The One Who Slipped In
722 Words
Shadow bounded up the stairs ahead of him, nails clicking softly against the wood before disappearing down the hallway.
Kael frowned.
The dog never went upstairs this early. Not unless something or someone had unsettled him.
“Shadow,” Kael muttered, already following.
The guest room door was slightly ajar.
Kael pushed it open and stopped.
Kael felt it before he heard it.
A shift in the air.
The faintest displacement,like something moving too fast for sound to catch up.
He didn’t turn right away.
The window in the upstairs guest room was open, curtains stirring though the night was still. A shadow detached itself from the wall and solidified into a person, boots hitting the floor without a sound.
“Your security sucks,” Jace,Karl's best friend said quietly.
Kael closed the door behind him and locked it. “You came uninvited.”
“You didn’t answer your phone.” Jace leaned back against the desk, arms folding. “Which usually means something’s wrong.”
Kael crossed the room. “You shouldn’t be here.”
Jace’s gaze flicked to the window. “Relax. No one saw me.”
“That’s not the point.”
Jace studied him for a moment, eyes sharp, unreadable. “She arrived.”
Kael froze.
“So it’s true,” Jace continued. “The girl. Your dad’s new wife’s daughter.”
Kael exhaled slowly. “You were watching the house.”
“Habit.” Jace shrugged. “I felt… something. Thought I should check.”
Kael didn’t like that answer.
“She’s human,” Kael said firmly. “Nothing about her concerns you.”
Jace tilted his head. “Then why are you tense?”
Silence.
“Kael,” Jace said, quieter now. “I saw her through the window. She didn’t look like a threat.”
“That’s the problem.”
Jace straightened. “You think she’ll be dragged into this.”
“I know she will if I’m not careful.”
Jace stepped closer, lowering his voice. “Does she know anything?”
“No.”
“Good.” Jace nodded once. “Keep it that way.”
Kael’s jaw tightened. “It won’t be that simple.”
“It never is.” Jace's mouth twitched. “You’re already paying attention to her.”
Kael shot him a warning look. “Don’t start.”
Jace lifted his hands. “I’m just saying,your instincts don’t wake up for nothing.”
A voice drifted up from downstairs.
Dinner being announced. Plates clinking. Normal life calling.
Jace glanced toward the door. “You should go.”
Kael nodded. “You leaving?”
“In a minute.” Jace smirked. “I’ll slip out the way I came.”
Kael paused at the door. “Jace”
“Yeah?”
“Stay away from her.”
Jace’s expression softened,just a fraction. “I was planning to. For now.”
Jace leaned back against the desk. “What’s her name?”
Kael hesitated.
Just a second.
“Luna,” he said.
Kael shot him a look. “Don’t.”
“I didn’t say anything.” Jace’s lips twitched. “Just… interesting timing.”
Kael exhaled through his nose. “You can’t come here whenever you feel like it anymore.”
Jace straightened. “You’re serious.”
“Yes. If you’re coming, you tell me first. If she sees you appear out of nowhere”
“She’ll ask questions,” Jace finished.
“And I won’t lie to her,” Kael said. “Not badly.”
Silence settled between them.
From downstairs, David’s voice drifted up, warm and casual. “Dinner’s ready!”
Shadow’s ears perked up instantly.
Jace smirked. “Family dinner already? You move fast.”
Kael didn’t smile. “Leave. Now.”
Jace walked toward the window, then paused. “You care.”
Kael didn’t answer.
Jace glanced once more at Shadow, then at Kael. “I’ll be careful. For her sake.”
He was gone a heartbeat later—the air barely disturbed, the curtain swaying gently in his absence.
Kael locked the window.
He crouched, rubbing Shadow behind the ears. “Good boy.”
The dog wagged his tail, blissfully unaware.
Kael straightened, rolling his shoulders, forcing his expression back into place.
Dinner. Normal voices. Normal smiles.
No one could know.
Especially not the girl downstairs.
- Writer
