.
Something came up. I cannot meet you today.
The moment I sent it; I saw her slow her steps.
Her shoulders dipped. The light in her eyes dimmed with a disappointment so clear it felt like a blade sliding between my ribs.
She stared at the screen for far too long, the world moving past her in a blur while she stood still, absorbing the message with a silent hurt that made my demon thrash inside me.
‘Fix it!’
It snarled, outraged.
‘Tell her we lied.
Tell her we're coming to her now.
She waits.
She wants us.
She needs us.’
I had never felt the creature so unhinged, so ready to tear apart the sky itself just to reach her.
“No,” I whispered under my breath, jaw clenched until my teeth ached.
We could not go to her.
Not yet.
Not while she was vulnerable.
Not while Xue might still have men watching.
She typed back eventually, the tiny motion of her thumbs visible from where I stood, though I couldn’t bring myself to read her response yet.
She tucked her phone away and resumed walking, though not with the same brightness she usually carried.
Today, there was a heaviness in her steps, as though the world had taken something from her before the day even had the chance to begin.
I followed her until she entered the university building and disappeared from sight.
Only then did I step back from the ledge, letting the morning wind cut across my face as if it could cool the fire spiraling beneath my skin.
Distance was necessary, I told myself. Distance was protection.
Distance was the only way to keep her alive long enough for me to take her somewhere safe.
But the truth was far more brutal than that.
The truth was that distance would destroy her.
And it would destroy me too.
I couldn’t leave her in that apartment, with that father who chipped away at her spirit piece by fragile piece.
I couldn’t leave her in this city, where men like Xue thrived in the shadows and considered her nothing more than a liability or a tool.
I couldn’t leave her within reach of any world but mine.
Not anymore. She had stepped into my gravity, and now everything inside me had shifted in response.
Watching her for now would have to do but I knew the time would soon come for more.
If I wanted her safe and protected… I would eventually have to take her away from this life.
Not with her permission. Not gently. Not yet
I would have to steal her.
Kidnap her.
Hide her from every threat until none remained.
My demon curled around the thought like a lover, pleased and hungry.
‘Ours.’
It whispered, voice thick with dark affection.
“Yes,” I murmured into the empty air, feeling the vow take root like a brand across my spine. “Ours.”
And until I could act on that promise, until I could ensure her safety completely, there was only one thing left for me to do.
Stay away from her.
Even if it killed me.