AARON
Tension pervaded the evening air as I paced around the border of the estate. The bitter beauty of Lyna's elegant rejection resonated in my head, each note driving the knife deeper into my chest. To reject someone who felt like a part of me felt alien. I was ice, and she was fire; an impossible attraction bound to crash. I was drawn in by the soft whisper of leaves moving as I stood before the house. Experience and habit had sharpened my senses, and I could feel the barest presence of something which didn't belong there. Vampires. Royal guards, to be precise, not vampires. I hadn't thought they'd move so fast, but she had warned me that they would not appreciate my tenacity. As I entered the forest and disappeared into the darkness, my heart started racing. With their cloaks glisteni
