Marked by vengeance

Chapter four

Secrets Don’t Stay Buried

Lydia barely slept that night.

Every time she closed her eyes, she saw golden eyes staring back at her through the rain.

Kael.

Even his name stayed stuck in her head.

By morning, she had convinced herself that maybe none of it was real. Maybe fear and exhaustion had made her imagine everything in the forest.

But the mark on her wrist was still there.

And somehow, it looked darker than before.

Lydia pulled down the sleeve of her hoodie quickly before heading downstairs.

Her mother was already in the kitchen making breakfast.

“You’re awake early,” her mother said with a small smile.

“I couldn’t sleep.”

“That storm yesterday was terrible. Nina said you girls almost got stranded.”

Lydia forced a laugh and grabbed a glass of water. “Yeah. Something like that.”

She hated lying to her mother, but how exactly was she supposed to explain any of this?

Oh, by the way, I saw giant wolves in the forest and some strange guy with glowing eyes saved me.

Yeah. Totally normal.

Her phone buzzed loudly on the counter.

Nina.

Lydia answered immediately.

“Please tell me you’re awake,” Nina said without greeting her.

“I’m awake.”

“Good. Because I need to talk to you.”

Something in her voice sounded nervous.

“What happened?”

“I did something stupid.”

Lydia sighed softly. “That doesn’t narrow it down.”

“I searched his name.”

Lydia froze.

Kael.

“And?”

Silence.

Then—

“Lydia… there’s something seriously wrong with that man.”

A chill ran through her body instantly.

Nina lowered her voice. “Nobody knows where he came from. He moved here a few months ago and bought that huge estate near Blackwood Hill.”

“The billionaire mansion?”

“Yes! And listen to this—people online keep talking about weird things happening around him.”

Lydia leaned against the counter slowly.

“What kind of weird things?”

“Disappearances. Animal attacks. And apparently nobody who works for him stays long.”

Lydia tried to ignore the uneasy feeling building inside her chest.

“He saved us.”

“Maybe,” Nina whispered. “Or maybe he’s the reason those things were there in the first place.”

Before Lydia could answer, movement outside the kitchen window caught her attention.

A black car was parked across the street.

Tinted windows.

Engine running.

Watching the house.

Her stomach tightened immediately.

“Nina, I’ll call you back.”

“What? Why?”

Lydia ended the call slowly without answering.

Her mother looked up from the stove. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah,” Lydia lied again.

But her eyes remained fixed on the car outside.

The back window rolled down slightly.

And for one brief second—

She saw golden eyes.