"Aurora's POV"
When Tristan wasn't looking, I ran.
Didn't grab my coat, didn't care about the confused looks from other diners. Just stood up and ran, pushing past the hostess and out into the cold night air.
My palm was still bleeding, tissue clutched against the cut. The image of Tristan's face burned in my mind.
The way his entire body had gone rigid, how his eyes had locked onto my hand with pure hunger and something inhuman.
Andrea had been right.
The thought made me stumble. She'd been right about everything. "Vampires aren't real," I whispered, but even as I said it, I knew I was lying.
Behind me, I heard Tristan call my name. Panic surged, and I moved faster, weaving through the evening crowd. I couldn't face him. Couldn't hear whatever explanation he might give.
I reached the subway station and jumped on the first train, didn't check where it was going.
My hands wouldn't stop shaking. I stared at the bandaged cut, remembering the way Tristan had looked at it like he was starving.
The train lurched, and I gripped the pole tighter. What was I supposed to do? I couldn't go home. He knew where I lived.
I got off at a random stop and kept moving. Found myself at the bus station downtown, staring at the departure board.
Buses leaving for Starfall, Windsong, and Heaven's Peak. Places far enough that maybe I could disappear.
My phone buzzed in my purse; it was Tristan. I turned it off without looking.
I bought a ticket to Starfall with shaking hands. The next bus leaves in forty minutes.
I sat in a corner, watching every person who walked past, wondering if they were human or something else.
How had I been so blind? All the signs had been there. Andrea had warned me, and I'd thought she was crazy.
But she'd been right about everything.
Tears ran down my face. I'd been falling for him. Actually falling for someone who wasn't even human.
I pulled out my phone and turned it on long enough to call my manager and tell her I had a family emergency and needed to leave town.
Then I turned the phone off again and pulled out the battery. If vampires could do the things Andrea said, maybe he could track phones.
Twenty minutes until my bus.
I bought coffee I didn't drink and sat there, counting down the minutes until I could leave this city and everything behind.
"Tristan's POV"
She ran.
I watched Aurora bolt from the restaurant, blood seeping from her palm, and my world tilted sideways.
The scent had hit me like a physical blow. For one terrible second, I'd lost control. Just a flash, but enough.
Enough for her to see what I really was.
I stood frozen as she disappeared into the crowd, every instinct screaming to follow.
To chase her down and explain. But the rational part knew that chasing her would only make things worse.
A vampire pursuing a terrified woman through the streets. That would end badly.
My phone was in my hand, calling her number. Voicemail. I tried again. Same result.
She'd turned it off.
I walked out into the night. Aurora's scent lingered on the sidewalk, leading toward the subway. I could follow it. Track her down within the hour.
But then what? Force her to listen while she looked at me with fear?
I pulled out my phone and called Calanthia.
"Aurora knows," I said when she answered.
Knows what?
What I am. Someone convinced her to cut herself in front of me, and I lost control for a second.
Calanthia swore. Where is she now?
I don't know. Running. I closed my eyes, fighting the urge to track her. She turned her phone off.
Are you going after her?
I want to. Every part of me wanted to. But if I chase her, she'll only be more scared.
So what are you going to do?
I don't know. Someone set this up. Someone told her exactly what to do, knowing how I'd react.
The Nyxia coven.
Has to be. They're the only ones who know enough about me.
Then they're not just trying to scare her, Calanthia said. They're trying to isolate you. Make her run so you're vulnerable.
The realization hit like ice water. If Aurora ran far enough and disappeared trying to get away from me, she'd be alone.
Unprotected. And the Nyxia coven would know exactly where to find her.
"I have to find her," I said. Before they do.
Do you even know where she went?
No. But I can track her to the subway and figure out which direction she headed.
And if she leaves the city?
Then I'll follow. I started walking. I can't let her run into danger because she's trying to get away from me.
Tristan, be careful. If you corner her while she's this scared, you might lose her permanently.
If the Nyxia coven gets to her first, I'll lose her in a worse way.
I ended the call and headed to the subway station.
I closed my eyes and reached for the connection I'd felt with her. That pull that made me aware when she was worried. It was faint, stretched thin by distance and fear, but it was there.
She was moving. Getting farther away. Not just hiding but actively running.
My phone buzzed with a text from Calanthia.
"The Nyxia coven is making moves. Whatever they're planning, it's not going to end well."
I stared at the message, feeling impossible choices pressing down. Chase Aurora and risk terrifying her more, or give her space and risk losing her to enemies waiting for this opportunity.
Aurora was in danger. Whether from me, from the Nyxia coven, or from the supernatural world she didn't know existed, she was vulnerable and alone.
And it was my fault.
I pulled up a map on my phone, marking subway lines leading out of the city. Bus stations, train terminals, anywhere someone might go if they were running scared. She had maybe an hour head start.
I could find her. Track her down before whoever had manipulated her made their next move.
The hunt was on. But this time, I wasn't hunting prey.
I was hunting to save the one person who'd made me feel human in over three hundred years, since I last felt that way.
Even if she never forgave me for being the monster she now knew I was.