..."He was born with secrets in his veins. She was born to taste them"..

...

Rain painted the city silver that night.

It clung to the cobblestones like whispers of the dead, pooling in gutters and running down the sides of black-tinted glass towers. The world was hushed, still—but not silent. Something was moving beneath the surface. Something ancient.

Selene Virellé stood at the highest window of the Virellé estate—a sharp-edged palace carved into the edge of the city, where shadows dared not linger for long. Her silhouette was motionless, carved from marble and bloodlust. Crimson silk draped across her body like smoke, hair dark as spilled ink, eyes glowing faintly red in the reflection of the storm.

She was waiting.

Not for someone.

For something.

Her gaze dropped to the streets below. A figure darted under the awning of a bookstore. No umbrella. No coat. Just a pale boy in dark clothes, water dripping from his hair, clutching a single book like it was his only lifeline.

Her breath caught.

Kieran Vale.

She didn’t know his name yet. Not truly. But she’d seen him twice now.

Once, in a dream.

Once, in the flesh.

And both times, his blood had whispered to her like a lover.

Something was wrong with him. Something that made her hungry in ways she hadn’t felt in centuries. It wasn’t just hunger, though. It was… curiosity. Ache. Recognition.

She should have turned away.

But instead, she vanished from the window.

And the storm above the city cracked open like a scream.

The woman—no, the creature—standing before him radiated something unnatural. Not in the loud way monsters were described in stories. She didn’t hiss. She didn’t grow claws. She just... looked at him. Like he was something she already owned.

“You smell… strange,” she had said.

He managed a shaky laugh. “That’s one hell of a pickup line.”

Her lips curved. Not a smile. Something colder. Like amusement painted over hunger.

“Do you always make jokes when you’re uncomfortable?” she asked, stepping closer.

“Do you always invade quiet bookstores and sniff strangers?” he countered, backing into the bookcase behind him.

Selene’s eyes flicked over his face—sharp, calculating. Beautiful.

“I don’t do this often,” she said softly.

“Do what?” Kieran asked, pulse spiking.

She tilted her head. “Speak to humans.”

His breath caught.

Her words felt like a joke, but her tone wasn’t.

“…Right,” he muttered, looking away. “Well. I’m not really in the mood for cryptic today.”

She stared at him for a heartbeat longer. Then, unexpectedly, she took a step back.

“Then I’ll keep it simple,” she said. “Be careful who you let near your blood, Kieran Vale.”

He froze.

She turned and walked away, heels silent on old wood, the scent of rain clinging to her like perfume.

Kieran stared after her, heart thudding, the book still clutched in his hand.

He had never told her his name.

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how was it....

I hope you guyss love ittt ..

See you in next chapter

The rain had stopped, but the city still gleamed wet and restless beneath the gathering dusk.

Kieran found himself wandering through the streets more often lately, as if some invisible thread was pulling him toward places he didn’t understand—places where shadows flickered just a little longer.

The bookstore had become his refuge, a fragile island in a world that felt heavier with every passing day. But now, it wasn’t just the smell of old paper or the silence he sought. It was the echo of golden eyes haunting the edges of his thoughts.

Selene moved like a whisper—rare, deliberate, impossible to forget. She never spoke much, but her presence was a storm he couldn’t ignore. Every time their paths crossed, his pulse would stutter as if she was a secret message written on his skin.

Today, the air held a strange electricity as she approached him between the aisles, her silhouette sharp in the fading light.

“You’re here again,” she said softly, voice a melody that pulled at something deep inside him.

Kieran swallowed, searching for a joke to hide behind, but none came. Instead, he let a quiet smile slip free.

“I guess I like what I don’t understand.”

Her eyes narrowed, the faintest curve of amusement playing at her lips.

“Careful,” she murmured. “Not all mysteries want to be solved.”

They shared a breath—an unspoken tension that thickened the air.

For the first time, Kieran dared to meet her gaze without retreating. The golden depths held centuries of loneliness and secrets, but also something dangerously tender.

“What are you?” he asked, voice barely above a whisper.

Selene hesitated. The question was a knife wrapped in velvet, probing her carefully guarded truth.

“I’m someone who watches from the shadows,” she said finally, her voice low and almost vulnerable. “And sometimes, someone who waits.”

The words sent a shiver down his spine, but he didn’t turn away.

Instead, he took a step closer.

“Maybe some mysteries are meant to find their answers,” he said.

She didn’t respond, but the softest flicker of warmth passed through her eyes.

In the space between them, the city breathed around them—alive, dangerous, and ripe with possibility.

For the first time, the storm inside Kieran quieted, replaced by a fragile hope.

Days passed.

Kieran told himself it was coincidence—how often he saw her. The bookstore. The café two blocks away. Even that quiet bench near the old ivy-covered cathedral where barely anyone ever sat. She always appeared like a shadow—early or late, never expected.

Selene didn’t speak much.

She didn’t need to.

Kieran could feel her. Like the air turned colder the moment she was near. Like gravity leaned in her direction. He noticed things now—too many things. How her fingers lingered on the spines of old books like she was greeting old friends. How she never drank coffee, just stared into it like it held a memory.

She had become the quiet ache in his chest.

One evening, he caught her watching him.

He wasn’t meant to see it—she was good at hiding—but there she was, standing across the street, framed in the golden light of dusk. Eyes glowing faintly, expression unreadable. She didn’t look away when he met her gaze.

She just… smiled.

A small, devastating thing.

And then she was gone.

He didn’t sleep that night.