CHAPTER 4 — The Realm Beneath His Skin
1574 Words
Light swallowed everything.
A blinding flash—cold, sharp, crushing—and then the world snapped back into place.
Elara gasped.
Her body slammed into something warm and solid—Lucian’s chest—before he set her down gently, hands steady on her waist as if he expected her to collapse.
Her knees nearly did.
Because they weren’t in her apartment anymore.
They weren’t in the city.
They weren’t anywhere she recognized.
Elara staggered back, breath shaking. “Where… where are we?”
Lucian didn’t answer immediately—his eyes were scanning the shadows, checking the air, every sense locked on danger.
Only when he was sure they were alone did he finally exhale.
“You’re safe,” he murmured.
Elara forced herself to look around.
And froze.
They stood in a massive stone hall—ancient, silent, carved with symbols that glowed faintly silver. The ceiling stretched impossibly high, disappearing into darkness. Black fire burned in suspended braziers, flickering with a ghostly cold light.
The air felt alive.
Like it breathed.
Like it watched.
Elara swallowed hard. “This isn’t real.”
Lucian’s gaze flicked to her. “It is.”
Her pulse hammered. “Then where, exactly, is ‘safe’?”
Lucian stepped closer, expression unreadable. “My domain.”
Elara blinked. “Your—what?”
“My territory,” he said softly. “A realm between worlds. Hidden from humans since before your oldest civilizations learned to build walls.”
“That’s… impossible.”
“It was meant to be.”
Elara’s heartbeat filled her ears. “You took me to another world?”
“No.” Lucian moved even closer, so close the space between them tightened. “I brought you to mine.”
The implication hit her like lightning.
His world.
His rules.
His territory.
And she was standing alone with him.
Her breath caught. “You didn’t ask me.”
Lucian’s jaw clenched. “There was no time to ask. The hounds were already breaking through your walls.”
“So you just—what—kidnapped me?”
Lucian closed the distance entirely.
Elara’s back hit one of the cold stone pillars.
His palm lifted, bracing against it beside her head.
He didn’t touch her.
But he didn’t need to.
His presence alone felt like it wrapped around her, hot and dangerous.
“Saving you,” he murmured, silver eyes locking onto hers, “is not kidnapping.”
Elara’s breath shuddered. “You can’t just decide where I go.”
Lucian’s eyes dropped to her lips. “I can when your life is at stake.”
Heat spilled through her stomach—confusion, fear, something deeper.
She hated that he made her feel anything.
She hated even more that she liked it.
“What is this place?” she whispered.
Lucian stepped back only an inch, giving her just enough space to breathe.
The hall lights flickered as he spoke, responding to his energy.
“A sanctuary for my kind. A prison for others. A crossroads between bloodlines older than this city, older than your world.”
He turned his head, listening to the silence like it spoke.
“It’s where I can protect you.”
“You mean it’s where you can control me.”
Lucian’s gaze snapped back. Sharp. Piercing.
“Elara,” he said quietly, “if I wanted to control you, I would not need walls.”
Her cheeks warmed.
Damn him.
He moved past her, motioning for her to follow.
She hesitated.
But the alternative was being alone in a world full of black fire and breathing shadows.
So she followed.
Their footsteps echoed down the stone corridor. Strange symbols pulsed faintly on the walls—silver veins that seemed to move under the stone like quiet heartbeats.
Elara couldn’t stop glancing at them.
“Are those… alive?”
“Yes,” Lucian replied simply.
“Why?”
“They listen.”
“To what?”
“You.”
Elara stumbled.
“W-what do you mean me?”
Lucian didn’t slow. “Your presence disrupted the energy of this entire realm. The markings are attuned to my bloodline. They react only to what threatens it.”
“And I’m a threat?”
Lucian paused.
Slowly, he turned.
His silver eyes glowed brighter than the flames.
“You are something I have no name for.”
Her stomach dropped. “That’s not reassuring.”
“It isn’t meant to be.” He stepped closer, voice lowering. “You are impossible. You are dangerous. You are… forbidden.”
Heat pulsed low in her belly.
Forbidden.
His expression darkened, as if he regretted the word the moment he said it.
Lucian turned away abruptly. “Come.”
They reached a set of towering obsidian doors. Lucian pressed his palm to them—silver light bled from beneath his skin, flowing into the stone.
The doors groaned open.
Elara expected another cold, dark hall.
She was wrong.
The room beyond was… beautiful.
Dark wood. Silver accents. A massive fireplace with cold flames casting soft light. Walls lined with ancient books and weapons. A large black-leather couch. A desk carved from stone and steel.
A den.
A sanctuary.
Private.
Lucian stepped inside, and the room pulsed faintly—as if welcoming him.
Elara remained rooted at the doorway.
She felt like she was crossing an invisible line by entering.
Lucian looked back when he noticed she wasn’t following.
“Elara.”
She swallowed. “I don’t bite.”
His lips twitched—the smallest, faintest, most dangerous hint of a smirk.
“I am aware.”
Her breath caught.
His smirk vanished.
He extended a hand toward her—slowly, carefully, as if she was a wild animal he didn’t want to startle.
“Elara,” he said quietly. “You are safe in here. Nothing in this realm will cross my threshold.”
Something about his voice—soft, protective, commanding—broke her resistance.
She stepped inside.
The doors sealed behind her with a deep echo.
The air felt warmer.
Lucian moved past her, shrugging off his suit jacket. The motion was effortless, elegant… but she caught a glimpse of something beneath his shirt:
Dark markings.
Like veins of silver and black snaking over his skin, pulsing faintly with light.
She froze.
“Lucian… your back…”
He stiffened.
His hands flexed.
Slowly, he turned toward her.
The markings crawled over his shoulders and down his arms—ancient sigils etched into his flesh, glowing with power.
Elara’s breath hitched. “W-what is that?”
Lucian’s voice dropped to a whisper.
“The cost of immortality. The bond of my curse. A reminder that I am not… human.”
Elara took a step toward him without realizing it.
His eyes widened slightly.
He inhaled sharply—deep, staggering—like her closeness hurt him.
“How long have you had them?” she whispered.
Lucian’s jaw clenched. “Long enough to forget my life before them.”
She reached out.
She didn’t mean to.
Her hand moved on instinct, drawn to the light in his skin.
“Don’t,” Lucian breathed.
Elara froze. “Why?”
His silver eyes blazed.
“Because if you touch me right now, I won’t be able to stop myself.”
Her heart slammed painfully.
“From what?”
Lucian’s voice broke.
“Wanting more.”
She couldn’t breathe.
His confession hung between them, heavy and forbidden.
Elara’s voice came out barely audible. “Lucian…”
He closed the distance in two steps.
His hand came up, cupping the side of her neck gently—too gently for someone who had murdered a creature moments ago.
“You burn,” he whispered. “Do you know that? Your pulse—your scent—your heartbeat—everything in you calls to me.”
Her lips parted.
Lucian’s thumb brushed her pulse.
Elara trembled.
He exhaled like he was losing a war.
“The Call is growing stronger.”
Her stomach tightened. “Meaning…?”
“Meaning I am losing control.”
Heat shot through her body.
His hand slid from her neck to her jaw.
“Elara…” he murmured, his forehead nearly touching hers, “tell me to stop.”
Her heart pounded.
Her breath shook.
She didn’t speak.
Couldn’t speak.
Lucian’s eyes darkened—silver fading into black hunger.
“You should tell me to stop,” he whispered huskily.
But she didn’t.
She didn’t move.
She didn’t pull away.
Lucian’s breath hit her lips.
A fraction more—
A whisper more—
The room suddenly trembled.
Lucian jerked back, eyes snapping wide.
“No.” His voice hardened. “Not now.”
Elara stumbled, dizzy from the loss of his warmth. “What’s happening?”
Lucian’s expression turned lethal.
“They found us.”
“Elara—stay behind me.”
Black cracks spread across the walls, crawling like veins.
Voices whispered through them—hungry, layered, wrong.
Lucian’s markings blazed bright silver.
His eyes turned cold, deadly.
“Elara…” he said without looking back, “whatever happens, don’t run.”
Her blood froze.
“Why?”
Lucian’s voice was a dark promise.
“Because running only excites them.”
The walls shattered.
The creatures poured in.
Lucian stepped forward, power igniting like a star.
“Elara,” he snarled, “stay with me.”
And then the world exploded into darkness and silver fire.
- Writer
