Chapter 5: Caged Fire
505 Words
Lucien hadn’t slept. Not really.
He lay awake in the too-big bed of his modest apartment, sheets twisted around his legs, the scent of Zarek still clinging to his skin. No matter how many showers he took, it wouldn’t wash off the memory of that night—the weight of Zarek’s hands, the sound of his voice, the way he looked at Lucien like he already owned him.
It should’ve been nothing.
But the bruise blooming on his neck said otherwise.
He touched it gently. It pulsed.
The black rose was still on his dresser, wilting. He couldn’t throw it away.
Lucien finally got out of bed, tugging on jeans and a hoodie. He needed to breathe. Needed to remind himself that his life was not some twisted fairytale about dangerous men and midnight kisses.
But as he stepped into the street, a sleek black car pulled up alongside him.
The window rolled down.
Zarek.
He didn’t say anything. He didn’t need to. His stare did the speaking.
Lucien froze. His feet knew better than his brain. They moved, and suddenly he was in the car, the door clicking shut behind him like a lock on a cage.
> “You disappeared,” Lucien whispered.
> “You were safer that way,” Zarek said, eyes forward.
Lucien scoffed. “And now?”
Zarek turned to him. “Now you’re not safe anymore. Because you touched me. Because I let you.”
He leaned in, his voice like broken glass and velvet.
> “They’ll come for you, Lucien. And when they do, I want you close where I can see you bleed.”
Lucien flinched. “What the hell are you talking about?”
Zarek didn’t answer. He drove.
—
They stopped at a large mansion on the outskirts of the city. It loomed like a forgotten god—silent, terrible, and watching. Zarek led him inside without a word. Marble floors. Crimson curtains. Guns hidden behind mirrors. Shadows that whispered.
Lucien had never been in a place like this. It felt haunted… not by ghosts, but by choices.
In the hallway, a man in a suit stepped forward. Blond, snake-eyed, dangerous.
> “Is this the toy?” he asked with a smirk.
> “Touch him and die,” Zarek snapped.
The man chuckled and walked away.
Lucien looked at Zarek. “What am I doing here?”
Zarek’s answer came slow. “You're under my protection now.”
> “I didn’t ask for that.”
> “Too bad,” Zarek said, his hand brushing Lucien’s waist. “Because I already claimed you.”
Lucien wanted to fight. To run. To scream.
But when Zarek kissed him—slow and deep and desperate—it all burned away.
He hated that part of him wanted to stay.
And in that house, under the weight of secrets and scarred ceilings, Lucien realized something terrifying.
He was already falling.
And he didn’t know if Zarek would catch him…
…or burn him alive.
- Writer
