Chapter 18
1096 Words
The third knock came slower than the others.
Not impatient.
Deliberate.
The sound carried through the quiet house with enough weight that the air itself seemed to tighten around it. I stayed where I was near the table, every muscle suddenly tense again as my gaze locked on the front hallway.
Rhaegar didn’t move immediately.
That worried me more than if he had.
His posture had gone completely still, shoulders squared slightly as he listened to something beyond the walls of the house. The ease from earlier had vanished so quickly it almost felt unreal now, replaced by that colder version of him I’d first seen in the alley.
Dangerous.
Controlled.
My fingers curled tighter against the sleeves hanging over my hands. “Who is it?”
Rhaegar’s gaze shifted briefly toward me. “Stay here.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“It’s the only one you’re getting right now.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but another knock cut through the room before I could. The fire snapped sharply behind me at the sound, flames lifting higher in quick response to the spike of tension rolling through my chest.
Rhaegar noticed.
Of course he did.
“Breathe,” he said calmly as he started toward the front door.
“You really overestimate how helpful that advice is.”
His mouth shifted faintly, but he didn’t slow. I watched him cross the room, every movement deliberate now, until he finally reached the door and stopped with one hand resting lightly against the handle.
For half a second, nothing happened.
Then he opened it.
The man standing outside was unfamiliar.
At first.
Tall. Dark coat. Broad shoulders that nearly filled the doorway. His posture carried the same dangerous stillness Rhaegar’s did, but where Rhaegar felt controlled heat, this man felt sharp edges and winter air. Pale eyes swept immediately past Rhaegar—
And landed on me.
Every instinct in my body reacted.
Not fear.
Recognition.
The warmth under my ribs flared hard enough that I physically felt it this time, a pulse of heat rushing through my chest before settling unevenly beneath my skin again.
The stranger noticed.
His expression changed instantly.
Not shock.
Something heavier.
“...Well,” he said slowly, his voice rougher than I expected. “That explains why the wards nearly burned my hand off.”
I blinked. “The what?”
Rhaegar stepped slightly farther into the doorway, blocking more of the man from view. “You shouldn’t be here.”
The stranger looked unimpressed by that statement. “And yet here I am.”
Neither man moved.
Something about the silence between them felt practiced, like this wasn’t the first time they’d stood across from each other like this.
My gaze shifted between them carefully. “You know him?”
Rhaegar answered without looking away from the man outside. “Unfortunately.”
One dark brow lifted slightly at that before the stranger’s attention flicked back toward me again. “She doesn’t know?”
“No,” Rhaegar replied flatly.
“That seems irresponsible.”
“I didn’t ask for your opinion.”
The stranger huffed out what almost sounded like amusement before dragging one hand through dark hair dampened slightly from the morning mist outside. Up close, he looked older than Rhaegar—not physically older exactly, but heavier somehow, like exhaustion sat deeper in him.
Then he looked at me again.
Really looked.
And every trace of amusement disappeared.
The shift was immediate enough to make my stomach tighten.
“How old are you?” he asked.
I frowned automatically. “That’s a strange question.”
“How old?”
“Eighteen.”
Silence.
The man closed his eyes briefly.
Rhaegar’s expression darkened further. “Don’t.”
“I’m doing math,” the stranger muttered.
“That’s rarely a good sign.”
“I’m aware.”
I stared at both of them in growing disbelief. “Would somebody please explain what’s happening?”
Neither answered quickly enough.
My irritation surged immediately, hot enough that the fire behind me snapped again, flames curling suddenly higher against the stone hearth.
This time, the stranger saw it.
His pale eyes shifted over my shoulder toward the fireplace before returning to me with a sharpness that made my pulse spike.
“Oh,” he said quietly.
The room went still.
Rhaegar swore softly under his breath.
I looked between them again. “Stop doing that.”
“Doing what?” the stranger asked absently, still staring at me like he’d just realized something important.
“Reacting to me like I’m a bomb about to go off.”
The words slipped out harsher than I intended.
But neither of them denied it.
That scared me more than the reactions themselves.
The stranger exhaled slowly before finally stepping inside without waiting for permission. Rhaegar looked deeply annoyed by the decision but didn’t physically stop him, which told me enough on its own.
The wards nearly burned my hand off.
My attention snapped back to him. “What did you mean by that?”
He paused near the edge of the living room, gaze flicking briefly toward the windows before settling back on me again. “This house is warded.”
“That still doesn’t explain anything.”
“It’s protected magic.”
I stared at him blankly.
Then looked toward Rhaegar.
“Please tell me that’s not a normal sentence where you come from.”
Rhaegar closed the front door behind them before answering. “It is.”
“Fantastic.”
The stranger’s mouth twitched slightly at that before he extended one hand toward me.
“Vaelor.”
I looked down at his hand suspiciously before glancing back up at him. “That’s supposed to help?”
“It’s my name.”
“That’s nice for you.”
Something that looked dangerously close to a real smile appeared briefly before he lowered his hand again. “You’re adjusting faster than expected.”
“I don’t know what that means either.”
“No,” Vaelor agreed. “But you will.”
I groaned softly and dragged both hands down my face before turning helplessly toward Rhaegar. “Why does everyone talk like they’re part of some secret conversation except me?”
“Because,” Vaelor said before Rhaegar could answer, “until yesterday, you were.”
The warmth under my ribs pulsed again.
Harder this time.
And for the first time since meeting Rhaegar—
I realized there were people out there who had known about me long before I ever knew myself.
- Writer
