Chapter 4
1193 Words
The moment I stepped through the front door, I knew I was in trouble.
The house was silent.
Too silent.
I closed the door behind me and slipped off my heels, wincing as the cool marble met my bare feet.
I barely made it two steps.
“Where have you been?”
My stomach dropped.
Father's voice came from the darkness of the sitting room.
I turned slowly.
He sat in the armchair near the fireplace, still dressed in the royal blue tuxedo he'd worn to the party. His sleeves were rolled to his elbows, his forearms tense, his jaw clenched.
He looked furious.
Shit.
“I went out.”
“I know you went out.”
His voice was dangerously calm.
“I want to know where.”
I said nothing.
He rose from the chair.
“You were supposed to be here, interacting with important people. Getting to know great hunters that you might one day work with. Instead you chose to play the part of a foolish child and run off!”
“I didn't plan to be out so long. It was meant to be a short break from the whole crowd that was in here. I lost track of time.”
That was a lie.
“You lost track of time?”
He laughed once, but there was nothing amused about it.
“You never listen Aria. Children usually take after their parents don't they? Your foolhardiness isn't a trait that has ever run in my bloodline. Where are you getting this s**t from?”
“I needed space. I'm a human being, not a puppet you can dangle off your arm the whole night. It's about time you accepted the fact that you need to start giving me space.”
His eyes hardened.
“Don't start your bullshit. You know I'm only looking out for you because no one else will.” Frederick, my father, faced me.
“I can take care of myself.”
“You are twenty-three.”
“And?”
“And you are not invincible.”
I folded my arms.
“I'm a hunter.”
“Exactly.”
He stepped closer.
“Which means you should know better than anyone that the moment you stop paying attention is the moment something gets you killed.”
My jaw tightened.
“You met someone, who was it?”
I groaned inwardly at his question.
“So now I'm not allowed to meet new people?
“Aria.”
“We need to drop this. It doesn't matter.”
“It matters if you were foolish enough to trust a stranger.”
“I didn't trust him.”
The words slipped out before I could stop them.
Father went completely still.
“Describe him.”
I stared at him.
“Why?”
“Describe him.”
Something in his tone made the hairs on my arms rise. The bouncers he had sent after me, they told him. They already told my father about… him.
I swallowed.
“He was tall.”
“How tall?”
“Tall enough.”
“Aria.”
“Six foot something. I don't know.”
“What else?”
I hesitated.
“Dark hair.”
“What kind?”
“Black.”
And the subtlest hint of wine-red underneath.
Father's expression remained unreadable.
“Eyes?”
I looked at him.
“Silver.”
The colour drained from his face.
Just slightly.
But I saw it.
For the first time that night, Father wasn't angry.
He looked afraid.
I frowned.
“What?”
His voice came quieter than before.
“What shade of silver?”
I stared at him.
“Does that really matter?”
“Answer me!”
“Pale. Almost metallic.”
Father took a slow step backward.
My pulse quickened. What was happening?
“What is it?”
He didn't answer.
“Father?”
His gaze remained fixed on me. His eyes, blue like mine looked troubled and stormy.
“Did he touch you?”
The question caught me off guard.
“What?”
“Did he touch you?”
I thought of Dominic's hand around my waist.
His lips on mine. Our tongues… entangled.
The cold rush of air.
The impossible darkness.
I crossed my arms tighter.
“Why are you acting like this?”
“Answer me, Aria!”
“No… he didn't”
Saying the truth would only complicate things further.
Frederick looked away.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then he turned toward the fireplace.
“Did he give you his name?”
I shook my head.
“No.”
Another lie.
He didn't just give me his name… he forced himself into my thoughts and sat on a throne there.
But somehow, saying his name aloud felt like crossing a line I wasn't ready to cross.
Father turned back to me.
“Good.”
I frowned.
“Good?”
“You don't talk about him or even think about him.”
I blinked.
“You know who I'm talking about?”
His eyes met mine.
And whatever I saw there made my stomach twist.
“You don't need to know his name.”
“Then tell me what you know.” I advanced to him. He needed to tell me. Something was wrong.
“No.”
“Father—”
“I said no!”
His voice cracked through the room like a whip.
I flinched.
He dragged a hand over his face, suddenly looking older than he had moments ago.
Then he looked at me again.
“If you ever see that man again, you walk away.”
I scoffed.
“You're being dramatic.”
“I am not!”
“He didn't hurt me.”
“That isn't the point.”
“Then what is?!”
His stare became ice-cold.
“He has killed more vampire hunters than you have ever met in your entire life
…What?
My breath caught. A slow tremor, cold as ice travelled down my spine.
Father stepped closer.
“And if he approaches you again, you do not fight him. You do not follow him. You do not try to find out who he is.”
His voice dropped to a deadly whisper.
“You run.”
I stared at him, mouth agape. Never had I heard such from my father. Never.
The word sounded strange coming from him. All my life he had trained me to fight. To not back down when confronted and now he was asking me to… run?
“Run?” I whispered in shock.
“Yes.”
He held my gaze.
“Because if that man ever decides you're his prey, your blades won't save you.”
A chill crawled down my spine again.
I swallowed.
“Who is he?”
Father's expression hardened.
“Someone you were never supposed to meet.”
And suddenly, I wished I'd never told him anything.
I couldn't shake the feeling of being watched as I headed up the grand staircase to my room. I paused at my door to look over my shoulder.
From the corner of my eyes, silver flashed in the distance.
I froze
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