đź–¤ Chapter One
Selene Hart had learned, early in life, how to disappear in plain sight.
Not literally—though tonight, walking through Lunaris City with her coat pulled tight and her thoughts even tighter, she wished she could—but in the way that mattered. She learned how to keep her head down, how to move through crowds without drawing attention, how to survive without being noticed. It was a skill sharpened by disappointment, by loss, by the quiet understanding that the world did not pause for people who fell behind.
Lunaris City never slept.
Neon lights reflected against rain-slick streets. Music bled out of clubs and bars in heavy, pulsing waves. Laughter, sharp and careless, floated through the air. The city thrived on excess, and Selene existed just outside of it—watching, moving, enduring.
Tonight was supposed to be simple.
A walk. A clear head. A reminder that she was still here.
She had no idea she was about to step into someone else's territory.
Selene
The alley shouldn't have been there.
She was sure of it.
Selene stopped mid-step, heart skipping as her heel hovered over cracked concrete. She had walked this route dozens of times—shortcut through the side streets, past the closed tailor shop, then onto the main road. But the space in front of her was wrong. Too narrow. Too dark. The air itself felt… heavy, like it pressed against her skin.
She told herself not to be stupid.
Cities changed. Buildings got torn down. Shadows played tricks on tired minds.
Still, unease curled low in her stomach.
She stepped forward.
The sound reached her first.
A low, vicious growl—too deep to belong to any dog she knew.
Selene froze.
Her pulse slammed in her ears as another sound followed. A crash. A grunt. Something heavy hitting brick. She pressed herself against the wall instinctively, breath shallow, heart racing as she peered around the corner.
What she saw made her blood turn cold.
Two men stood in the alley.
No—stood was the wrong word.
One was pinned against the wall, feet barely touching the ground, his face twisted in terror. The other loomed over him, hand fisted in his collar with impossible strength. The light from a flickering streetlamp cut across sharp angles and shadows, illuminating eyes that seemed unnaturally bright.
Predatory.
Dangerous.
The man holding the other didn't look angry.
He looked… controlled.
That terrified her more.
"Please," the trapped man choked out. "I didn't know—"
A blur of movement. A sickening crack.
Selene clamped a hand over her mouth to keep from screaming.
The man slumped unconscious—or worse—and the one who had struck him released his grip as if discarding something meaningless. He turned then.
Straight toward her.
Their eyes met.
Time fractured.
Selene felt rooted to the ground, caught in the weight of his gaze. His face was devastatingly handsome in a way that didn't feel safe—dark hair, sharp cheekbones, a presence that made the alley feel smaller, tighter, like the world had narrowed to just them.
For a heartbeat, neither of them moved.
Then his expression hardened.
"Run," he said.
Not a suggestion. An order.
Her body obeyed before her mind could catch up.
She turned and ran.
Footsteps thundered behind her—but they weren't chasing her. They were retreating, fast and impossibly light, as if the ground barely touched him. By the time Selene reached the end of the street, lungs burning, the alley was empty.
Gone.
No man.
No sound.
No proof.
Only the echo of those eyes burned into her memory.
Lucien
Lucien Blackthorne stood at the top floor of Blackthorne Tower, glass walls revealing Lunaris City sprawled beneath him like a living organism.
Power breathed here.
He could feel it in the steel beneath his feet, in the city's pulse, in the distant hum of lives moving unaware beneath his rule. By day, he was a billionaire—reclusive, untouchable, feared in boardrooms and whispered about in financial circles.
By night, he was something else entirely.
And tonight, he had made a mistake.
He rarely made those.
His reflection stared back at him from the glass—immaculate suit, calm expression, eyes empty of anything that could be read as weakness. No one looking at him would guess that hours earlier, he had nearly lost control.
A human had seen him.
Her.
The memory irritated him more than it should have.
Not fear—he did not fear consequences—but disruption. He had calculated every variable, every risk. Humans were fragile, predictable, forgettable.
She was none of those things.
Her eyes had held his. Not blank with shock. Not clouded with terror.
Aware.
Lucien clenched his jaw.
He had told her to run. He had vanished before instinct could override discipline. It should have ended there.
And yet—
"Sir."
Lucien didn't turn as Damien entered the room. He didn't need to.
"You're late," Lucien said.
"You were… occupied," Damien replied carefully.
A pause.
Lucien finally spoke. "Increase patrols near the lower districts. Quietly."
Damien hesitated. "A breach?"
"No."
A beat.
"An inconvenience."
Damien nodded, though curiosity flickered in his eyes. He knew better than to ask questions he wasn't prepared to regret.
Lucien returned his gaze to the city.
He should have erased her.
Instead, he wondered if she was still thinking about him.
Selene
The club was called ECLIPSE, and it pulsed like a living heart.
Selene hadn't planned on coming out. She rarely did. Crowds drained her. Noise overwhelmed her. But her friend Mira had insisted—claimed Selene needed a distraction, needed to stop overthinking whatever had shaken her earlier in the week.
Selene didn't tell her about the alley.
She told herself it had been a trick of the light. A fight. A coincidence.
She told herself lies came easily when the truth made no sense.
Inside the club, lights strobed and bodies pressed together. Selene leaned against the bar, fingers curled around a glass of soda, eyes scanning the room absently—
And then she felt it.
That same weight.
That same pull.
Her gaze snapped upward.
He stood near the VIP section, surrounded by people, laughter spilling easily around him. Women leaned in close, hands brushing his arms, his shoulders. He smiled—slow, practiced, devastating.
Her breath caught.
It was him.
Same face.
Same presence.
Same wrongness curling in her chest.
But this man looked… human. Untouched by shadow. Perfectly at ease.
Impossible.
Selene took a step forward without realizing it.
Her heart pounded as she pushed through the crowd, stopping just a few feet away. Up close, he was even more unreal. His eyes flicked toward her—and paused.
Recognition sparked in her chest.
She opened her mouth.
"You—"
He looked at her blankly.
"I'm sorry," he said smoothly, brows knitting in polite confusion. "Do I know you?"
The words struck harder than any blow.
"You were—" She faltered, suddenly aware of how insane she sounded. "The other night. The alley."
His expression didn't change.
"I think you're mistaken," he said calmly. "I've never seen you before."
Dismissal. Clean and precise.
He turned away.
Selene stood frozen as laughter washed over her, doubt creeping in like poison.
Had she imagined it?
Or was he hiding something… and why did it feel like the truth was watching her walk away?
Lucien (end beat)
Lucien didn't look back.
But long after she disappeared into the crowd, her scent lingered—bright, human, and entirely unforgettable.
For the first time in centuries…
Something had noticed him back.