Blood on Fire

Chapter10

I didn’t know how long I was out.

When I opened my eyes, everything was blurry. My head felt heavy, stuffed with fog, and for a moment I couldn't remember where I was. But as my vision cleared, panic tightened in my chest. I was in a large room, far too big and fancy to be my apartment. The ceiling was high, with dark wooden beams and a dim chandelier overhead. The furniture looked old, expensive, almost like it belonged in a museum. Floor‑to‑ceiling bookshelves lined the walls, packed with leather‑bound tomes and dusty journals with odd symbols on their spines. On a long table nearby sat flickering candles, glass bottles of dark liquid, and papers covered in tangled handwriting I couldn’t read.

I tried to move, but thick ropes bit into my wrists and ankles, binding me to a heavy wooden chair. When I twisted, the chair creaked; the ropes held firm.

I was trapped.

“What the hell...” I whispered, struggling to free myself. The chair creaked, but the ropes held firm.

There were no windows nearby. Just books, heavy curtains, candles, and a long table cluttered with papers, glass bottles, and odd tools that looked like they belonged in an old lab.

Then I heard footsteps.

Slow. Steady. Getting closer.

My heart pounded in my chest.

A figure rushed in, hood pulled low. For a moment, I braced myself, then the hood fell back.

“Selene!” Stephen’s voice. His face was pale with worry, and he pulled the hood off completely. “Are you hurt?”

“Stephen?” I stared at him, completely shocked. “What are you doing here?”

“It’s not important. We need to get out of here,” he said, already rushing to untie the ropes around my wrists.

But before he could finish, more footsteps echoed outside the door.

“Stephen, run!” I begged. “Someone’s coming. You have to leave now!”

He didn’t stop. He kept working on the ropes.

“No,” he said firmly, eyes locked on mine. “I promised you, Selene. I’m not letting anyone hurt you.”

Then something strange happened.

Then I saw his eyes.

They flashed bright, unnatural, not red but something deeper, like burning gold. It froze me in place.

Before I could say anything, laughter filled the room.

A woman stepped out of the shadows, smirking as she sat on the edge of the table. The woman in the bar.

“You’re quite the actor, Stephen. You could’ve broken those ropes in seconds,” she said, voice dripping with amusement.

My heart dropped. I swallowed hard, the ropes biting into my wrists.

“What is she talking about?” I looked at him. “Stephen...?”

He didn’t answer. He stood up slowly, fists clenched.

“I told you to stay away from her,” he growled at the woman.

She only laughed again. “Relax. I didn’t hurt your little friend. Yet.”

Stephen moved in a blur, grabbing her by the collar and slamming her against the bookshelf.

His strength was terrifying. Fangs flashed from his mouth, and his eyes burned with fury.

“You don’t get to threaten her,” he snarled.

She coughed, smiling even as his grip tightened. “That’s rough... but sexy,” she teased. Then she pushed him back with one hand, strong enough to knock him off balance.

She straightened her jacket, brushing off her sleeves.

“She followed me. I warned her not to cross the line,” she said, glaring at me. “But she didn’t listen. Stubborn little bitch.”

My thoughts spun out of control. What was happening? Had Stephen fooled me all this time? He was a vampire, how? Why didn’t the sun burn him? How had he acted so normal that I never once sensed it? Questions crashed through my mind, one after another, too fast, too loud. I could barely breathe.

Stephen… my best friend. He fooled me all this time?

He found his voice before I could. His eyes locked on the woman. His shoulders were stiff with rage.

“Shut up, Iris,” he growled. “You had no right to hurt her or tie her up. If you touch her again, I swear you’ll—”

But he never finished.

“Enough.”

The word cut through the air like a blade, sharp, cold, and commanding. It came from a woman’s voice. Strong. Unshakable.

Stephen's jaw tightened, but he fell silent. He turned toward the sound, and so did I.

She stepped into the room like she owned it. Tall. Calm. Dangerous.

And beautiful.

I mean, really beautiful, almost too perfect to be real. Her face was flawless, like it was carved from marble. High cheekbones, red lips with a natural curve, and smooth brown hair that fell perfectly over her shoulders. Everything about her screamed control, power… and something else I couldn’t name. Dennis was right. She looked like one of those models in shampoo commercials, too perfect to blend in, and yet she moved like someone used to shadows.

Her eyes met mine.

I froze.

Siren eyes. That’s all I could think. Sharp, deep, and unreadable. She looked at me like she already knew everything, like she could see straight through to my secrets, my fear, my confusion. And yet… her eyes held no emotion. Not anger. Not pity. Not even curiosity. Just… stillness.

She wore a black leather jacket over a fitted shirt, dark jeans tucked into boots. Her movements were smooth, controlled like a predator sizing up its prey. Then, she turned her gaze away from me and looked toward the woman named Iris.

For a moment, there was silence. Just the tension between them thick and heavy. Then she looked at Stephen… and smirked. Like she knew something he didn’t. Like she owned the room. And maybe, just maybe, all of us inside it.

I didn’t know who she was, but something told me she wasn’t just another vampire.

She was something more.

Something terrifying.

And she had just stepped into my nightmare.