HAUNTED BY HIM

Chapter Four – Marked by Shadows

Chapter Summary

Selene thinks she’s shaken free of Kaelen’s grip, but the ghost has already left his mark on her—literally. A glowing sigil blooms on her skin where he touched her, searing whenever she resists him. The more she denies the connection, the stronger his claim burns. But Kaelen isn’t just branding her—he’s binding her, pulling her deeper into his world of shadows.

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My body ached as I stumbled out of the alley.

The silence of the city pressed around me again, heavy and endless, but this time I wasn’t fooled. I knew it was alive. I could feel it breathing with every step I took.

I kept walking until my legs gave out, collapsing against the rusted frame of a shattered bus stop. My breaths came ragged, my chest tight.

Kaelen was gone. For now.

But his voice still curled through my mind, that cold murmur that had seeped straight into my bones: You are mine.

I pressed my hands to my face, trying to smother the sound of him, but that was when I felt it.

A sting. Sharp, burning, right where his fingers had clamped around my wrist earlier.

I yanked back my sleeve.

And froze.

It was there.

A mark.

Thin lines glowed faintly beneath my skin, silver like moonlight, curling and twisting into a shape I didn’t recognize. A sigil. Alive. Pulsing faintly in time with my heartbeat.

My stomach dropped.

“No. No, no, no—”

I clawed at it, nails digging into my skin, but the mark only flared brighter, burning hotter until I cried out.

The glow faded again when I pulled away, leaving me panting, sweat beading at my temples.

This wasn’t just a bruise. It wasn’t even a scar.

It was him.

The thought made bile rise in my throat.

I shoved my sleeve back down, trying to ignore the way the skin beneath still throbbed. I wasn’t his. I wasn’t anyone’s. I’d spent my whole life fighting not to be caged, not to be branded. I wasn’t going to start now.

I forced myself to my feet, gripping the broken metal rail of the bus stop for balance.

The city stretched ahead, glowing with its unnatural red light. I didn’t know if morning would ever come here.

But I had to keep moving.

I shoved forward, one step at a time, ignoring the ache in my bones, ignoring the way the mark pulsed under my skin like a second heartbeat.

Every time I told myself I’m not his, the burn flared sharper.

By the third time, it felt like fire licking through my veins.

I gasped, stumbling to my knees on the cracked pavement, clutching my wrist. The sigil blazed beneath the fabric, heat searing straight through the cloth. My breath hitched, tears stinging my eyes.

The city swallowed my cry whole.

And then I heard him.

“You fight beautifully, Selene.”

The voice slithered over my shoulder, rich and cruel and cold.

I whipped around.

Kaelen stood in the glow of a broken lamppost, shadows trailing from his form like smoke. His silver eyes burned as they locked on my wrist, as if he could see straight through the fabric.

“What did you do to me?” I hissed, forcing myself to stand though my legs trembled.

He tilted his head, expression sharp and knowing. “I touched you.”

“This—” I yanked my sleeve up, shoving my marked wrist toward him, the sigil glowing faintly in defiance. “This is not just a touch.”

“No.” His smile widened, slow and devastating. “It’s mine.”

Rage exploded in my chest. “Get it off me!”

His eyes gleamed brighter, as if the plea pleased him. He stepped closer, shadows curling at his feet. “It doesn’t come off. Not while you breathe. Not while I breathe.”

I stumbled back, my hand still burning. “Then kill me.”

Kaelen froze. For the first time, his smile faltered.

The silence stretched between us, sharp as a blade.

Then he moved—faster than I could see, faster than I could breathe. One moment there was space, the next his body caged mine, pinning me against the cold glass wall of the bus stop.

His hand wrapped around my wrist again, pressing into the mark until fire shot through me, white-hot, dizzying. I gasped, biting back a scream.

His mouth hovered near my ear, his voice low, dangerous.

“Do not tempt me, little mortal. Death is easy. Death is nothing. But this—” He pressed harder, and my back arched involuntarily, a sound tearing from my throat. “This is mine. You will live with it. You will live with me.”

My knees buckled, my body trembling against his, but I spat the words through clenched teeth. “I’d rather burn.”

Kaelen’s silver eyes flared, his smile returning, darker than ever. “Then burn you shall.”

And the mark blazed hotter, searing into my skin, into my soul.

I bit down on the inside of my cheek until I tasted blood, refusing to give him the satisfaction of another scream.

When he finally pulled back, the glow dimmed, leaving me shivering and breathless.

Kaelen’s gaze lingered on me, devouring every inch of my resistance. Then, slowly, he released my wrist, his touch leaving behind the echo of fire.

“You are already bound,” he murmured, almost tender, though cruelty laced every syllable. “The city knows it. You know it. Soon, you will stop fighting and start craving.”

His shadow dissolved, his body fading until only his eyes remained—two silver flames in the dark.

And then he was gone.

I collapsed onto the cold pavement, clutching my wrist, shaking. The mark pulsed faintly, steady, endless.

I wanted to scream. I wanted to tear it off.

But deep inside, beneath the anger and fear, something else throbbed with it.

Something dangerous.

Something that terrified me more than Kaelen himself.