The Thorn Beneath the Bloom
1453 Words
Lina had always thought silence was peaceful—something gentle that floated between words and filled in the gaps of life like soft petals drifting on air.
But the silence in the executive lounge wasn’t peaceful.
It was suffocating.
She clutched the locket in her hand, the chain wound tightly around her fingers as Adrian stood by the doorway like a statue carved in shadow. His profile was sharp in the low light—perfectly still, eyes locked on whoever stood beyond the open door.
A chill rolled across the room like mist.
He didn’t look at her when he said, “Stay behind me.”
The figure at the door didn’t step in. Instead, he leaned casually against the frame, dressed in a tailored navy suit, his smile too cold to be charming.
“Well,” the man drawled, “you’ve been hiding her.”
Adrian’s jaw tightened. “Leave.”
The stranger stepped in, boots silent on the dark oak floor. “It’s been what—two centuries? You still don’t like sharing.”
Lina rose from the couch, heart hammering in her chest. “Adrian… who is this?”
Adrian didn’t answer. His voice was low, laced with threat. “You’re not welcome here, Cassian.”
Cassian smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. They were too bright, too cruel.
“I’m only here to say hello,” he said. Then his gaze slid to Lina, assessing. “She doesn’t remember anything, does she?”
Lina took a step back instinctively. “Remember what?”
Cassian’s eyes gleamed with amusement. “Ah. Still fragile.”
Adrian moved before she could blink—crossing the space between them with supernatural speed. He gripped Cassian by the collar, slamming him against the wall so hard the building groaned.
“I said leave.”
Cassian didn’t fight back. He only grinned wider. “Careful, brother. You wouldn’t want her to see the monster under your mask.”
Lina froze.
Brother?
Adrian’s hands trembled slightly before he let go and stepped back.
Cassian straightened his coat, glanced once more at Lina, and smirked. “The king playing house with a mortal again. We’ll see how long that lasts.”
Then he was gone—just a whisper in the air, as though he’d never been there at all.
Adrian didn’t turn around right away. His shoulders were tense, and for the first time since she’d met him, he looked… shaken.
“Was that your brother?” she asked quietly.
“Yes,” he said. Nothing more.
She hesitated. “What did he mean? I don’t remember something?”
Adrian turned at last, his eyes guarded. “It’s not time for that.”
Lina flinched. “You keep saying that. But when will it be time, Adrian? When I’m too far in to run?”
A flicker of pain crossed his face.
“I’m not your enemy, Lina.”
She stepped back, the locket still clutched in her hand. “No. But you’re not being honest with me either.”
He didn’t stop her as she left.
But his voice followed her like a whisper in the wind.
“I’ve already lost you once. I won’t risk it again.”
⸻
For the rest of the day, Adrian didn’t appear.
Lina returned to her desk in a daze, unable to shake the memory of Cassian’s smile—or the look in Adrian’s eyes when he’d slammed him against the wall.
That wasn’t just anger. That was something darker. Primal.
She touched the locket still hidden beneath her blouse. It felt heavier than before.
By the time evening fell, Lina had convinced herself she was being ridiculous. Brothers fought. Executives had secrets. Maybe it wasn’t as strange as it seemed.
But the voice in her head wouldn’t stop whispering:
He isn’t human.
⸻
The next morning, Lina was summoned to Adrian’s office again.
She entered warily. He stood behind his desk, eyes on the skyline beyond the glass. He didn’t turn as she approached.
“I won’t apologize for protecting you,” he said.
“I didn’t ask you to,” she replied. “But I’m not a child. You can’t just keep me in the dark.”
He turned then. “If I tell you the truth, you’ll walk away.”
“Try me.”
Adrian studied her for a long time. Then, slowly, he walked around the desk and handed her a file.
Inside were newspaper clippings. Old, yellowed. Photos of a fire. A woman’s face—one that looked like hers. A headline: Tragedy in Valencia: Heiress Dies in Mysterious Blaze.
She blinked. “What is this?”
“Your past life.”
Lina looked up sharply. “You’re serious?”
“I told you, I’ve known you before. Her name was Celeste. You were her. In another time. Another place.”
She dropped the file onto the desk, stepping back. “You expect me to believe in reincarnation? In destiny?”
“I don’t expect anything,” Adrian said quietly. “But I remember her. I remember you. I failed you once. I let them take you from me.”
His voice cracked slightly.
Lina pressed her fingers to her temples. “This is too much. I don’t even know what you are.”
He met her eyes. “You already know.”
She swallowed. “Say it.”
“I’m not human.”
He stepped closer, slow and careful. “I am what your people once feared in myths and stories. A king of shadows. A creature of blood and memory.”
“A vampire,” she whispered.
He nodded once.
“I move in sunlight because I choose to. I walk among men because I built this world with my own hands. But I will never be one of them.”
She didn’t run. But her chest tightened. “And me? What do you want from me?”
Adrian’s expression darkened. “Everything.”
⸻
The next few days passed in a haze.
Lina avoided him as best she could. She didn’t leave the company—something deeper kept her tethered—but she kept her distance.
Adrian respected that.
He didn’t summon her again. But sometimes she’d catch him watching from the corner of a hallway. Silent. Waiting.
There were whispers in the office, too.
Rumors of new board members. Takeovers. Disappearances.
Cassian’s name surfaced once—in a hushed conversation Lina overheard between two junior executives.
“New investor. Came out of nowhere. Handsome but… strange. Like something out of a nightmare.”
Lina’s stomach twisted.
⸻
One night, unable to sleep, she wandered back into Carter’s Blooms. The scent of lilies greeted her like an old friend. The shop was silent, bathed in silver moonlight.
She watered the violets. Adjusted the stems of an orchid.
And then she saw him.
Adrian stood by the window, his reflection faint in the glass, face cast in shadows.
“You shouldn’t be here,” she said.
“I could say the same to you,” he replied.
Lina turned slowly. “Why do you keep following me?”
“Because I can’t help it.”
He stepped forward, not touching her—but close enough to steal her breath.
“You think I’m dangerous. You’re right. I am.”
“Then why me?” she asked, voice trembling. “Why come back for me?”
His expression was tormented. “Because fate is cruel. It gives and takes. It gave me you again, knowing I could never keep you.”
Lina’s heart raced. “You don’t even like me.”
A pause. Then—
“No,” he said softly. “I hate what you do to me. I hate that you make me remember what it felt like to be human.”
She should have been offended. Hurt.
But the vulnerability in his voice stripped her bare.
“Then stop coming,” she whispered. “Let me go.”
“I can’t,” he said. “Because I’m not sure I would survive losing you again.”
For a moment, their eyes locked—and the tension between them burned.
But he didn’t kiss her.
Instead, he turned and walked out into the night.
⸻
Lina stood alone in the shop, her heart pounding, the scent of violets curling around her.
Somewhere deep inside, something ancient stirred.
And outside, across the city, shadows moved.
Cassian watched from a rooftop, his eyes glowing faintly.
“She’s awakening,” he murmured.
Beside him, a female figure stepped from the darkness—her features sharp, her hair silver-white.
“Then it’s time.”
Cassian smiled.
“Let’s bring back the queen.”
- Writer
