Potential companion
870 Words
S I N
Dinner should have brought clarity.Instead, it made everything eerie. The conversation didn’t end after the announcement—it shifted. The kind of shift that happens when everyone at the table knows the truth is only being spoken halfway.
Servants moved quietly around us, placing dishes no one was truly focused on. The room looked alive—gold reflecting candlelight, crystal catching every flicker—but the atmosphere beneath it felt… wrong.
Controlled.Too controlled.My father set his glass down first.“The attacks,” he said, voice cutting clean through the quiet, “they aren’t random.”That got everyone’s attention.
King Jaheim leaned forward slightly. “You’ve found something.”
“Yes,” my father replied. “Bodies of human and vampires recovered along our northern borders.All with unusual causes of death”
A pause.
Then—
“Something else is taking them.”
The words settled heavily across the table.
I felt it immediately—the shift in energy. Not fear.
Recognition.
Because whatever this was…
It wasn’t new.
It was returning.
“We’ve seen the same,” King Jaheim admitted. “Our warriors reported it weeks ago. Wounds that don’t match any creature we know. Not human. Not vampire.”
Across from me, Layla went still again.
Not shocked.
Processing.
Her mind moved fast—I could see it in her eyes.
“What does that have to do with us?” she asked finally, her voice steady despite everything.
Queen Satare answered this time.
“Everything.”
Silence followed.
Then she continued, softer—but more dangerous.
“Because whatever is doing this… it’s not hunting randomly.”
Her gaze moved between me and Layla.
“It’s searching.”
That word lingered longer than the rest.
Searching.
For what?
Or who.
⸻
I didn’t like the direction my thoughts were taking.
Didn’t like the way my chest tightened again—that same unfamiliar pressure from earlier.
Like something unseen had just taken a step closer.
I shifted slightly in my seat, jaw tightening.
“Then say it plainly,” I said. “What are we being prepared for?”
King Jaheim and my father exchanged a look.
Not hesitation.Agreement.Finally, King Jaheim spoke.“We believe this threat is tied to something older than either of our kingdoms.”Old power.Old danger.Old mistakes.
“And the unions?” I pressed.
My father’s gaze met mine this time, steady and unyielding.
“They are not just alliances, Sin.”
A pause.
“They are protection.”
⸻
M A L A K A I
I didn’t like any of this.Not the conversation.Not the silence.And definitely not the way the vampires spoke like they knew more than they were saying.But most of all—I didn’t like her.Or rather—I didn’t like the fact that I couldn’t figure her out.
Seraphine sat across from me, calm in a way that didn’t feel forced. Most vampires I’d encountered carried tension under their skin—restraint, hunger, calculation.She didn’t.And that made her more dangerous.Because I didn’t know what she was capable of.
“You’re thinking too loud,” she said quietly.I blinked.
“What?”Her lips curved slightly—not mocking, just… aware.
“You’re studying me like I’m a problem you haven’t solved yet.”I leaned back in my chair slightly, crossing my arms.
“Maybe you are.”
She didn’t react the way I expected.Didn’t get defensive.Didn’t push back.She just tilted her head slightly, studying me in return.
“Then you should probably ask better questions,” she said.
That caught me off guard.I narrowed my eyes.
“And what makes you think I’d trust the answers.Her gaze softened—just slightly.
“Because I’m giving them to you honestly.”
That shouldn’t have mattered.But it did.More than I liked.
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S E R A P H I N E
He didn’t trust me.That much was obvious.But he also wasn’t dismissing me.And that mattered more.Most humans looked at us and saw monsters first.Malakai saw a threat.But he was still choosing to understand it.
That made him different.I leaned forward slightly, lowering my voice just enough that only he could hear.
“You’ve fought rogues before,” I said.
His body tensed immediately.Good.So I was right.
“I can tell by the way you watch everything,” I continued. “You’re not afraid. You’re calculating risk.”
His gaze sharpened.
“And you think you’re not a risk?” he asked.I smiled softly.
“I think I am,” I said honestly.That surprised him.I could see it.
“But I also think,” I added, quieter now, “that whatever is killing your people… and mine…”
I paused.
“…is something neither of us have been trained to fight alone.”
That landed.I felt it.Not agreement.But consideration.And for now—That was enough.
⸻
S I N
The conversation continued around us, shifting into strategy, territory, timelines.None of it felt like the center of the problem.Because the center was sitting across from me.Still watching me.
The usual slight mug on her gorgeous face. The tension was still there like recognition.
Like something ancient had just locked onto us—And wasn’t letting go.
⸻
- Writer
