Chapter 20 — The Red Mark
258 Words
The corridor outside the hall was colder than she remembered. Her footsteps echoed against the marble floor, and somewhere far behind, another set followed, slower, heavier.
Lucien: “You didn’t answer me last night.”
MC: “I didn’t know it was a question.”
Lucien (closing the distance until his shadow merged with hers): “It was.”
MC: “Then… the answer is that I’m not going there.”
Lucien: “Liar.”
She stopped mid-step.
MC: “Why would I lie?”
Lucien (eyes narrowing, voice almost gentle): “Because you already marked it in your head. People always do, when they see that red dot.”
The words made her throat tighten. She looked away.
MC: “You make it sound like a curse.”
Lucien (tilting his head, studying her face): “Because it is. And I’m not in the mood to watch it eat you alive.”
For a moment, they simply stood there — too close for strangers, too far for anything else. Then Lucien’s hand moved, brushing away a strand of hair from her face, fingers lingering just a little too long.
Lucien (quietly): “Stay alive, Isolde.”
MC (smiling faintly): “You say that like you care.”
Lucien (meeting her gaze, unreadable): “Maybe I do.”
She stepped past him before he could say more, the scent of his cologne following her down the corridor.
Behind her, his voice came low, almost lost to the empty air.
Lucien: “Don’t make me find you there.”
- Writer
